Nine weeks ago, our fellow income investors were concerned about rising tariff tensions and falling stock prices. (Sound familiar?) So, in late May, we discussed seven dividend payers (yielding 6% on average) that wouldn’t go down if stocks-at-large kept dropping.

The broader markets soon reversed, as they usually do when pessimism is running high. But our defensive dividend machines did even better. Five out of my seven “never go down” plays beat the S&P 500. On average they returned 12.5% (including their big dividends) over the last nine weeks. A percent a week or better will sure boost your retirement account quickly!… Read more

Is last week’s rate-cut temper tantrum the start of a bigger meltdown?

That’s the big question—and today we’re going to do what we have to do to protect our nest egg—and set ourselves up for big gains (and dividends) in the long run.

That means we may only have days to prepare—maybe even hours.

The one thing we’re not going to do? Sell and go to cash.

Because I know I don’t have to tell you that “money under the mattress” pays no dividend—and isn’t even safe, for that matter: you’re guaranteed to bleed money after inflation!

No way.

Instead, we’re going to play it smart—deftly pruning our portfolio of laggards and shifting into a set of low-key dividends that will balloon our income (and nest egg) for decades to come.… Read more

I run into a lot of investors who think retirement investing is a two-act play.

In Act 1, when you’re younger, you try to balloon your nest egg with high-risk growth stocks that pay little (and often no) dividends.

Then, in Act 2, as you near—and enter—retirement, you pivot to the big dividends you need to pay your bills.

Trouble is, this approach exposes you to far too much risk, so today I’m going to show you a better way.

Your Best Play: Big Dividends and Growth—Right Now

I’m talking about 10 funds that can hand you dividends up to 9.8% right now, plus annual returns of 10% or more.… Read more

We buy real estate investment trusts (REITs) for their yields first and foremost. Show us the money!

Dividend growth is good, too. A 4% yield looks twice as nice if we believe our income will double in just a few years.

After all, a 4% payer that boosts its dividend by 10% won’t yield 4.4% for very long. Investors will buy its price up and in doing so bid its payout per share back down. And that’s OK. This dividend-powered appreciation is actually the easiest way for us to double our money with safe REITs!

But dividend safety really is the key here.… Read more

There’s an intriguing trend showing up in second-quarter earnings. And today I’ll show you how you can jump on it with a cheap closed-end fund (CEF)—I’m talking a 16% discount here.

Then there’s the dividend: a “hidden” 9.7% yield. I’ll say more about that shortly.

This trend might sound boring at first, but it’s crucial, because it proves that most folks have the wrong idea about the markets: they should be buying instead of fretting over interest rates, the next recession or other headline-driven fears.

But now more than ever, it’s where you buy that’s important. And the overlooked trend I’ve discovered proves that you need look no further than our own backyard: in the USA.… Read more

“Brett, give me some bond funds with big yields. And it’d be great if their prices never went down!”

My money manager friend was chasing the holy grail of retirement income. He wanted safe payouts from bonds to balance his clients’ stock exposure.

“How about the Artisan High Income Investor Fund (ARTFX)?” I replied. “It pays a steady 6% or so. And it never goes down.”

Same S&P Yearly Return, Less Heartburn

“The only problem is that it never goes up, either. And that’s prevented me from recommending it to my Contrarian Income Report subscribers.”

Our CIR portfolio holds eight bond funds today (versus ten stocks and stock funds).… Read more

Will interest rates really get the chop everyone thinks they will as 2019 rolls into the home stretch?

The smart money certainly thinks it knows. Beyond the July 31 rate cut (which the pros see as all but in the can), futures traders predict two more chops—in September and December:

But here’s something no one will tell you: not a single person outside of Jerome Powell has any clue what the Fed will do next.

Not futures traders. Not your adviser. Certainly not the talking heads on CNBC.

That’s why we’re going to dive into three “forever” stocks that beat the market no matter what rates do.… Read more

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) sound boring, but the truth is they’re the hottest investments out there. And today I’m going to give you two great ways to buy in: both are REIT-focused funds with big yields—I’m talking 6.8% and up!

You’ve no doubt noticed that REITs get little attention in the financial press. That’s because the media is obsessed with stories of big growth or big failures, and REITs are rarely one or the other. Instead, they help you quietly build wealth by providing big income and gains year in and year out.

Today I’m going to give you three reasons why REITs are a great buy now.… Read more

You and I know why people buy real estate investment trusts (REITs). They’re income machines that are literally mandated to take the lion’s share of their profits and put them back into shareholders’ hands as cash dividends.

It’s no secret. Just about anyone who buys into REITs know that they produce far bigger dividends than your typical stock.

But put most people in front of a Yahoo! Finance or Google Finance stock chart, and they’re suddenly struck by selective amnesia. Because they forget that these charts only consider price gains and don’t include REITs’ outsized dividends.

Let’s look at some of the optical delusions investors find when they stumble across the charts–then look at what happens once you split out price and total returns (with dividends).… Read more

There’s a scary-sounding catchphrase making the rounds these days—and it’s tricking folks into missing out on big dividends (I’m talking yields of 8.6%+) and upside.

The catchphrase: “earnings recession.”

You might have heard these two words. If you take them at face value, you could easily take them to mean that it’s time to hold off on stocks, particularly with the market hitting all-time highs on the regular.

That would be a mistake, because now is the time for us contrarians to buy—particularly high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) like the 8.6% yielder I’ll show you below. It holds many of the top S&P 500 names you know well, like Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon.com… Read more