I often get asked where I’m investing my retirement money. And these days, I’m also asked if this is even an appropriate time to buy stocks!

Well, I personally am buying. For starters, my 401(K) runs on autopilot. Every month, my contribution (and “Brett Inc.” company match) is plowed into Vanguard’s Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX). No diversification, no market timing–100% into VDIGX.

Why this fund? Because in my plan, I have to choose from a set list Vanguard funds. And I’m naturally looking for an emphasis on dividend growth because I know it’s the path to 10%+ returns every year, a wealth-creating snowball!… Read more

Our Contrarian Income Report mailbag served up an important question from a reader this week. What are the perfect retirement dividends to buy and hold forever?

Our subscriber is retired and manages investments for him and his wife. He asked me how to build a portfolio that will give her reliable income, with little maintenance, if he can no longer look after their investments himself.

It’s a great question, and one that’s likely occurred to you, too. So let’s tackle it.

3 “Autopilot” 8% Dividends You Can Buy Now

While we always feel you should at least check in on your investments from time to time, let’s go ahead and piece together a portfolio we’d feel pretty comfortable buying and tucking away for the long term.… Read more

More CEF Insider subscribers have been asking me how to deal with volatility lately. It’s easy to see why:

Another Downturn Appears … Then Disappears

So today I’m going to give you an easy way to cushion your portfolio in this whipsawing market. I’m actually going to show you three ways.

All three are closed-end funds (CEFs) with a special “insurance policy” that tones down market lurches. But you’ll still enjoy market recoveries, like the one we’ve seen in recent days.

The best part: we’ll keep our income stream strong and growing, thanks to these three funds’ massive 6.7%+ dividend yields.… Read more

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are simply the best dividend payers you can own right now. These tax loopholes literally “print money” when interest rates fall. So, with Fed Chair Jay Powell signaling that rate easing is on the way, we should load up on real estate dividends.

REITs themselves have flown under cover for years, but “basic” income investors have finally started to wake up to just how effective REITs are. In fact, these income-friendly real estate plays are, quite literally, world beaters.

A Netherlands study examining global assets from 1960 to 2015 found that the top-performing area of the market was not stocks, not bonds, not gold – but real estate investment companies and trusts.… Read more

This levitating market just might have you thinking there are no more cheap 6%+ dividends out there.

Well, don’t worry, because there certainly are—particularly if you fish in the obscure pool of funds we’re going to dive into today.

It boasts plenty of big payouts of 6% and more. But most folks don’t even consider it, for two reasons:

• These funds have already soared this year (but one in particular is throwing off a big tax-free dividend and trades for 11% less than its “true” value; I’ll name that fund shortly).

• These funds’ yields are much higher than they appear.

Most dividend investors understandably love the idea of 10%+ yields. It sure makes retirement easy!

Earn $50,000 per year in dividends alone on a $500K portfolio, or $100,000 annually on a million? Spend your lavish payouts without ever tapping principal? What’s not to like!

Plus, the recent stock market pullback has benefited investors like us because we can snag more dividends for our dollar. Yields are higher overall, and that’s a good thing.

But this strategy is a bit more complicated than simply finding 10% yields and buying them. We must smartly select the stocks that are going to pay our 10%+ dividends securely without tapping their own share prices to pay us.… Read more

Forget the trade war. There’s a bigger danger that too many investors (and especially vulnerable retirees) are ignoring today.

That’s the threat of a snap dividend cut—and the massive damage it can do to your income and your nest egg.

More on that—and 4 imminent dividend cuts you need to dodge now—shortly.

Why I’m Sounding the Alarm

First, there are two reasons why folks are sleepwalking along, wrongly thinking all of their dividends are safe:

• The economy is strong, churning along at a 3.1% rate—lulling most folks to think that only the worst companies would be forced to slash payouts.

• The Fed’s kabuki theater: After being set on raising rates last year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is signalling a rate cut.

What if I told you I’d found a way for you to bank 7%+ in cash (often paid monthly, no less) from real estate?

And no, we’re not going to send you out on the streets, pounding the pavement with your real estate agent, trooping through one disappointing house after another. And you won’t have to deal with deadbeat tenants, plugged toilets or noise complaints, either.

You’ll have just one job: collect your dividends!

One more thing: we’ll run our “one-click” property play from the safety of our brokerage account, which we can do thanks to a high-yielding investment called a real estate investment trust (REIT).… Read more

U.S. investors appeared more than happy to turn the calendar to June this week. After the Nasdaq Composite reached correction territory on Monday, the broader stock market averages rebounded more than 2% across the board on Tuesday.

Even with 5% tariff on Mexican imports set to go in effect on June 10, the initial recovery sparked a multi-day rally. The rebound was ignited by the realization that the FOMC would be more likely to step in and lower interest rates, to better reflect market pricing in the Treasury yield curve.

The May jobs report on Friday was another case where “bad news is good for stocks”.… Read more

I told you GameStop’s (GME) dividend was toast. Did you sell, or better yet, short the stock?

Just one quarter ago, we chatted about the inevitability of this paper payout ending in tears:

Brick and mortar video game retailer GameStop (GME) is a throwback to yesteryear. It’s survived the rise of digital distribution for video games thus far because Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo haven’t fully digitalized their sales. (In other words, they still sell physical boxes that are bought at stores like GameStop.)

 

But this sales model is ultimately toast and GameStop doesn’t have a convincing second act.