I saw an interesting tweet the other day—someone commenting on how lots of people have no qualms racking up $100,000 in debt to get a university degree but think putting $5,000 into the stock market is too risky.

The foolishness of this thinking is evident to anyone familiar with the stock market. Five-thousand dollars in a bland S&P 500 index fund like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) would now be worth $12,175 after just a decade. That’s a lot of money to give up on just because of fear!

And don’t be fooled: this kind of thinking isn’t prudence. It’s fear.… Read more

The stock market’s up, so yields are down. And while there are still some generous payers available, be careful – some are paper tigers that will probably suffer this year.

That’s exactly the danger that’s facing four enticing high-yielders (yielding up to 20%!) that I’ll discuss with you shortly.

Since stock prices generally follow their payouts higher, it’s important to remember the opposite also happens. When dividends get cut, shares get crushed.

I’ve warned readers about Frontier Communications (FTR) and its dangerous dividend for years now. Hopefully investors listened to me, because those that didn’t lost “two ways” – they lost their yield and they lost their capital:

The Danger of Dividend Cuts

Frontier’s 2017 dividend cut – as well as its 2018 dividend suspension – are just one cautionary tale.… Read more

Last week, I showed you a smart monthly income strategy that hands you $3,333 a month on a $500k investment—all in dividends alone.

This easy monthly dividend setup works out to an average 8% yield (or $40,000 a year on our $500k) paid out to you every 30 days like clockwork.

I think you’ll agree this is plenty of cash for many people to clock out on. So today we’re going to talk growth.

Because our $3,333-a-month “8% strategy” already crushes Wall Street’s flawed 4% rule. You know the one: it recommends that you draw down 4% of your nest egg a year by selling stocks to supplement your dividend income.… Read more

Today I’m going to take you inside the most disrespected, criticized, lambasted and just plain ignored investments on the market today.

Why would I do that?

Simple. Because if you’re not as rich as you’d like to be, these unloved income plays are the perfect way to get you there.

I’m talking about closed-end funds (CEFs), a group of investments that, with a bit of effort (which I’m happy to put in for you) can hand you big, fast upside, safe cash dividends of 8% and higher—or both.

So why do so many investors see CEFs as perennial money losers?… Read more

If you feel trapped “grinding out” dividend income with popular 2% and 3% stocks and funds, here’s the three-letter acronym that will fund your retirement:

C-E-F

For whatever reason, closed-end funds don’t have nearly the following – or analyst paperazzi – that dividend-paying stocks boast. This “secret” is one of the last great efficiencies in an otherwise tough-to-beat market.

And we contrarian income hounds will gladly take this edge…

After all, it doesn’t make much sense that we can trade in our “dumb” stocks, ETFs and mutual funds for superior tickers that:

• Yield 6%, 7%, 8% or more,
• Pay their investors every month,
• Often trade at a discount to the assets they each own, and
• Are managed for free (I’ll explain more later) by a top-notch investment manager.

The yield on the benchmark, 10-year U.S. Treasury note has moved above 3% in May, which is the highest it’s been since 2011.

This is notable to REIT investors for multiple reasons. First, higher interest rates (both short-term and long-term) mean that bank CD’s and other lower-risk income investments are offering higher competitive yields.

Of equal note, is the fact that rising long-term interest rates are now factoring into higher discount rates for fundamental valuation models. In other words, investors will now require higher dividends to justify current valuations and be compensated for the rise in rates.

I believe that investors consistently reward growth in stocks, even with more income-oriented groups like REITs.… Read more

It’s a piece of advice so common I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times. Too bad it’s dead wrong.

I’m talking about the so-called “wisdom” that index funds always beat funds with real, live human managers.

Before I get into why it’s wrong—and show you 10 smartly run funds that easily beat their ETF cousins (while dropping an unheard-of 7.5% average dividend into our laps)—let me explain the problem here.

First, I should say that there are cases where index investing makes sense. If you’re 20 years old and you’re putting 10% of your income into a retirement fund, planning to retire when you’re 60 and won’t touch your savings till then, index investing may work for you.… Read more

What’s the best way to add the consistent income growth of the Dividend Aristocrats to your portfolio without paying the “royalty premium” of these popular, well-covered stocks?

Buy ‘em while they’re young.

Right now, there are a handful of stocks I want to show you today that are knocking on the door of Dividend Aristocrats membership. We’re talking only one to three years shy of the 25-year benchmark of consecutive annual dividend increases.

That means they still boast more than two decades’ worth of higher payouts, which is plenty of proof that they’ve got bulletproof financials and put shareholders’ interests on a pedestal.… Read more

Looking for high yield investments, packed in a convenient fund wrapper? You’d better look beyond these three popular names.

I’m going to show you how to “cherry pick” their best holdings today. We’ll even discuss some better “clicks to make” so that you can sell these dumb money funds if you hold them, and buy some better value (and higher yields!) instead.

What’s the price of popularity? Well, investors have sunk about $43 billion into three of the ETF world’s biggest, most prominent names. And they have less to show for it than several better-managed but under-the-radar funds.

In fact, given that these aforementioned “dumb funds” are among the biggest players in their three respective asset classes, it’s very likely that you own one if not more of these first-in-name but second-class ETFs.… Read more

Right now there are huge deals happening in a place far too few people care to look: municipal bonds.

Now before your eyes glaze over at the sight of the words “municipal bonds,” consider this: this unloved area of the market hands most Americans a shot at tax-free income. Plus, the 2 “muni” funds I’m going to show you below are set to hand us double-digit upside, too, thanks to a ridiculous bargain sale that’s way overdue for some quick “snap back” gains.

But first, let’s look at why now is the perfect time to jump into these unloved assets.… Read more