“Those are some crazy numbers.”

An old friend had messaged me, and that line caught my attention. As it turned out, he had 36 trillion numbers in mind: the national debt, in other words. That is a pretty striking figure, and it’s fair to ask how the country’s debt could go from a trillion dollars back in 1981 to 36 times that today.

“Very irresponsible, imo,” my friend wrote.

This sounds like a reasonable response, and many people think this way. But the problem here, from an investment perspective, is that most people look at the debt on its own, without considering the many other factors we’re going to delve into today.… Read more

Let’s talk about oil and gold dividends. Whether or not the new peace in the Middle East holds, there are some high-quality dividends worth owning anytime. These generous payers (up to 8%!) provide peace of mind just in case the geopolitical Jenga set gets knocked loose again.

We’ll start with crude, which had rallied to one-year highs. I was originally going to advise not chasing the “Strait of Hormuz” oil rally. Futures indicated (and still do) that lower prices are likely ahead. January 2026 still trades cheaper—suggesting temporary disruption at worst.

Back at home, you’ve probably heard (not least from me, often) that President Trump wants a lower Fed Funds Rate!… Read more

Stocks—especially dividend stocks—have every reason to shoot higher from here. In fact, they have 7 trillion reasons.

That’s how much Americans have parked in money-market funds. But a chunk of that is about to shake loose. When it does, I see it piling into top dividend payers (and growers)—including the three we’ll discuss below.

Investors Wait for the Stock-Market “Bat Signal”

Before we get to that, the chart above is worth a look. Starting last summer, pre-election fears sent investors piling into money-market funds, pushing assets past $7 trillion.

Then something strange happened: They pulled cash out of these funds after the “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced.… Read more

If you invest for long enough, you may hear a skeptic of high-yield investments—such as 8%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs)—say something like:

“Sure, you’re getting a lot of income now, but what if that dividend gets cut?”

Today we’re going to answer that with a look at how a dividend cut can actually send a CEF (or any dividend investment, really) on a profitable run. We’ll do it by looking at three CEFs that followed this exact pattern: Cutting dividends and then going on to give investors huge returns for years and years.

These funds show that a dividend cut on its own isn’t reason enough to avoid an investment.… Read more

Let’s talk about energy dividends because, well, you know why. But let’s not chase the headlines.

Let’s focus on energy “toll collectors” that will make money regardless of tomorrow’s geopolitical landscape. Steady cash flows support these 4.2% to 9.5% yields.

This runs counter to the outlook for exploration and production companies, as well as equipment and service providers, which have profits that are tightly bound to the price of energy commodities. These stock prices follow crude oil movements too closely.

Energy infrastructure companies are calmer plays. Companies that own and operate pipelines, processing plants and storage facilities aren’t nearly as reliant on energy prices—they just take a cut whenever oil, natural gas, nat-gas liquids, etc.,… Read more

Few things ease financial worry like knowing you can walk away from work anytime you want.

Closed-end funds (CEFs) give us just that kind of security—and we talk about that a lot in my weekly articles and in my CEF Insider service. With yields of 8%, 9% and more, CEFs generate huge payouts that could let you retire earlier than you think.

It’s such a powerful—and overlooked—way to invest that it’s worth revisiting again today. We’ll color our discussion by looking at how some typical American retirees could retire with CEFs.

And we’re going to work in some real-life numbers, too.… Read more

We’ve been dividend-hungry lately. Our Wednesday missives brought ten income ideas since the end of April!

It’s a busy week for our brood! If you bought these payers, you have five ex-dividend dates (the dates when the stock trades at a price minus—“ex”—the dividend per share) on deck this week. Plus a payday for our “Goldilocks” tariff play, Corteva Agriscience (CTVA).

This neat weekly view comes to us courtesy of Income Calendar, our homegrown dividend tracker. We developed IC for serious income investors like yourself. The tool projects every dividend payment with accuracy that is unmatched in the industry.… Read more

Still wondering if AI will replace human workers? Well, you can stop. Because it’s already happening—and boosting corporate profits as it does.

That’s tough news for workers, of course. But there’s a silver lining for those of us investing for dividends. Because the “growth-without-hiring” trend AI has touched off is setting up one of the strongest income opportunities I’ve seen in years. (I’ll name three AI plays yielding up to 8.5% below.)

Wait, AI is setting the stage for big dividends?

I know. AI is known for a lot of things—many of which have been, er, less than helpful, such as infringing on copyrights and forcing McNuggets on pleading McDonald’s (MCD) drive-thru customers.… Read more

There’s a 7.3%-paying fund out there that looks like the perfect buy—7.3% yield, growing payout and special dividends. Yet, if you hold this one, I urge you to sell yesterday.

It’s a dilemma we’ve all faced: There’s a stock or fund we’re aching to buy—but there are just one or two things holding us back. That’s certainly the case here. In fact, at pretty well any other time, we’d fall all over ourselves to buy this dominating tech play. At my CEF Insider service, we’ve done just that in the past.

But not today. Today we’re putting this one on the shelf—and I urge you to do the same.… Read more

Let’s invest like private equity pros without needing seven figures. Yes, that’s right—PE-style starting for as little as $8.

Plus, yields up to nearly 13%.

No special access or options trades needed. Just a few clicks through our brokerage accounts buying regular ol’ tickers.

The sneaky dividend-dishing subjects? Meet business development companies (BDCs), publicly-traded firms that lend to small businesses.

BDCs were invented by Congress years ago to create a new type of lender to small businesses. They were also given the same mandate as real estate investment trusts (REITs): Return at least 90% of taxable income back to shareholders in the form of dividends.… Read more