Investors looking for income with low risk tend to gravitate heavily toward bonds, but their efforts are often better spent in preferred stocks. These “hybrid” securities commonly pay 5% or 6% but gyrate far less than common stocks – certainly less than most shares that offer a similar amount of yield.

So, what exactly is a preferred stock?

Preferreds are simply another way companies raise capital. However, unlike common stock whose value fluctuates with the success (or lack thereof) of the company, preferred stock trades around a “par value” much like a bond, and they pay fixed dividends – often yielding far more than the common shares.… Read more

This single chart (from Yardeni Research) reveals the secret to 55.8% dividend yields:

The Power of Dividend Growth

Source: Yardeni Research

What are we looking at here?

Simply this: if you’d invested in the average S&P 500 stock back in 1970, you’d be yielding 55.8% on your original buy today. (And in just a few minutes, I’ll reveal 5 stocks whose strong payout growth will get you there a lot faster than that.)

Think about that: 55.8% is more than half of what you originally invested—returned to your pocket every year in dividend checks!

Even if you didn’t buy in till 1990, you’d still be yielding a hefty 14.6% today.… Read more

Today I’m going to show you the 3 best closed-end funds of 2017—and reveal a surprising prediction for each of these powerhouse CEFs in 2018.

The prediction? That after soaring up to 58.8% in 2017, these 3 rock-solid CEFs aren’t done yet. In fact, I see all 3 posting double-digit gains in the next 12 months, too!

More on these 3 winning funds in a moment. (And if you’re unfamiliar with CEFs, click here for a full primer on them.)

First, let’s take a very fast look at…

The Year That Was in CEFs

In CEFs, the biggest winners of 2017 had a lot in common, and that made it easy to separate the losers from the winners, because the whole market seemed to agree on 3 things:

1. Tech is where to put your money.

Q: Are REITs (real estate investment trusts) going to be hurt by the new tax reform?

Not at all. In fact, the new tax plan actually favors these generous dividend payers.

Let me explain why – and then point you towards the best REITs to buy for 2018.

A Smaller Tax Bill on REIT Dividends

The IRS already allows REITs to avoid paying income taxes if they pay out most of their earnings to shareholders. As a result these firms tend to collect rent checks, pay their bills and send most of the rest of the cash to us as dividends.… Read more

If there’s one thing I love, it’s picking up on a “sleeper” income opportunity that first-level investors have walked right past.

And today I’m going to show you not one but three. And one of these stealth buys yields a safe, stable 9.5%.

So a $100,000 investment in this unloved fund would hand you a nice $9,500 in 2018, or a steady $2,375 when its dividends drop into your account every quarter.

I’ll have more to say about these 3 funds—all of which are managed by a real, live human—shortly, including why they’re a better way to go than a “dumb” index fund.… Read more

January is a busy time of year for companies looking to amplify their regular payouts. I’ve already shown you a mess of master limited partnerships (MLPs) that should hike their distributions next month. But for those of you who don’t subscribe to those tax headaches, I have a list of traditional companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs) that should up the ante, if history is any indication.

I encourage investors to seek out high yields and high rates of dividend growth – study after study shows the benefits of both. This isn’t just a localized market trait, either. Studies of global equities show exactly what we see here at home: That yield and growth truly matter over the long haul.… Read more

December might be the traditional season of generosity for most, but not for energy master limited partnerships (MLPs). This high-income area of the market tends to wait until January rolls around to get into the giving spirit, with many of the industry’s names doling out distribution hikes a couple weeks after the New Year.

Investors looking to jump into MLPs, then, may want to get into the seven stocks I’m about to highlight – all of which yield between 5% and 8% – before they up the ante on their regular payouts.

A host of MLPs tend to wait until after the champagne has been uncorked and the bowl games have been played to announce distribution hikes.… Read more

I usually don’t recommend shorting a closed-end fund (CEF), but if I were to do so, the 3 I’m about to show you would top my list.

I don’t like shorting CEFs for two simple reasons: first, you’re responsible for paying out the dividends on a shorted stock. So if a CEF pays a 10% yield, you have to pay out 10% while shorting it. No thanks!

Second, the CEF market is extremely irrational. For this reason, CEFs can remain overvalued for a long time, meaning you’ll need to short for far too long before you get your payouts.

Still, there are some CEFs that are so absurdly overbought that shorting becomes really tempting.… Read more

Have you always wanted to buy a safe stock like Coca-Cola (KO) and get rich from it like Warren Buffett?

It’s doable – and I’ll show you how in a minute.

Unfortunately most investors misapply Buffett’s lessons. They “live in the past” and fixate on dividend track records rather than a payout’s forward prospects. And looking ahead is the key to yearly gains of 10%, 15% or even 20% or more with dividend aristocrats.

Let’s consider Coke, which achieved its dividend royalty status in 1987 (its 25th straight year with a dividend hike). The firm hit its coronation with a head of steam, rewarding investors with a 362% payout hike in just five years (from 1986 to 1991).… Read more

Today we’re going to talk about the single biggest risk you face in your golden years.

But don’t worry—I’ll also show you how to clobber that risk and set yourself up for an easy $40,000 in cash for every year of your retirement. More on that below.

Let’s address the nasty risk first—the very real chance you’ll outlive your nest egg. A sweeping study says you could be very wrong about the length of your retirement.

A Hidden Danger

Here’s what the numbers say: in 1992, the University of Michigan asked 26,000 Americans 50 years of age and older how long they thought they’d live.… Read more