One of the market’s smartest contrarian players just made a shocking move—and we dividend investors need to pay attention.

The contrarian in question? PIMCO, the company that revolutionized the humble closed-end fund (CEF). If you’re reading this, you’ve likely at least heard of CEFs, which are renowned for big dividend payouts: safe 7%+ yields are the hallmark of these (too) often-overlooked investment vehicles.

If you’ve never heard of PIMCO, all you need to know is that the company is to CEFs what Apple (AAPL) is to tech.

And PIMCO’s latest move is yet another signal that now is a great time to boost our positions in the 18 buy-rated funds in the CEF Insider portfolio.… Read more

Relax. You might already have enough money to retire on.

My favorite dividend stocks let people retire comfortably on $600,000 or so.

Got more cash? Great! You’re in elite company.

Fidelity Investments—apparently happy to share its customer’s financial info anonymously—says it has more than 750,000 seven-figure 401(k) and IRA accounts.

That sounds like a lot, but it means less than 1% of Americans have $1 million or more saved for retirement. And that’s OK—select dividend stocks can help us retire comfortably on $600,000 or less.

Sure, a chunk of money is great. Especially when we can leave it untouched and let it grow.… Read more

There’s a group of dividend stocks out there that are set to skyrocket as the new “Biden buyback tax” rolls in.

These “dividend moonshots” are hiding in plain sight. Most people miss them because they’re looking at the wrong numbers: they’re obsessed with “first level” measures like dividend yields, P/E ratios or whatever.

But we second-level thinkers only need one indicator to find these cash machines, which are poised to profit in a surprising way as the new tax takes effect. I’m talking about a potent number called shareholder yield.

This metric isn’t on any screener, so it takes a couple minutes’ legwork to figure out.… Read more

Usually in a bear market like this, something is working somewhere. But I think you’ll agree that since the beginning of 2022, that “something” has been tough to nail down.

Treasuries are down some 23% on the year. And we know where the stock market has been.

Cash, of course, will always free you from stock- or bond-market volatility. But staying in cash too long leaves you exposed to today’s high inflation. And of course, cash pays zero dividends—and that’s just not an option for those of us looking to fund our retirements on dividends alone. That strategy largely allows you to tune out market volatility, which is why it’s a goal we aim for at my CEF Insider advisory.… Read more

Let’s not be idiots chasing this bear market rally. OK?

Safe dividend stocks, fine. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. A trio of stability and sanity that doesn’t care if we see a September swoon or October keel over.

Yes, in bear markets like these we sell the rips. But we still buy the dips—we just make sure we do it smartly. And keep it low beta.

Duke Energy (DUK), for example, has a 5-year beta of 0.34. This means it moves only 34% as fast as the market.

In other words, on days when the S&P 500 is down 3%, this stock should decline a mere 1.5% or so.… Read more

Among the many lessons I learned in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, one of the most important was to do my own research. You simply cannot get ahead by chasing whatever tickers are hot on CNBC and Twitter, or by taking the headlines in financial media for granted.

But I must admit, it’s not always comfortable to think like a contrarian and focus on long-term income over a short-term adrenaline rush. It sometimes means sitting on stocks that may seem to “underperform” the high-octane tech stocks everyone’s gushing about. And it sometimes means thinking differently about performance by looking at what’s important to you vs.… Read more

There’s a group of dividend payers out there whose businesses are doing better than they were before the COVID mess, but their stocks are still ridiculously cheap today.

Best of all, we contrarian income seekers can get these stocks at an even deeper discount than regular folks can—while collecting a healthy 6.6% dividend.

The trick? Buy them through a closed-end fund (CEF) like the one we’ll discuss below.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The investments we’re going to buy through this CEF are real estate investment trusts (REITs), which own and rent out various types of properties, from shopping malls to warehouses and cellphone towers.… Read more

Sell ‘em if you got ‘em.

And c’mon, we all have ‘em.

Let’s think back a few months. Which stocks are we still holding now that we wish we had sold then?

I’m talking about the dividend dogs that, if we’re being honest, are not deserving of long-term positions in our retirement portfolios.

These mutts have had a fun summer—good for them (and us). Now let’s find them a nice home in another portfolio.

Why the deadline? September swoons are common. The Wall Street guys return from their Hampton homes and sell everything that rallied in August.

The summer rally (recently ended?)… Read more

Bad news for your friends who only own “America’s ticker”—the S&P 500. We’re set up for a September swoon that could easily send the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) down 5% or more from current levels.

Good news for us income investors—we’re going to have a great dip to buy some of our favorite dividend payers.

We’ll talk about the best dividend stocks for September in a moment. We’ll specifically highlight two “low-drama dividends,” too.

First, let’s discuss why we need to get ready for a pullback.

History Points to a September Swoon …

For one, if we look back to 1945, as the folks at CFRA Research did, we’ll see that September has been the worst month for stocks, with positive returns just 45% of the time.… Read more

When the market goes into the dumpster like it has in the last few months, one group of folks have an advantage: those who hold high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs).

If you haven’t already, now is a great time to join this group, thanks to the selloff. I’ll name an oversold bond fund that’s a great pick to start your CEF portfolio—or add to your current one—in a moment. It throws off a stable 7.5% payout that rolls your way monthly.

A 7.5%-Yielding “Dividend Lifeline”

Investors in “regular” stocks only wish they could get a payout like that. Unfortunately, the measly dividend on the typical S&P 500 stock (around 1.5%) means those who stick to the household names are reliant on price gains alone, so they’re forced to deal with sickening drops like the 2022 mess:

“Regular” Stock Investors Are Forced to Rely on This

To be sure, CEFs, like regular stocks, have fallen in the last few months, too.… Read more