In bull markets, we buy the dips. In bear markets, we sell the rips.

Starting in spring 2020 and through 2021, we dividend investors stayed in “buy the dip” mode. Granted, 2020 seemed like a strange time to want to invest. But the Federal Reserve had our backs.

Heck, Fed insiders knew it. In late February 2020, Vice Chair Richard Clarida sold $1+ million in stock shares—and bought them a few days later on the eve of a certain “central bank announcement.”

The proclamation? That the Fed was prepared to print as much money as it needed to! In order to float the stock market (ha!)… Read more

Let’s not fall in love with our dividend stocks—as this can be a big mistake in a dumpster-fire year like 2022. We must be ready to toss “paper” payer tigers out and move into safe dividends poised to “front run” the next big market shift.

(I’ve got three tickers that are smart plays to swing into now, with yields up to 8.4% and payouts that have surged up to 55% in the last five years, taking their share prices along for the ride.)

“Buy-and-Hopers” Get Crushed

Before we go further, let’s take a moment to keep “buy and hold” investors in our thoughts—or as I like to call them, “buy and hope” investors, who sit tight for years, usually in an index fund, hoping for gains.… Read more

Today I want to show you how to do the unthinkable and retire in seven years—starting with a $0 nest egg. Our plan hinges on two things: being frugal and investing in closed-end funds (CEFs), which throw off big, steady dividends on the regular.

I know a plan like this sounds impossible. Stocks, after all, are testing 52-week lows; the Fed is quickly raising interest rates; inflation is still on a tear; and a war is raging in eastern Europe.

To be sure, these things are all weighing on the markets now. But there is one great thing about investing these days, and it’s on the income side of things.… Read more

One of the market’s most secure, steady sources of generous yield is going through a rare turbulent moment. But these 7% to 8% yields—paid monthly, no less!—are selling at discounted prices we only see once every five years or so.

Is it time for us contrarians to consider “backing up the truck” to load up on these monthly dividend machines?

Why “Preferred” Dividends are This Cheap

“Preferred” stocks are stock-bond hybrids that rarely make Wall Street’s highlight reels. We like it that way, because these funds pay.

These underappreciated secrets don’t usually suffer this bad, either.

You Rarely See Preferreds Get Clobbered This Bad

The reason preferreds are usually so steady is that they simply collect income.… Read more

Personally, I am not a fan of Beyond Meat or any of those fake burgers that are out there. But after a recent trip to the grocery store to buy provisions for a backyard barbecue… the sticker shock alone may turn me into a believer. Ground beef is now up to more than $5 a pound!

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Many folks are getting used to paying more amid the red-hot inflation we’re seeing across gasoline, groceries, and just about everything else.

But I am a cheapskate at heart, who refuses to pay more than I have to for anything.… Read more

This selloff has gone on seemingly forever, and I’m hearing from more investors who are feeling nervous.

I understand completely. Days of red on the indexes are tough on all of us, myself first and foremost. But the key thing to keep in mind as the world seems to be spinning out of control is that when times like these come along, our CEF strategy proves its worth, for two reasons:

• Our CEF dividends are helping us through the correction, as they have for all the pullbacks we’ve been through since we launched my CEF Insider service in 2017. Our portfolio yields 8.3% today, and 17 of our 23 holdings pay dividends monthly, so those payouts arrive in line with your bills.

For decades, plain vanilla financial advisors have pitched a “4% withdrawal rate” as a retirement solution. Most were lazily stealing this advice from the smart, thrifty fellow who created the rule.

The 4% idea is that someone with, say, a million-dollar nest egg could safely withdraw $40,000 per year and probably not run out of money before they die. Or, at least, have it last for 33 years.

(And oh, by the way, they’d better hope that the financial poem keeps rhyming with a previous 50-year period. But I digress…)

Not the most inspiring idea, I know. So why are we even talking about this today?… Read more

Think back just four months: first-level investors were babbling on about “transitory” inflation and clambering for crypto and profitless tech stocks.

No more! The world has shifted. Russia’s war on Ukraine—a disaster on a human level first and foremost—has upended, well, everything.

Crappy crypto and bankruptcy-bound techs are out—and secure payers that benefit from today’s trends are in. (I’ve got three examples for you below, one of which has boosted its payout 119% in just the last five years.)

Secure Payers Thrive in a Volatile World

Let’s be honest: the Fed, Putin and President Xi of China are driving the market now.… Read more

When we’re faced with a situation like today’s, with inflation and interest rates on a tear, we want dividends that keep us ahead of rising prices while hedging us against volatility.

Luckily, there’s a selection of high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) that do just that. We’re going to look at three that yield 9.9% on average today, plus they give us the diversification we need to withstand market shocks.

And with a 9.9% yield, you could use these stout income generators to pay your bills on a modest investment, avoiding the need to sell into a downturn to augment your income. Heck, a retiree with $500K could generate $4,125 a month in dividends!… Read more

The bond market is blowing up many retirement portfolios. Let’s make sure yours is outrunning inflation, rates, and everything else—with these yields up to 25%.

(That’s not a typo. We’ll talk 25% dividends in a moment. First, let’s address the fixed-income elephant in the room.)

The 10-year Treasury is rapidly running towards 3%—a level it hasn’t hit since 2018. The Fed’s hawkish stance has created a mass exodus in bonds, sending the T-note up from 1.5% at the start of the year to nearly 2.9% in just a few short months.

Now, that’s definitely no reason to start jumping into government debt.… Read more