’Tis the season for us contrarian income investors to “bottom fish” the bargain bin for dividend deals. Let’s grab these discounted generous payouts while we can—these are the best weeks of the year to secure 7%+ payouts in 2022 and beyond.

For the next week or two, unloved 7%+ paying closed-end funds (CEFs) will be sold in the spirit of “tax loss” season. Wealthy investors and money managers are looking for 2021 losers to book against recent gains.

And thanks to the epic sector rotation we’re seeing now, the dogs of ’21 are likely to become the darlings of ’22. Fortunately we can buy them cheap—and we can identify these values using a “one-click” CEF valuation tool.… Read more

Think about it for a moment: when was the last time you read anything about closed-end funds (CEFs), a way too often overlooked asset class that throws off 7%+ average dividends?

Never? Maybe once?

It’s a shame that CEFs are rarely discussed outside Wall Street circles, because they’re perfect for anyone who needs income these days. (And who doesn’t!?)

Smaller CEFs Give You Big Payouts And “Baked in” Upside

We’re going to bust through that barrier and look at how we can use CEFs to boost our income streams and our net worth, too.

We can dial ourselves in for even bigger gains when we focus on smaller CEFs, like the ones I emphasize in my CEF Insider service.… Read more

With 2022 likely to be a wild ride, we income investors are going to lean on two key advantages. In doing so, we’ll secure 7% dividends no matter what the broader markets do.

First, we can secure this “head start” by January 1 by purchasing funds that yield 7%, on average. And these aren’t risky payouts, by the way. I’m talking about secure dividends funded by real cash flows.

And secondly, we can buy them from the bargain bin for just 90 or 95 cents on the dollar! That’s better than most investors, who pay full price (or more!) for their stocks.… Read more

Let’s be honest: we dividend investors will be glad to see the back of 2021. While it’s been a great year for us at my CEF Insider service (our portfolio yields 7.2%, on average, and we’ve seen some nice double-digit winners, too), it seems like every day begins with a market-crushing (and anxiety-inducing!) news story.

To be honest, 2022 will likely bring much of the same, but if you do what I strongly recommend—stay away from the business news as much as possible—you’ll do your portfolio (and your mental health!) a big favor.

You and I both know the pundits rarely get it right anyway (who remembers the hand-wringing worries about deflation 12 months ago?… Read more

The asset price “fuel” that our Federal Reserve has provided since March 2020 is going away soon. This will likely lead to continued volatility and a challenging backdrop for stocks-at-large.

Periodic “flights to safety” could benefit secure dividend stocks. We’ll touch on the outlook for income plays in a moment. First, let’s talk macro.

The stock market has been rallying for 21 months thanks to the Fed. It has gassed asset prices by buying trillions of dollars in bonds.

(Note: “Bond buying” is a polite way of saying “money printing.” The bonds were using cash that Chairman Jay Powell created out of thin air.)… Read more

Let’s take the hint from the past couple of weeks—2022 looks choppy. And why wouldn’t it? Our prolific money printer Jay Powell has (finally) admitted that inflation is real (not transitory).

His easy money had been floating the market. Now, with Jay reappointed and looking to assuage his Congressional colleagues about rising prices, he’s about to reverse the flow of money. This will likely reverse the rising tide of the market and expose select stocks.

But we dividend investors needn’t panic. With 2022 turning into a stock picker’s market, this is our time to shine. A fragmented market is just fine for us.… Read more

I shudder when folks tell me their portfolios can’t give them a decent income stream. Because I know there’s an easy way for them to get safe 8%+ payouts—and everyone misses it.

Let’s be honest. When it comes to investing, most people limit themselves to the blue chip stocks of the S&P 500. The problem? These stocks pay a miserly 1.2% average yield. So you’re getting a measly $1,200 in yearly dividend income for every $100K invested!

No one is retiring on that—unless they have a couple million bucks lying around.

But there is another way. It’s a potent income generator I’ve been specializing in for more than a decade—and sharing with investors through my CEF Insider service.… Read more

If the past few weeks are any indication of what’s ahead, we’d better buckle up for a volatile 2022.

Which means we should invest in the relative calm provided by monthly dividend stocks before the mainstream crowd starts looking this way. After all, what’s more soothing than thousands of dividend dollars paid every single month?

Monthly dividends are great because they line up with our expenses. Most blue-chip income stocks pay quarterly—not enough! These “lumpy” payouts result in equally lumpy retirement income. For instance, we might have a big January, but that’s followed by an OK February and a lean March where that check alone wouldn’t come close to covering the bills.… Read more

Investors sometimes tell me that closed-end funds (CEFs) are complicated—riddled with jargon-y terms like discounts to NAV and net investment income (NII).

The truth is, while it may take a little bit of time to learn the ropes, the effort pays off in spades, since CEFs can get you about $3,000 per month in dividend income on a $500K investment! That could mean retiring a decade or more before folks who rely on low-yielding S&P 500 stocks or ETFs.

(And of course, if you’re a member of my CEF Insider service, I do the legwork for you, letting you collect our portfolio’s 7.3% average yield, with upside, without having to spend hours in front of a computer screen.)… Read more

A recent research paper from Morningstar concludes that retirees should only withdraw 3.3% of their money annually. In other words, a million-dollar portfolio should only be relied on for $33,000 in annual income.

That is a sad ending for a seven-figure nest egg!

Scary, too. This $33,000 salary isn’t delivered in cash flow. No, this is a “withdrawal rate”—which means the retiree is tapping principal. Which means the retiree is buying stocks and hoping they’ll go up.

But “hope” is not a strategy. The volatile weeks we’ve seen recently have no doubt forced some terrified retirement investors into selling low.

This is “reverse dollar cost” averaging, unfortunately.… Read more