Let’s jump on the market’s September slide and grab ourselves a sweet “double discount” on 358 totally ignored income plays—and some sweet 6%+ dividends, too. And our new income stream will pay us monthly!

Going Where Other Dividend Investors Don’t

Our route to this big monthly payout does an end run around the misers of the S&P 500. Even though the market dove 3.5% in September, that was only enough to drive yields on the big-name stocks up by—wait for it—0.07%.

In other words, if you dropped a million bucks into an ETF like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) in early September, you’d be generating $12,300 in yearly dividends.… Read more

I know you’ve heard the common Wall Street “wisdom” that, when it comes to investing for the long haul, you’re best to simply put your money in an index fund and call it a day.

Everyone parrots this “advice.” Even Warren Buffett himself!

Today we’re going to dive into why this advice is one of the most effective ways to lose money fast (not to mention a chance at big dividends, like the growing 5% payout we’ll discuss below).

In fact, if the average middle-class person had stuck with a market-based ETF over the last seven years instead of going just one step further and investing in an actively managed closed-end fund (CEF), they would have missed out on over a million dollars’ worth of gains (and dividends).… Read more

I love investing in stocks where I know my bad habits (Amazon ordering) help juice a company’s bottom line.

One of my favorite REITs falls into this camp.

It’s phones have been ringing off the hook to get ahold of its invaluable warehouse and industrial properties which are the backbone of all e-commerce operators.

Its shares have also helped investors DOUBLE their otherwise pedestrian returns from the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) over the past three years.

Not only have its returns outpaced the market, but it has a habit of paying out special dividends that our retirement portfolios can certainly appreciate.… Read more

The surest, safest way to double our money in the stock market is to buy the dividends that are growing the fastest.

It doesn’t matter if the broader market is heading up, down or sideways. Over time, stock prices eventually follow their dividends. Show me a growing payout, and I’ll show you a stock price that has serious upside.

Looking beyond current yields for future dividends is a simple yet powerful concept. I know that you already appreciate stocks that pay. It’s why we get along so well.

We can also apply our favorite fundamental attribute—a company’s willingness and ability to put cash in our pocket—to find the safest growth stocks in the market.… Read more

Let’s dive into a brand-new CEF many people are ignoring—and see how we can ride it to some fast gains (and a growing 6.4% dividend).

When a new CEF rolls down the skids, our antennae always go up, because getting into a new fund before anyone else picks up on it is one of the most exciting ways to build wealth (and a rich income stream) in CEFs.

That’s because most CEF investors are conservative by nature, and they tend to shun new funds (even those run by some of the best CEF managers in the business). That results in big discounts we can jump on—and ride to quick 10%, 20% or even 30% gains in short order.… Read more

The stock market goes up as well as down and, for whatever reason, it tends to swing wildly in September and October. With last Monday’s intraday price action, we saw our first 5% decline in a year.

The last time the S&P 500 fell by 5% or more was… this time last year.

Losing money isn’t fun. Then again, it is our job to make sure that paper losses stay on the page.

Historically speaking, this is a good month to go shopping. Last October, we locked in 7.3% to 10% dividends—and 51% total returns (in just 12 months!) soon followed.… Read more

Return to the office? Heck, we income investors don’t need to return to work—period.

We can turn our nest egg into a cash flow machine, with big dividends to cover our monthly expenses. I’m talking about retiring on dividends alone.

Yes, we’re three buys away from kicking back, collecting payouts and watching our portfolios continue to tick higher. Best of all these dividends have upside, which will power our nest egg to new highs. They serve as the “payout magnets” that pull our investments higher with each dividend raise.

Most importantly, this “three-click” portfolio is well diversified, with 560 different income investments.… Read more

It’s a tired piece of “wisdom” you hear from personal-finance gurus over and over: you need to invest in low-cost, passive index funds to get the highest return.

Too bad it’s completely false!

Today we’re going to look at how obsessing over fees can cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Then I’ll name a fund that could get you big gains and pays a dividend north of 6%.

What’s more, this unusual fund, a closed-end fund (CEF), to be specific, gives you that steady cash payout while holding some of the biggest stocks out there—I’m talking about household names like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com… Read more

Historically, for whatever reason, stocks have made most of their gains between November 1 and May 1. (Hence the phrase “sell in May and go away.”)

I won’t bore you with the statistical details because they don’t matter for our purposes. Every year is unique, and we treat each as such. But, for our contrarian edge, it is helpful that the onset of fall provokes fear in the hearts of mainstream investors.

The S&P 500 is acting like it’s about to slip off a cliff. It’s been a year since the market’s last meaningful correction. We’re in the fragile half of the year and, seasonally speaking, September and October tend to be particularly weak.… Read more

There’s one word that strikes terror into the hearts of mainstream investors: leverage.

But it really shouldn’t—and today I’m going to show you how to make sure you’re using leverage the right way, while minimizing your risk and tapping into some of the biggest gains (and dividends!) available to us today.

As you probably know, closed-end funds (CEFs) commonly use leverage to amp up their investment returns (and their dividends, which yield 6.5%, on average, as I write this). That’s fed their strong gains this year, as the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates low:

CEFs on a Tear

Source: CEF Insider

The CEF Insider Index Tracker has shown double-digit gains everywhere except in municipal bonds (which is normal, as we buy munis for their stability and tax-free dividends).… Read more