Stocks are pricey, but we closed-end fund (CEF) investors aren’t sweating it: we’ve got an edge that lets us buy at a discount, with dividends that are double—and sometimes triple—the typical S&P 500 payout!

That would be our ability to buy CEFs that trade at discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the value of their underlying portfolios). This simple move lets us “rewind the clock” and essentially buy the stocks our CEFs hold at levels we could a few months ago on the open market.

(And there are many bargain-priced CEFs to be had out there, including one trading at a 10% discount and paying more than double the average stock’s dividend—more on that below.)… Read more

The 10-year Treasury is storming past 1.6% yet again. Look out, high yield!

I kid because I love (income). And one-point-six just doesn’t do it for me. Plus, remember, this bounty does not escape the tax man. Any interest income we earn from Treasuries—no matter how sad—is subject to federal and state taxes.

So, if we’re multiplying a nest egg (let’s use $500K) by 1.6%, we must remember that the final answer is probably not $8,000 in annual income. Because if we’re raking in income from any other sources, we should lop off a chunk of this for taxes.

Interest Received is the official IRS tax term, for my fellow tax wonks.… Read more

Goldman Sachs says the Fed will start cutting its bond purchases next month—and that sets up some of our favorite dividend-payers for a quick 61% profit surge. (I’ll reveal the tickers we need to reap this “taper bonanza” in a moment.)

Wait. Why are we taking Goldman’s word here?

Because “Government Sachs” has the deepest DC connections of any bank: former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Steven Mnuchin are Goldman grads, among many other government bigwigs. When it comes to what’s happening at the Fed, I’d take Goldman’s opinion over that of Jay Powell himself!

A Boon for Dividend Investors

To get at how we’ll flip the taper into big dividends, let’s connect it to a figure we all watch closely: the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.… Read more

Let’s work this market pullback to grab ourselves a sweet 21% “double discount” on our favorite stocks. We’ll also get a dividend from blue chip firms that don’t even pay one!

The key is an off-the-radar closed-end fund (CEF) holding some of the biggest names on the market and trading at a totally undeserved 17% below its true value. And this one pays a rock-steady 3.1% dividend, too—double what the typical S&P 500 stock yields!

Before we put a name and ticker to this fund, let’s talk about the first part of the 21% double discount we’re going to tap today.… Read more

Many financial advisors doubt that we can retire comfortably on a million dollars, let alone $500K.

Let me outline our compelling dividend counterpoint—a five-stock portfolio with an average yield of 12.3%.

This generates more than $60,000 in annual income on a $500K portfolio, or a sweet $123,000 in dividends on that million-dollar nest egg. And, most importantly, this “retire on dividends” strategy leaves the principal untouched.

Contrary to popular opinion, we have a pool of dividend candidates. Let’s start with the 879 dividend-paying stocks that yield more than 3% and work our way up the chain:

Believe It Or Not, 50 US Stocks Yield 10%+

Note: U.S.-listed… Read more

Most investors are ignoring a clear shot at 7%+ dividends double-digit price gains—year in and year out—in a sector everyone should be talking about, but isn’t.

That would be healthcare, which is riding a rocket of rising spending: according to the latest numbers from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, US health expenditures will soar 5.4% annually, on average, every year until 2028. (We’ll dive into three funds paying huge dividends up to 8.3% and poised to cash in on this wave in a moment.)

The thing about that 5.4% yearly increase is that it’s much bigger than projected US GDP growth of 4%.… Read more

If I were a Federal Reserve official—and I were not currently under investigation for sketchy February 2020 trades—I’d really be tempted to “back up the truck” on key taper tantrum dividend stocks.

These obvious payout plays have already soared 56% or more year-to-date. But there’s more to come because their profits are being artificially suppressed by the Fed. (Yes, you read that right. The Fed money flood is boosting everything except for these laggards. For now.) Once this constraint is lifted—or even moderated a bit—their bottom lines are going to boom.

Today, the Fed is buying $80 billion in government bonds every month.… Read more

Investors are sitting on a shot at 100%+ dividend growth and a safe 6.9% yield—and most don’t even know it.

The route to this dividend bonanza runs through real estate investment trusts (REITs) that own apartment buildings. These landlords are raking in cash, with US rents skyrocketing by double digits in the last nine months. (We’ll discuss three specific names shortly.)

Higher cash flows translate straight into surging dividends because REITs are “pass-through” investments: they collect the rent, take out what they need to keep their tenants happy (and renewing their leases!) and send the rest our way.

This pass-through structure is no formality.… Read more

There’s an unusual shift unfolding in the labor market that we contrarians can tap for outsized dividends (I’m talking a near-10% yield here), plus price upside for years to come.

We’ll do it using a closed-end fund (CEF) that’s tethered itself to a trend everyone has missed—a trend that’s concealed behind a metric called the labor force participation rate, or LFPR.

It may have a boring name, but that doesn’t stop the media from reporting on the LFPR. You’ve likely heard it pop up in the mainstream press from time to time.

It simply refers to the percentage of the population that’s actively working or looking for work.… Read more

In this zero point nothing yield environment, investors will scratch any post possible, attempting to unearth yield in sometimes all the wrong places.

Within my world of coverage (REITs), it’s a struggle to find attractive yields in that 5% plus range, something that used to be a lot simpler in more normal interest rate environments.

Today, the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) yields 2.6%, double that of the S&P 500 index. It’s not BAD, but it’s not what many of us need when planning out our retirement income.

I’ve seen an adventurous retiree or two dip their toes into those REITs yielding above 6%, grasping for yield, however ignoring all the risks associated with a dividend more than double the sector average.… Read more