These 11.1% Payers Crush Stocks (in Dividends Alone)

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Forget the latest blather from the Fed: folks just trying to get a decent income stream are still getting a raw deal these days. Treasuries pay 3.7%. Stocks? Just 1.6%.

Too bad inflation is at 4%, so our real returns are negative on both!

Sure, stocks do give us price upside, but we have to sell to get a decent income stream, shriveling our portfolio and our dividends as we do.

We can do better with high-yielding closed-end funds (CEFs). These days, plenty of CEFs yield 10%+. The three we’ll cover below do even better, yielding 11.1% on average. That means these CEFs are beating the S&P 500’s historical return in dividends alone.Read more

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Do you know how much money you need to retire?

If you’re like most folks, you might think the answer is “too much,” and for good reason. It seems like every day we hear another study or pundit saying we need millions to do so comfortably.

That’s why I was surprised to see a new study out from NetCredit, an online money lender, saying most people would need less than a million dollars to retire. In fact, the company said it’s possible to clock out on just $702,330 in the US as a whole, and in some states even less—like about $470,000 in Mississippi.… Read more

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Despite all the doom and gloom out there, there has never been a better time to retire.

I know that sounds absurd, but it’s true, especially if you plan to retire on dividends alone. With the 2022 crash crushing stock prices—and driving up dividend yields—it’s prime time to grab some outsized payouts for cheap!

But the blue chips that everyone buys are not the answer. Because even with the selloff, the average S&P 500 stock’s yield has risen to … 1.6%.

No way that’ll cut it, and Treasuries won’t cut it, either. Buying the 10-year at the current 3.8% yield only gets you $19K a year in dividends on your $500K—poverty-level income.… Read more

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Inflation is up, stocks are soaring (Omicron be damned!) and bargains are thin on the ground.

Well, not all stocks are soaring—one sector has fallen behind, and it’s set us up for some nice “snap back” upside in 2022, with big dividends (yielding up to 7.6%!) on the side. We’ll talk tickers in a moment. First, let’s take a 50,000-foot view of the sector we’re going to dive into and work our way down from there.

That would be real estate, specifically publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), which have been left in the dust in the pandemic- (and Federal Reserve–) powered market of 2020/2021.… Read more

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Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have become quite popular with income investors in recent years. And why not? These “retirement makers” are required to give 90% of their profits to their shareholders as dividends.

So, if you’re looking to retire on dividends, REITs are a natural place to look.

Problem is, their popularity comes at a price. The Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) yields just 2.5% today—pretty lame by its standards:

The Problem with Popularity: VNQ Pays Just 2.5%

A disappearing dividend isn’t the only problem with VNQ. Like most ETFs it tends to overweight the largest REITs, which typically translates into both lower overall yields and slower dividend growth.… Read more

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You know we’re in a pricey market when even obscure high-yield plays like closed-end funds (CEFs) are pricey!

But we can still find deals in this space, which is hands-down my favorite field in which to hunt for big payouts. In focus today: one totally overlooked fund (from an equally overlooked management firm) throwing off a hefty 7.6% dividend.

This deal can’t last—with yields so low on everything from government bonds to large cap stocks, investors will inevitably seek out this hidden high yielder. And we’ll be in with an early position when they do. (We’ll also delve into two other funds from the same management firm that you need to avoid at all costs.)… Read more

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My indicators are pointing to one thing right now: higher stock prices, with new all-time highs next year. So this is a great time to lock in some fresh 8%+ payouts—before their prices race away from us!

But wait a minute. The economy stinks and our political process seems more dysfunctional than ever. So why would stocks climb from here?

Money Printer Goes Brrrrr…

The answer lies with Fed Chair Jay Powell’s printing press monetary policy. Since March, he’s been flooding the economy with liquidity. Other central banks around the world have been generous, too.

Powell Goes All In

We both know that printing buckets of money is a recipe for higher inflation.… Read more

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There are four funds sitting right under investors’ noses throwing off rich 10.6% dividends today. What’s more, these high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) deliver these rich payouts monthly.

We can thank the recent selloff for this opportunity. It’s weighed on these CEFs’ prices, tweaking their yields higher.

With a 10.6% payout, you can get a yearly dividend stream of $40,000 on just a $378,000 investment. If you went with an index fund like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) or Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which both yield 1.7% as I write this, you’d have to invest $2.4 million to get the same payout!… Read more

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The way most folks invest, they’ll need way more than a million bucks to retire—in fact, they’ll need almost double that!

No wonder so many people throw up their hands and commit to working till they’re 100. Maybe you’re one of these frustrated souls. With the world in the state it’s in today, I can’t blame you.

But what if I told you that you could retire on a lot less? Like 75% less.

That’s right: a fully paid-for retirement on just a $437,500 nest egg. Save up that much and you can look forward to a steady $35,000 in dividends (which is right around the average personal income in the US) year in and year out.… Read more

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Let’s be honest: our lives would be much easier if we could just buy the typical S&P 500 stock, get the 7%+ dividends we need for retirement, and call it a day. Trouble is, the popular kids only pay high yields when the market’s in flames!

Like Pfizer (PFE), which yields a ho-hum 3.8% now. But if you’d bought when stocks bottomed during the financial crisis, you’d be sitting on a cash machine: back then (March 2009), Pfizer’s payout shot up to an incredible 11%!

Pfizer’s (Very) Temporary 11% Yield

Of course, you needed quick reflexes and nerves of steel to lock in that yield before it vanished in the rebound.… Read more

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