3 Easy Steps to Unlock Big 7.5% Dividends (Paid Monthly, to Boot)

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3 Easy Steps to Unlock Big 7.5% Dividends (Paid Monthly, to Boot)

Last Monday, we talked about the two biggest mistakes many investors make when buying high-yielding closed-end funds (CEFs). Today we’re taking the opposite tack and delving into three things to look for to pick the very best of these 7.5%+ payers for your portfolio.

The upshot? If all three of these strengths are present, you likely have yourself a winner. But first things first—let’s talk a bit about what sets CEFs apart. These funds are different from ETFs and mutual funds in two key ways.

  1. CEFs have fixed share counts and generally can’t issue new shares to new investors (hence the “closed” in the name).

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The Steadiest Dividend Stocks Paying Up to 11%

Worried about a pullback? I don’t blame you.

Today we’ll discuss five of the steadiest dividend stocks on the planet. And let’s not confuse stability with penny pinching—these cash cows yield up to 11%!

How do we capture payouts without wild price swings? Two words: low beta.

Beta measures how much (or how little) a stock or fund moves compared to a benchmark—usually the S&P 500, but it depends. The benchmark is set at 1. Lower than 1 means an investment moves less; higher than 1 means it moves more.

Thus, beta is a de facto measure of an investment’s volatility.… Read more

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How to Tap This “Hated” Bull Market for 8.7% Dividends

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a data nerd. I could go on and on about all the economic numbers I watch for you every month, but these weekly articles just don’t give me the room. So I have to be selective.

There are hundreds (I’m not exaggerating; I’m up to 157 so far) of data points that prove the US economy is doing better than most people think, and that 2022’s doom-and-gloom was way overdone (and in many cases plain wrong).

Unfortunately, my editor would never let me cover all of them, especially in one article! And, let’s be honest, most people wouldn’t want to sit through 157 data points, either.… Read more

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This “Once a Decade” Dividend Bargain is Here, Again!

Cough. Cough. “This latest variant is legit,” I sputtered to my wife.

This was a school year and a half ago. The kids were home sick—again. Our little super spreaders had kindly brought home the latest coronavirus model.

Or so I thought. We soon learned it was Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) going around town. RSV is highly contagious and, while the Internet lists its symptoms as mild, it wouldn’t be my choice for our next family illness. RSV lingers like an out-of-town relative without a return flight.

Generally, RSV runs its course. But it’s nearly impossible to avoid unless you avoid people—which may or may not be an option.… Read more

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My Advice: Buy This 4.6% Tax-Free Dividend as Powell Hits Pause

There’s a crop of outsized dividends out there that are absurdly underpriced—I’m talking 14%-off discounts here. And our opportunity to pounce has arrived.

I’m talking about municipal bonds, which, like corporate bonds, look set to bounce as the economy slows and interest rates top out—then start to move lower. As rates ease off, bond yields will dip, putting a lift under bond prices (as yields and prices move in opposite directions).

The upshot? AI-powered NASDAQ stocks will lose their luster, and bonds and bond proxies—including utilities and “munis”—will likely be the darlings of 2024.

Heck, even a modest decline in rates would be enough to boost these assets.… Read more

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Make These 2 Mistakes and You’ll Miss a Growing 9.6% Dividend

Over a decade ago, closed-end funds (CEFs) helped me achieve financial independence. Since then I’ve seen hundreds of other people use them to get there, too. I’m certain these unloved funds—payers of 8%+ dividends—can help you do the same.

Well, I shouldn’t say “unloved.” “Misunderstood” is more accurate.

As I write this, the CEFs tracked by my CEF Insider service yield 8.3% on average. But because the CEF market is small and off the radar to most folks, many don’t know what to look for in these high-yielding funds—if they know about them at all.

Today we’re going to change that by looking at a couple common mistakes people make when choosing CEFs, and how these errors can lead them to miss out on 8%+ yielders that offer sustainable payouts and strong gain potential, too.… Read more

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Get These 7%-15% Yielding REITs Before They Rebound

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are dirt-cheap—but hurry if you like dividends. These generous payers may not be in the bargain bin for much longer.

REITs tend to trade opposite long-term interest rates. The ever-rising 10-year Treasury yield has been a big headwind for these stocks.

But all rising rate periods eventually end in recession. Which brings falling rates. Which hurts stock prices—unless you like REITs.

REITs trade more like bonds than stocks, so they tend to hold up well in recessions. Their dividends, ignored during AI bubbles, come back in vogue as easy money dries up.

So here we go—bargain city!… Read more

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Our “1980s Redux” Bond Strategy for 9.9% Dividends

It’s back to the 1980s in the corporate-bond world—with yields through the roof. (I’m talking safe 9.9%+ payouts when we buy bonds through high-yielding funds like the one we’ll delve into below.)

If you were investing back then, you may recall that bond yields soared well into double-digit territory before falling back to earth:


Source: Economic Report of the President (2012), Government Printing Office

In other words, if you bought a corporate-bond fund in 1981, you’d have gotten a 14.2% return every year for the bonds’ duration, which in some cases was a decade. And you’d have gotten that return in cash.… Read more

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New Trade of Decade: Favor Bonds Over Stocks

Three years ago, I wrote to you from the La-Z-Boy in my kids’ room. Which wasn’t unusual. We were all stuck at home staring at whatever immediate family we were sheltered in place with. It was April 3, 2020.

(Ah, 2020. Family walks were the highlight of the day. Our investment strategist—and survivalist father—took no chances when leaving the house. Here’s one from the archives that recently resurfaced on my wife’s phone…)

Six packs in a stroller? The norm. What was unusual was the content of the note I penned to you before the big walk. Favor Stocks Over Bonds was the topic, strange coming from a guy who writes about bonds for a living.… Read more

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3 “Electric” Dividends Set to Soar in ’24 (They’re Cheap Now)

I know it’s only August, but I’m ready to make my first “dividend prediction” for 2024: utilities—especially growth utilities—will surge.

That means now is the time to dust off our parents’ playbook and grab these rock-steady payers before the mainstream crowd comes around. When they do, it’ll be goodbye NVIDIA (NVDA) and hello Consolidated Edison (ED)—one of the three stocks we’ll discuss below.

The Coming “Rate Rollover” Just Got Moved Up

We’re bullish on utilities now because this economy is bogging out. We got more proof of that last week, with China posting an anemic 0.8% growth rate in Q2.… Read more

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