Yearly Dividends Up to $68,500 on Just $500K

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If there’s anything better than monthly dividends, well, we contrarians don’t want to know about it. Getting paid on the same schedule as our bills (monthly!), makes retirement planning easy.

We still need enough yield, though, to get rid (and stay rid) of our day jobs. Our pile of savings is what it is at this point, so we look to larger dividends to do the heavy lifting for us.

The S&P 500, needless to say, won’t cut it. First, the “SPY” pays quarterly—not often enough! Second, it pays 1.2%—not high enough!

“The Market” Is Paying Just Pennies

Even yield-focused funds’ yields are pretty lame right now.… Read more

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Believe it or not, your favorite income strategist once had a multi-year stint as the head of human resources for a US-based software company.

It was, coincidentally, my last regular “day job” before I drifted into the world of stocks and startups.

When my old boss, our managing director, handed me the task of hiring our new employees, he gave me this piece of wisdom.

“I trust you to make the call. Just one thing…” he winked at me.

“The kids must be graduates from Berkeley, Cornell, MIT or Stanford.”

Gee, thanks boss. Like it was an easy task to convince a new graduate from an elite engineering school to skip the offer from Google to work with us.… Read more

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These small business lenders trade publicly—and offer payouts between 10.5% and 13%.

You have our attention.

We’ll discuss three stocks in the space in a moment. First, let’s address why these companies exist.

When small businesses need cash, they typically don’t dial up their banks. Increasingly, they turn to a small subset of private equity-esque companies for help. These unique companies throw off double-digit yields and can often be found trading for less than they’re worth. Not bad when we’re talking dividends up to 13%!

My Favorite Way to Collect Big Checks From Small Businesses

Once upon a time, when small businesses held out their hands for much-needed growth capital, banks were the only game in town.… Read more

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What’s better than a big dividend?

A hated high yield.

Especially when the disgust comes from Wall Street analysts themselves. You know, the fanboys who follow the company for a living.

Analysts are paid to be bullish. Let’s face it, nobody wants to hear from a bear. Here’s how unusual is it for analysts to be down on a stock?

There are just two consensus Sell calls across the entire S&P 500. Two.

So, when one of the suits says a business is bad, we should take note, right?

Wrong.

Analysts tend to be trend followers. And as they say in the business, the trend is your friend until it ends.… Read more

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When the Wall Street cheerleaders actually dislike a stock—well, that sure commands our contrarian attention.

Today we’ll cover one of my favorite traditions, which is fading the opinions of analysts. You know, the guys who typically slap a Buy rating on everything they see?

It sounds counterintuitive, but we don’t want Buy ratings on our stocks. Give us Holds and Sells and general apathy. Or, even better, disgust.

When every analyst rates a stock a Buy, it feels “safe” to purchase. But really, it’s anything but. With nobody left to upgrade, there is nothing to do but wait for the dreaded downgrade.… Read more

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Buying a business development company (BDCs) is kinda, sorta like investing like a venture capitalist (VC).

Minus the arrogance. And the lack of yields!

I was 26 when I realized that VCs were just regular guys and gals. Well, let’s be honest—mostly guys. They didn’t necessarily know anything special. But VCs play the part, sitting in their Steelcase chairs and short sleeved polo shirts while it’s 60 degrees out here in Northern California.

BDCs, on the other hand, are investments for the people. Plus, they pay—up to 15% in dividends!

Here’s a quick primer. BDCs lend to small and midsized businesses that the big banks either won’t touch.… Read more

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Vanilla investors buy stocks that Wall Street approves of.

Why?

If a stock is showered with Buy ratings, then who is left to bid the price even higher? Nobody!

This lame “strategy” feels good but ends up with latecomers top ticking the market. Which is why we contrarians aim differently—for the bottom of the barrel.

Give us stocks with Sell ratings. Which often means there’s nobody left to sell!

Today we’ll discuss a pack of discarded dividend stocks paying up to 12.6%. Not only are these yields real, and spectacular, they have price upside potential to boot.

After all, a stock slathered with Sell labels has nothing but upgrades in its future.… Read more

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Most vanilla investors like to buy stocks that are well-liked by Wall Street analysts.

This strategy, my contrarian friend, we know is a recipe for disaster.

Why? Well, firms that are already popular with stock jocks have nowhere to go but down. Discarded names, on the other hand, are where the action is because these are the next “analyst upgrade” candidates.

These prices have little downside and lots of upside!

It is difficult to find these out-of-favor plays because most analysts wear rose-colored glasses. They know how their bread gets buttered, and that’s with a bullish outlook.

Which is why a Sell rating is so darned interesting to us.… Read more

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Today we’ll discuss a duo of cheap dividend stocks paying 11.2%. And, for good measure, we’ll throw in another bargain even though it “only” yields 9.5%.

I jest because I love. Dividends, that is. And bear markets don’t usually last much longer than this. So, it is double-digit yield shopping we go.

These are serious yields we’re looking at—the kind we need to retire on dividends alone. They’re hard to find among over-followed, over-analyzed and over-owned blue-chip stocks. But they’re abundant in BDCland (populated by business development companies (BDCs), of course).

Like real estate investment trusts (REITs), business development companies are a creation of Congress.… Read more

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Patience is the key to being a successful contrarian investor.

We buy when fear is widespread. Bear markets are our friends. Let’s sit back and let the market’s valuations come down to us.

I wrote very recently that the market is this close to sending out a market-wide buy signal. Let’s get ready to back up the truck.

Today, we’ll discuss targets for retirement income yielding a ludicrous 12.9%—after all, a self-sustaining portfolio that allows you to live off dividends alone can give you enormous peace of mind once you’re past your working years.

And if those dividends land in your mailbox or account every 30 days or so, matching your monthly bills…well, that’s even better.… Read more

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