From 12% Yields, 14% Gains to the Next Dividend Train Leaving the Station

Our Archive

Search completed

From 12% Yields, 14% Gains to the Next Dividend Train Leaving the Station

When we buy dividend stocks, we’re looking for more than just the dividend. Price gains are preferred as well.

Greedy? Nah. Not if we time our buys right. It is possible to have our payouts and watch our stocks go up, too.

Two months ago, we recommended Annaly Capital (NLY) in these pages. Annaly dished a safe 12.9% dividend, well-funded by income. And the mortgage REIT (mREIT) had upside potential to boot.

Vanilla investors were worried about a recession, missing a time-tested maxim of income investing: As rates fall, REITs rise. This “rate-REIT seesaw” was about to tip and catapult Annaly’s price higher.… Read more

Read More

1 Simple Step for 26% Dividends in 2026

Is your portfolio on track to yield 26% in 2026?

If not, why not?

Of course, most stocks and funds don’t pay 26% on their own. But it’s a quick fix to get many of them to.

This makes a big difference to our retirement goals: a 26% return on a million-dollar portfolio is $260,000 in cash flow per year! Without tapping the principal.

Or $130,000 in cash flow on $500K. You get the idea. With 26% coming in, it’s a lot easier to retire.

How can we boost our investment income like this? Let’s take boring ol’ SPY—SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)—as our first example.… Read more

Read More

My Top 6 Dividend Stocks for 2026 (Buy Now, Don’t Wait)

Let’s get our 2026 dividend shopping finished ahead of time, shall we?

Come January, we’ll have plenty of company from vanilla investors, rushing to “figure out the new year.” Trends. Predictions. Buy this!

But there’s no reason to wait. We already know some of the key dimensions of 2026. Interest rates, for one, are on their way down. Fed Chair Jay Powell has delivered two rate cuts to end the year, with more to follow.

Whether or not Powell personally delivers them doesn’t matter to us. Powell is on his way out. But the Fed show will go on, with a ringmaster ready to roll.… Read more

Read More

Wall Street Panics, Powell Cooks, Chef’s Kiss for THIS 12.9% Dividend

Jerome Powell is preparing a wonderful holiday income dish for us.

The economy is running hot and he’s cutting rates anyway. Oh baby! “Lame Duck Jerry” is finally starting to cook.

But vanilla investors aren’t having it. They’re sprinting from the table! Recession fears dominate the headlines, even though the data scream otherwise.

The Atlanta Fed’s thermometer has GDP at a sizzling 4%. Four percent! In today’s AI-fueled, efficiency-obsessed economy, the old recession playbook simply doesn’t apply.

AI is eating traditional white-collar work. Business models from 2019 no longer apply in 2025. Some sectors are struggling while others hit new strides.… Read more

Read More

These “Paper Mills” Print an Average Yield of 8.9%

“Regular” REITs typically buy physical properties, find someone to manage them, and lease them out. They collect rent checks and avoid paying taxes on most of these profits if they pay most of their earnings out as dividends (per the terms of their tax loophole, which frees them from paying taxes if they distribute 90% of their profits as payouts). This is the reason REIT stocks typically boast big yields.

Mortgage REITs (mREITs), on the other hand, don’t own buildings. They own paper. Specifically, they buy mortgage loans and collect the interest. How do they make money? By borrowing short (assuming short-term rates are lower) and lending long (if long-term rates are, as they tend to be, higher).… Read more

Read More

5 “Economy Lot” Dividend Stocks: $9 or Less Yielding Up to 11.8%

Cheap stocks are fun. We can buy a lot of shares without shelling out too much dough.

Generally speaking, most single-digit stocks are “cheap for a reason”—they are losers. But we contrarians leave no discarded stone unturned. Especially in our search for dividends that we can retire on.

There are a few inexpensive stocks that actually pay. And a select set of them that are even worth buying for their dividends.

In a minute we’ll discuss five “economy lot” yield plays that pay from 6.3% to 11.8%. These are all single-digit share prices that sell for $9 or less today.… Read more

Read More

4 mREITs Yielding Over 8%

“Regular” REITs typically buy physical properties, find someone to manage them, and lease them out. They collect rent checks and avoid paying taxes on most of these profits if they distribute 90% of their profits as payouts. This is the reason REIT stocks typically boast big yields.

Mortgage REITs (mREITs), on the other hand, don’t own buildings. They own paper. Specifically, they buy mortgage loans and collect the interest. How do they make money? By borrowing “short” (assuming short-term rates are lower) and lending “long” (if long-term rates are, as they tend to be, higher).

This business model prints money when long-term rates are steady or, better yet, declining.… Read more

Read More

Time to Take a Flyer on mREITs (and Their 11.2% Yields?)

When April 1 rolled around, many mortgage payments were made late. That was no joke—we were in the midst of our first (and most serious) round of lockdowns.

Who knew what bills were going to get paid, if any?

Mortgage REIT (mREIT) stocks, which require mortgages to actually be paid, suffered broadly and badly. Some shares, such as industry bellwether Annaly (NLY), dropped as much as 60% in just more than a month. This plunge crushed many income investors, who rely on the fat dividends paid by the sector (11.2%, on average!) to fund their retirements.

Now, mREITs don’t actually own or operate any real estate (unlike their REIT cousins).… Read more

Read More

Danger: Three 9%-18% REIT Dividends Won’t Last Long

Most dividend investors understandably love the idea of an 8% No Withdrawal Portfolio. It’s a simple yet “game changing” idea that you don’t hear much from mainstream pundits and advisors.

Find stocks that pay 7%, 8% or more and you can retire comfortably, living off dividend checks while your initial capital stays intact (or even appreciates).

Now this strategy is a bit more complicated than simply finding 8% yields and buying them. Granted the recent stock market pullback has benefited investors like us because we can snag more dividends for our dollar. Yields are higher overall, and that’s a good thing.… Read more

Read More

The Next GE? Avoid These 5 Dicey Dividends

Do you own the next GE? I’m talking about five dividends that are not as sacred as their shareholders mistakenly believe. We’ll review them in a minute.

First, the warning signs. Many investors were kicked in the gut by General Electric (GE) last year, no thanks to pundits who ignored numerous red flags and encouraged people to buy GE and its historically generous yield. Sure, 5% isn’t “high,” but in a sleepy industrial like General Electric, that’s certainly attractive at a glance.

It also was downright dangerous.

Anyone keeping tabs on the all-important payout ratios for General Electric’s dividend had to see the writing on the wall.…
Read more

Read More

Categories