retirements

Nucor Corporation is engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. As the largest minimill steelmaker in the U.S., Nucor has one of the most diverse product lines of any steelmaker in the Americas. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

For a dividend investor, there is not much worse than a stock that cuts or eliminates its dividend. Suddenly, the reason you purchased the stock no longer exists. Many dividend investors, myself included, have a hard and fast rule to immediately sell any stock held as income investment if it cuts its dividend.

We have all heard it… Stodgy, for old people, yawn, boring! These have all been used to describe dividend growth investing. As a dividend growth investor, I sometimes think our strategy is the most misunderstood. Periodically, it is good to remind ourselves why we are dividend growth investors.

Cincinnati Financial Corp. markets primarily property and casualty coverage; it also conducts life insurance and asset management operations. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

This past week I have been vacationing more than 1,500 miles from my home. As with most vacations, I have not done much work this week. However, a quick check of my brokerage account shows that my dividend stocks have been very busy this week. It is nice to know my income portfolio never takes a day off.

If income investing were as simple as picking the stock with the highest yield, everyone would be an expert. Most assume (rightfully so) that yield is heavily influenced by risk, but much more goes into determining yield. Below are several important factors that influence a stock’s yield, along with some illustrative examples:

RPM International Inc. makes specialty coatings and products for the structural waterproofing and corrosion control markets, as well as products for the consumer, do-it-yourself and hobby markets. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

A vision is taking the time to contemplate and anticipate, in detail, what the future will bring. A financial vision needs to consider future earnings, savings and economic issues such as inflation. Then based on your vision, you formulate an action plan to ensure the best possible outcome given your unique circumstances. You can’t have a retirement plan until you have a retirement vision.

When you purchase individual stocks, risk is inherit. Sometimes bad things sometimes happen to good stocks such as the Chicago Tylenol murders of 1982. This shook Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) , but eventually it prevailed. Sometimes it is difficult when a strong leader leaves a company and creates a void that just can’t be filled.

McDonald's Corporation is the largest fast-food restaurant company in the world. Its restaurants serve a varied, yet limited, value-priced menu in more than 100 countries around the world. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

I am not a stock trader; I am a dividend and value based long-term buy-and-hold investor. When I add a stock to my dividend portfolio, it is my intention to hold the stock forever. I am not smart enough to time the daily gyrations of the stock market. When stock prices start dropping, our primal instinct of flight kicks in and we want to sell. In many cases that is the time to be buying.

To succeed as a dividend growth investor you must identify and purchase stocks with sustainable dividend growth. Put another way, targeted companies must be both capable and willing to grow their dividends. Obviously, we can not look into the future and see who will and will not perform.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. operates one of the largest no-load mutual fund complexes in the United States. Linked here is a detailed analysis and commentary.

At some point in the future will we look back at our actions today and refer to them as our greatest missed opportunity? A successful dividend growth strategy takes time. Unfortunately, many income investors don’t have the luxury of time on their side and must focus on high-yield investments to meet current expenses. These high-yield investments are often accompanied by high-risk.

In an economic downturn many investors turn to dividend stocks which are sometimes referred to as defensive stocks. These stocks offer sustainable dividends providing the investor with a minimum level of positive return, which helps buffer the downward pressure from the market. But what happens when the market turns up?