Welcome to part II of my series examining the attributes of good dividend stocks.  The first thing to look for when analyzing a dividend stock is its dividend history.  A long record of rising dividend payments shows discipline, sensible capital allocation, and demonstrates management’s commitment to shareholders.
Earnings You Can Take To The Bank
You might not [...]

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Dividend paying stocks are the bread and butter of every income investor living off their portfolio income (or aspiring to, anyway).  As far as passive income strategies go, dividend-paying stocks sit at the top of the heap.  After an initial research effort, good dividend stocks can be held for years, even decades, providing a stream of steadily [...]

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My 8th grade sunday school teacher was a billionaire, the 380th richest man in America (and 799th richest man in the world), in fact, according to the Forbes 400 2007 list.  With a net worth of $1.3 billion, Truett Cathy knows what he’s talking about and one of the keys to success is learning from those [...]

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You’ve no doubt heard about the proposed gas tax holiday supported by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain but opposed by Barack Obama.  I’m going to have to side with Obama on this one.  A gas tax holiday is by far the dumbest idea to ever come out of a presidential candidate, and that’s [...]

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Carnival of Personal Finance
My post on Vanguard’s Global Stock Market Index Fund was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance #150 hosted by Lazy Man And Money.  Here are some of my favorite posts from this week’s edition:
Moneyning asks if you would rather get a consistent income or a large upfront payment.  Personally, I would [...]

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Back in february I wrote about certain situations where a variable annuity may make sense.  My conclusion was that there are particular investments it makes sense to put in a variable annuity:  high-yield junk bonds, intermediate-term corporate bonds, and REITs, provided you have:

Maxed out all other tax-advantaged retirement options like your 401k and Roth IRA
Built a [...]

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There are several blogs out there devoted to passive income:  Living off dividends, the dividend guy, dividend growth investor, and dividends4life just to name a few, all dedicated to the idea of freeing oneself from the bonds of regular employment by creating a diversified income source not dependent on your direct involvement.  Passive income is [...]

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