Contributions Matter (Most)
When it comes to dividend investing, retirement, or any other investment related topic we as investors are always very focused on the return we are going to generate. What is the historical return of the stock market? What is my estimate for how the market will perform over the next 25 years. What rate of [...]
My Fixed Income Portfolio Components
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I firmly believe that the most important component to my portfolio is my asset allocation. I think it is even more important than owning dividend growth stocks! As I do regularly these days, I made a recent portfolio move in the name of asset allocation. I [...]
The David Swensen Asset Allocation Model
David Swensen is the famed manager of the Yale Endowment Fund and has been able to generate a 16.3% annualized return during his tenure as fund manager. No easy feat considering that most active portfolio managers are unable to even beat the market. I know I will never be the investor that Swensen is. His [...]
Why I Allocate Part of My Portfolio to Small-Caps
As a dividend investor the individual companies I tend to hold are those big well established companies that have been around long enough to afford them the possibility and ability to raise their dividend each and every year. However, good portfolio performance dictates that these stocks do not make up the only part of my [...]
How I Invest in Emerging Markets
A small (5%) part of my portfolio is the emerging market asset class. I admit, this is not a dividend stock but it does fit into my overall asset allocation strategy. I want diversification with the opportunity to achieve some strong portfolio returns. In effect, I take on extra risk for the hope of enhanced [...]
DRIPs Are a Means to An End, Not A Reason to Buy a Stock
As a dividend investor, it is usually assumed that I love dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs). Truth is that I think they are a great thing to use to save investment costs. However, I have met a lot of investors who believe that the use of a DRIP is an investment strategy in itself as opposed [...]
Why ETF Marketing is Hurting Investors
The one thing that did the most to turn me off of mutual funds was their relentless marketing on how diversified they were. Invest in this mutual fund and you are diversified and safe – is what we often heard. All the while, mutual fund companies were charging enormous fees in the form of high [...]
Taking the Least Amount of Risk – the Right Asset Allocation
Frank Armstrong calls it “The Glide Slope” and it refers to adjusting your asset allocation from riskier assets to less risky ones as you get closer to retirement. In this process we as dividend stock investors are all after The Super Efficient Portfolio[ad#tdg-embedded] The book, The Retirement Challenge by Frank Armstrong is a really good [...]
