For your reading enjoyment, I have highlighted several articles that the readers found of particular interest this month. I have included the article title, as well as a short description.
Happy 4th of July! Hope you are having a nice and relaxing Holiday Weekend!
I highlighted five dividend paying companies which raised dividends to shareholders in the article. Each company had at least a ten year streak of annual dividend increases, making it a dividend achiever or dividend champion. A long record of annual dividend increases is a sign of quality, because only stable companies with dependable earnings are able to achieve this track record. I review the notable dividend increases weekly, as part of my monitoring process.
In this guest post from Sure Dividend, Bob Ciura discussed three dividend aristocrats which he finds to be attractive valued today. Each of these companies has a low P/E ratio and a higher than average dividend yield. Bob believes that the dividends are dependable, which is why he finds those companies amongst his favorites. The three Dividend Aristocrats offer the combination of a market-beating dividend yield, low stock valuation, and strong earnings growth potential. As a result, each stock earns a buy recommendation from Sure Dividend, as they have the lowest level of dividend risk and high expected returns over the next five years.
I am frequently asked by readers about resources I use. While I have discussed before the resources I use to monitor my holdings, and I have compiled before information on resources before, those lists are forever changing. As I have done this for over a decade, I continuously add, test and remove tools from my list. However, I also have to keep in mind the fact that this site is read by investors with varying levels of experience. Therefore, I decided to list a few free resources that may be helpful for any dividend investor out there.
Another helpful resource is the Sure Dividend Morning Dividend, which some readers have found to be helpful.
I screened the list of Dividend Champions, using my proprietary entry criteria. These include a P/E ratio below 20, a dividend growth rate above the inflation rate, a sustainable payout ratio, as well as growing earnings per share over the past decade. I have been discussing this criteria for over 9 years now. I find that using factors that are common sense to be very appealing when selecting dividend companies. The twenty-four companies are not automatic buys of course, but merely candidates for further research. It may be interesting to see how a blind selection of these 24 companies would do over the next decade. I guess we would touch base in 2029 on this item.
I am sharing this screening process in order to show investors how I go about identifying companies, and build a diversified portfolio over time. I have found that the ability to stick to a process, invest regularly, and to keep holding through patiently thick or thin is my edge in investing. By sharing my experience, I am hopeful to inspire you into developing your own methodology, and use it to work towards your financial objectives.
I view the pursuit of financial independence as an endeavor that would allow readers to reclaim their own time, while also providing the flexibility to pursue what is truly important for them. When you become financially independent, you typically receive dividends, capital gains, rent payments, royalty payments from investments, and you have the added benefit of not having not work even a day in your life from there. Depending on how things work out for you, this can be achieved as early as your 30s or as late as your 50s or 60s.
I embrace the pursuit of financial independence. It shouldn’t be a big surprise that after discussing investments for over a decade, I am a big fan of pursuing financial independence at my own terms. To me, financial independence is the point at which your passive income meets or exceeds your expenses. This is the so called dividend crossover point. The point of learning about dividend investing and applying it with real money on the line has always been to help me reach my dividend crossover point.
