READ THIS: The Little Book of Big Dividends by Charles B. Carlson
At Whom You Know, we highly recommend thinking for yourself, understanding money, and making your own investment decisions. Think of how many people that have put their money blindly with money managers, and did not take the time or make the effort to pay attention to details or even overall general market conditions and what they mean in relation to their own personal standing, and how much trouble and stress some of them could have saved themselves when the markets or worse, the fraudulent money managers in some cases, worked against them. So, we know not everyone has had the pleasure of working in the trenches of the financial markets, and therefore when we see a helpful tool we like to point it out to you. Introducing The Little Book of Big Dividends! Read it, and learn something. Read it, and refresh what you already know!
Though Peachy's first love is of course the bond market if you know her, the stock market is much easier for the average person to understand. Do you know the difference between a stock and a bond? This is not Peachy's finance class-it is a book review column-so if you don't you should start there. The Little Book of Big Dividends is about stocks.
Part of the Little Book Big Profits Series, The Little Book of Big Dividends addresses how the average person should intelligently approach the market and suggests that dividend investing provides significant cash flow, so much so in fact that you should be concentrating on this since the book states they are at their lowest level in quite some time. (Peachy has not checked this out herself-we suggest you look at specific companies individually and then in relationship to sector performance, but again, as this is not Peachy's finance class this also is not Peachy's opinion on the markets, it is just her opinion on tools of knowledge and what you should know for yourself.) If you don't know what the different kinds of yields are, look them up. You need to know the basics to understand. There are lots of kinds of yields, both in stocks and bonds...
This book is totally no-nonsense and we like that. The language is simple enough for less sophisticated investors to understand yet not so elementary so that it is insulting to those that walk the walk and talk the talk. If you like math, you will like this book even more. We love love love math. If you don't like math, you should start liking it! We assume you are an adult reading this, but if you are a child reading Whom You Know you are seriously sophisticated and you must like math.
Finding Big Dividends is kind of like going on a treasure hunt. Once you find them, of course you want to buy low and sell high. All of this is easier said than done but if you understand the grand plan it makes it easier to wade through the piles of information. Risk tolerance also is not to be ignored! You'll learn the Big, Safe Dividends Formula and it is explained further in Appendix A, and Appendix B suggests and actual portfolio reflecting this philosophy.
Though we are normally fans of rabbits, in investing, we support the tortoise and the ideas discussed in The Little Book of Big Dividends will show you how you can be an excellent tortoise. What is a dividend and why should you care? When you have Big Dividends, in addition to saving the majority of them which we'd recommend, we suggest spending what you don't save on all of the fabulous things we recommend on Whom You Know! Usually we recommend the latest and greatest consumer products, but today we recommend a method to attain them. Be smart, and understand that dividends do pay off. As Carlson says, create your own yield of dreams.
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“There are dividend-paying stocks in today’s market that will make you rich,” says Charles B. Carlson, bestselling author of THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS: A Safe Formula for Guaranteed Returns (Wiley; February 2010; $19.95; Hardcover). Dividend-paying stocks are as attractive today as they have been in nearly three decades. Just like the beginning of the bull market that began in 1982, today is an excellent time to be a dividend investor. Dividend stocks at bargain basement prices and with high yields are ripe for the picking in today’s market.
If you want the recipe for getting rich in the stock market, says Carlson, here it is: Find stocks with above-average appreciation potential, safe and growing dividends, and buy them at attractive prices. THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS shows you how to do just that.
THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS is a blueprint for successful dividend investing. Among the many topics Carlson addresses are:
- The Basics of Dividend Investing. What a dividend is (and isn’t); why, how, and when companies pay dividends; and why some companies pay big dividends while others pay no dividends at all.
- The Formula for Dividend-Investing Success. Let Carlson introduce you to Big, Safe Dividends Formula, a formula that not only has an excellent track record of spotlighting attractive dividend-paying stocks but also highlights those factors most critical to the safety and growth potential of a company’s dividend.
- How to Invest Even on a Limited Budget. THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS will show you the most cost-effective ways for any investor—even those with limited pocketbooks -- to buy these stocks. You’ll learn how to buy stocks without a broker with an initial investment of $250 or less!
- How to Create a Steady Cash Flow for Retirement. Americans are getting older. With age comes an increased demand for cash flow. Carlson will show you how to organize stocks so that you will be paid big, safe dividends every month of the year. If you can sync an iPod, you can sync your investments with your cash needs.
- Dividend Investment Plans. In order to take advantage of market declines to buy low, you need a strategy that takes emotions out of the decision-making process. Carlson’s dividend reinvestment strategy will show you how to turn a little money into a golden nest-egg over time.
- The Only Dividend Portfolio You May Ever Need. THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS has a model portfolio that features attractive U.S. and international stocks and funds with big, safe dividends so you can start investing with minimal amounts of money.
Finding dividend-paying stocks that will make your rich may not be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. It isn’t August 1982, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average isn’t at 831 (thank goodness!) but the big opportunities are out there. Reading THE LITTLE BOOK of BIG DIVIDENDS will up your chances dramatically of finding them and achieving financial security and prosperity in today’s tough economic climate. Further information can be found at www.bigsafedividends.com
About the Author
CHARLES B. CARLSON, CFA, is CEO of Horizon Investment Services LLC, an investment advisory and money-management company. He is also CEO of Horizon Publishing, a publisher of investment newsletters. Horizon's flagship publication, Dow Theory Forecasts, has been published weekly since 1946 and is one of the oldest investment newsletters in the country. Carlson is a bestselling author and is regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and Money magazine, and is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and radio, and CNN.
