Sunday, October 21, 2012

Weekly Links: October 21, 2012

Each Sunday I highlight the Carnivals I participated in over the past week, along with any notable articles that I came across. For those readers not familiar with carnivals, it's where personal finance bloggers submit their best articles of the week with one blog serving as the host. The entries are separated into various categories such as Investing, Credit, Debt, Budgeting, Frugality, Wealth Building, Money Management, Financial Planning, Insurance, Taxes, The Economy, Real Estate, et. al. Below are the carnivals that I participated in this week, along with a link to my article:

Articles I enjoyed reading included (in no particular order):

The DIV-Net Featured Articles


    Articles from D4L-News:

    Dividend Stocks That Could Wreck Your Retirement
    With interest rates at historic lows, retirees and other income investors are more likely than ever to fall into a dangerous trap -- chasing higher-risk dividend stocks to earn more income. This doesn't only occur among do-it-yourself investors. I've seen professionals succumb to this temptation, too. Sure, this strategy could get you more income. But what good does it do if you end up taking a massive hit to your principal? It's just the sort of thing that can muck up your retirement plans badly. A prime example is...

    Distributions are Different Than Dividends
    Just as a stock dividend isn’t really a dividend, not all “dividend-paying” stocks actually pay dividends. Partnerships, trusts, and REITs actually pay distributions. While distributions look and act like dividends in many respects (investors see cash arrive in their account every month, quarter, or half-year), these payouts are in fact quite different. Firstly, many of these companies get very favorable tax treatment, essentially paying no income tax — so long as they distribute a very large percentage of their earnings. What’s more...

    The Dividend Sweet Spot
    There’s so much focus on high-yield stocks, but that’s not where the big returns have come from. No, the big returns have come from the dividend sweet spot. Looking at the returns of the stocks in the S&P 500, the stocks with dividend yields between 1.5% and 2.4% have delivered the highest returns. The dividend sweet spot is the best combination of income and capital appreciation. Some examples include...

    Fisher Is Bullish About These Dividend Stocks
    Ken Fisher is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fisher Investments, a money management firm with some $42 billion in assets under management. The firm has more than 25,000 private clients and employs more than a thousand employees. As regards its investment strategy, Fisher Investments deploys a global, top-down and dynamic asset allocation strategy. Fisher is a billionaire with net worth close to $2 billion. Here is a quick look at four of his latest dividend-paying picks...

    What About The Dividend Cliff?
    Enough about the "fiscal cliff." What about the dividend cliff? At one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 2013, the maximum tax rate on dividends is likely to go from 15% to either 18.8% or 43.4%. The best-case scenario: Congress retains the top dividend-income tax rate of 15%, and the only increase is the scheduled 3.8% surtax on investment income for high earners. The worst case: Congress decides dividends are to be taxed at ordinary-income rates, and the highest rate jumps to 39.6%, plus the same 3.8% surtax. Even if tax rates do triple, investors still would be better off with...


    Click Here More Dividend News

    There are some really good articles here, please take time and read a few of them.  

    D4L-Premium Services Updated:

    The D4L-Dashboard, Analytical Reports, D4L-Data, and The D4L-Newsletter (October edition) have been updated and are available at the D4L-Premium Services web site at: [Click Here] Not a subscriber? [Click Here] for for more information on the benefits of these services, sample reports, pricing and subscription information.  

    (Photo: Sachin Ghodke)