Time in the market beats timing the market every single day of the week. Decades of data prove staying invested through thick and thin lets compounding do its magic, turning modest gains into serious wealth. For long-term investors craving those sleep-at-night returns, actively managed ETFs can be a great solution.
Preferred shares represent a hybrid form of ownership. They're classified as equities for accounting and capital structure purposes. However, this asset's cash flows resemble debt. Holders receive fixed or floating dividends that must be paid before common shareholders see a cent, giving these securities a senior position in the payout hierarchy.
Consumer staples stocks generate reliable income, hold up during downturns, and tend to raise dividends even when growth slows. The iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF (KXI) packages that defensive logic into a single fund, holding 100+ global consumer staples companies with a 0.39% expense ratio and a 2.27% dividend yield.
John Bogle, the legendary Vanguard Group founder and index fund pioneer, left an enduring legacy of knowledge and inspiration. He was wealthy, of course, but you can apply Bogle's dividend investment principles with $10,000 or less. Plenty of today's investors are enamored with high-yield stocks, but Bogle didn't over-focus on the biggest dividends. Instead, he adhered to sensible, basic principles that have stood the test of time. His fans, known as "Bogle-heads," come from a variety of backgrounds and have investment accounts of different sizes. Thankfully, Bogle left the world a dividend methodology - with action steps that practically anyone can use - to grow a small portfolio over the long term.
It has been trading sideways since 2023 due to a variety of issues. Namely, interest rates have been too high, and this hasn't given REITs the room to recover. Remember, REITs are businesses with high debt loads and high interest rates, which puts disproportionate pressure on them. However, these REITs have been able to avert the worst. They've drawn lessons from 2008, and most of them have paid growing dividends in the past couple of years and have even expanded them.
If you stop and think about it briefly, a 4% yield doesn't seem all that impactful at a quick glance, but the reliability of such a number is where investors are hoping to win in 2026. Steady income definitely shifts the mindset from price-watching to income-building, which is a healthier and more sustainable approach to investing during volatile markets. You could even look at this 4% steady yield approach another way and think about how payouts will land in your bank account every quarter,
Based on the recent 13F filing, we've noticed Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ( NYSE: BRK-B) make significant moves in the third quarter. While the investor owns several artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, he also focuses on dividend-paying stocks. Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL), American Express ( NYSE:AXP), and Bank of America ( NYSE: BAC) form 52% of his portfolio, and here's why I think they're an excellent buy.
Passive income is a steady stream of unearned income that doesn't require active traditional work. Shared ideas for earning passive income include investments such as dividend stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, as well as real estate and additional income-producing side hustles. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), passive income generally includes earnings from rental activity or any trade, business, or investment in which the individual does not materially participate.
If you have a $3 million nest egg to invest, a dividend-centered approach can be a great way to generate steady income. Even with a portfolio that size, it is important not to chase the highest yields you can find. With so many covered call and premium income ETFs offering 8 percent or even 10 percent yields, it can be tempting to forget the traditional 4 percent withdrawal rule. But maximizing yield often comes with hidden risks.
Income investors rarely chase the loudest headlines. They look for companies that mail out checks, no matter what the talking heads predict for next quarter, and the S&P 500 is still the most convenient hunting ground for that kind of reliability. The index has been shifting more towards growth due to the mega-cap stocks doing extremely well over the past three years, and then being joined in by a new group of AI stocks that have ballooned into the top rankings.
