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Originally Posted by 96z28ss
I'd re-read the first 30 pages of this thread. Its a keep it simple stupid approach.
When I first started I was a bit scared, and I spent days researching some of these companies.
There are so many companies out there it was a bit overwhelming but I had to keep going back to the principles that Greg has outlined.
Best of breed companies that pay a dividend. Companies that have been around before I was born, and no way they would disappear. Companies that continue to increase dividends. Companies that have show growth over 5 - 10 year charts.
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Yup. Google is your friend. Everything you can find out about a company. Not just on Google/Yahoo finance. Thats just the pure stock performance data. Not really anything about the company. I would also take a look at David Fish's "Dividend Champions" list. Its a good place to "start". Its got companys broken down into Champions, Contenders, etc based on how many years they've continuously paid/increased their dividend. Gives you some names to start to do your research on to get your feet wet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 96z28ss
I have 2 accounts now. I have my IRA account (only dividend long term) and I have a personal account that I threw some money into (its a mix of dividend and some gambling) and am planning on opening a 3rd account and moving some of my savings account into. The savings account is just dead money its not making anything in interest.
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Careful with the "savings" dead money. You don't want to put that into an investment account unless you dont plan on touching it for 5+ years (from what i read, thats a good window). Last thing you want to do is throw it in an account, be down 20% and NEED the money. If you've got a solid 6 month emergency fund and have money left over (after all debt is paid, kids college is taken care of, etc) then yeah, get that extra money working for you.
Your emergency fund is your "insurance". Your Get Out of Jail free card. It wont make you any money (mines in a .75% annual return savings account. Its not much, but its something). But most important, its accessible in the event of an emergency.