Best Dividend Investing Articles for 2013

The past year was the sixth year in which I have been sharing ideas on dividend investing on this site.

I have outlined the top five articles written in 2013, which readers found to be the most useful. I have also added a brief summary behind each article.

1) Best Dividend Stocks for 2013 and Beyond

I presented a list of 20 quality dividend paying companies, which were attractively priced, and are great long term holdings. Some of these companies like Walgreen (WAG) went up in price considerably, and I could only consider them great holds. Others like Phillip Morris International (PM) are available at attractive valuations today. After all, the name of the game is to select a quality company at a reasonable price, which grows earnings and raises dividends for you. Your job is to then hold on to that compounding machine, and let the power of compounding work for you.

2) Warren Buffett's Dividend Stock Strategy

In this article I analyzed some of Warren Buffett’s largest investments at Berkshire Hathaway. I found out that the Superinvestor likes to generate growing distributions from the companies he invests in, and then uses those to purchase more businesses that distribute excess cash to him. The similarities with what dividend growth investors do on a monthly basis are strikingly similar, which is why I believe that Buffett is a closet dividend investor.

3) Ten Dividend Paying Stocks I Purchased in my Roth IRA

Last year, I had the realization that I am paying too much in taxes. As such, I am trying to defer taxes as much as possible, by tapping every legally allowed way to put money in 401 (k), SEP IRA and Roth IRA. In this article I discussed ten companies which I purchased using Sharebuilder for my Roth IRA. The purpose of this series of articles on Roth IRA investing was that one could invest $5,500 over a three month period, make 25 – 30 individual investments, and pay $24 in total commission costs. By reducing investment and taxation costs to a minimum, the investor will keep more money for themselves. You can create you tax-free dividend compounding machine today by making a Roth IRA contribution, and won’t have to pay any taxes on income when you withdraw it at age 59 ½. By my estimates, a $5,500 investment today could generate approximately $200 in annual dividend income. If dividends grow by 6%-7%/year and are reinvested into securities yielding 3% - 4%, the annual income stream would grow to $1600 in 30 years and $3200 in 40 years.

4) Why Most Dividend Investors Never Succeed

In this article, I outlined a few behavior items that can prevent investors from achieving their investment objectives. I believe that most buy and hold dividend investors have an edge because of the relative passivity of their strategy. However I believe that succumbing to behavior issues could jeopardize investment success. While the article was more geared towards new investors, I think that those who have experience in dividend investing could benefit from reminding themselves about psychological pitfalls of investing in general.

5) Twenty Dividend Stocks I Recently Purchased for my IRA Rollover

The last article I am outlining lists twenty companies I purchased for my IRA. I rolled this account over from an old 401 (k) at Fidelity in the past year. The process took less than a day, as I kept the IRA at Fidelity. It was difficult to find 20 companies to put my money to work in at almost the same time, but I managed to pull it off. My retirement accounts are the only places where I automatically reinvest dividends.

It is very interesting that the readers like to hear more about purchases I have made, or specific companies I discuss, rather than income investing strategy. I actually believe that the strategy piece is the most important one, whereas individual stock selection is a result of having a sound investment plan.

6) A few other information resources I enjoyed covered an interview with Peter Lynch and a documentary about Sir John Templeton. You can find the links below.

Interview with Peter Lynch
Documentary about Sir John Templeton
Sir John Templeton and Peter Lynch

Thank you for reading Dividend Growth Investor. I hope the new year brings us a correction, which would allow us to get more dividend paying stocks for our bucks.