My portfolio has outperformed the market over the past 25 years by a substantial amount. I own 15 stocks, all of them household names (Coke, PG, Morgan Stanley, Aflac) that pay dividends and increase their dividends every year. When I have $$ to invest, I look at the 2 or 3 stocks in the portfolio that are getting hammered, and I invest in those stocks. Unlike actively managed funds, I don’t have to worry about a Morningstar rating. That’s why these funds underperform the average, i.e., b/c fund managers need short term results, so they join the investment pack, resulting in average returns, which become below average when their 2% cut is taken out. By contrast, I put my $$ in beaten down stocks (which have decades-long track records of delivering returns), and I can patiently wait for them to recover and prosper. Or, more simply, buy low and don’t sell.
Avoid expensive fees and you are far ahead no matter what your strategy:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/pjxu6t/pay_attention_to_fees/
Dividend Aristocrats.
There are no brokers or advisors that do not have a conflict of interest. NONE.
Roger that.
“Sound advice.”
Have you ever had a situation where a formerly reliable increasing-dividend stock has cut back their dividend substantially?
If so, do you divest of it and move the money into other Steady Freddys ?