Don't Buy Bonds Now... Buy High Yielding Safe Dividend Stocks Instead

By: DailyWealth

Dr. David Eifrig writes: Each year, I sit down and review my mother's retirement portfolio...

Our No. 1 goal: Preserve what she has.
Our No. 2 goal: Pick up a safe yield to pay for her living expenses.
Our No. 3 goal: Find a few safe avenues to grow the portfolio a bit.

For the past 15 months, meeting each goal was easy. All we had to do was buy bonds.

Municipal bonds, corporate bonds, or U.S. Treasury bonds – it hasn't mattered much. Municipal bonds – like the ones I told you about in this essay – have soared in value. Readers of my Retirement Millionaire advisory have also made gains of 34% in several safe corporate bond funds I recommended 12 months ago.

We made big gains buying "boring" bonds because, like most assets, bonds were crushed in late 2008 and early 2009. They've enjoyed a rebound off those panic lows. A special bonus kicker has recently come as interest rates have fallen... which increases the value of bonds issued earlier at higher rates of interest.

This big rally presents a big problem for retirees looking for income. Bonds have increased in value so much, and interest rates have fallen so low, we're simply not able to earn big, safe yields like we did last year. Fortunately, there's a solution...

All you have to do is buy stocks that offer the safety of bonds... and the upside of stocks.

Bond investors demand regular income over a fixed period of time. They also demand their initial investment (called "principal") be returned in full. The problem now is that government bonds yield a measly 3%... and safe corporate bonds yield about 5.5%.

While these yields are better than losing money, I believe investors can do better right now by owning stocks with rich dividend payouts of at least 5%... whose dividends are safe and growing. You can find plenty of these stocks in the drug and utility sectors.

For example, one of my favorite retirement stocks is giant drug maker Eli Lilly (LLY).

Eli Lilly discovered and marketed insulin, which turned diabetes from a fatal disease to a chronic condition. It produced the first drugs for anemia, also once a fatal disease. It was one of the first to mass-produce penicillin. The list goes on and on... a history of big drugs that help a lot of people.

But what sets Lilly apart, in my mind, is the fact that it has paid shareholders a dividend for 125 years and increased it for 42 consecutive years. This is an extraordinary commitment to treating shareholders well. It's a commitment we should all demand of our long-term investments.

Today, Lilly's bonds offer lower yields than the stock. For example, one 16-year bond is paying only 5% a year to maturity. Yet Lilly's stock pays an annual dividend of 5.6% – and growing.

In times when inflation is absent (when prices are either flat or going down, like now), dividends are a crucial tool for building wealth. Getting cash from dividends is the perfect alternative to owning low-yielding bonds during times like these. With more and more cash in your pocket, your net worth grows, especially measured against asset values that are stable or even dropping in price.

Considering how much money we've made with bonds the past year and the fact that interest rates are at all-time lows, it makes sense to consider moving some of your bond money over into companies like Lilly – companies that have safe dividends and are flush with cash and future opportunities.

Plus, by picking safe and secure dividend-paying stocks, you limit your downside... but keep all your upside.

Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

Dr. David Eifrig

P.S. The time to move some of your bond money into safe stocks with big (and growing) dividend payouts is just getting started... and I’m making it a major theme in my recommendations to folks looking for retirement income. If you’d like to access these recommendations, consider coming on board as a Retirement Millionaire subscriber. You can learn how to get started here.

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The DailyWealth Investment Philosophy: In a nutshell, my investment philosophy is this: Buy things of extraordinary value at a time when nobody else wants them. Then sell when people are willing to pay any price. You see, at DailyWealth, we believe most investors take way too much risk. Our mission is to show you how to avoid risky investments, and how to avoid what the average investor is doing. I believe that you can make a lot of money – and do it safely – by simply doing the opposite of what is most popular.

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