On Thursday August 1, 2024, the DOW dropped 494 points and the next day on Friday, August 2, 2024, the DOW experienced a more significant decline, down another 611 points. According to the so-called experts, the factors contributing to this decline included weaking employment, manufacturing, and construction data, along with a weaker-than-expected jobs report and a climb in the unemployment rate to 4.3%. Maybe an expanded and all out war in the Middle East may have something to do with it…
As DRIP Investors we do not fear market declines, we benefit from them! We are buying an income stream—dividends—that will ultimately replace our wages or self-employment income. For those investors adopting 10-to-15-year horizons, the DRIP strategy leads to financial freedom for life. “Regardless of the direction of the market, a constant and growing dividend is a never-ending income stream.” Finance Professors Rubin and Spaht
If after buying a DRIP stock, it drops in price, we still receive the same increasing dividend payment, which is reinvested at a cheaper price, buying more shares resulting in a higher dividend yield.
And, if you want to keep up with inflation and get ahead, you don’t need gold and other precious metals or real estate, you only need DRIP stocks that pay and raise their dividends annually by 8%-to-10% or more per year. This is explained in detail in The Best Kept Secret to Financial Freedom, available through our website.
In our July 16, 2024, blog—DRIP… DRIP… YOUR WAY TO REAL WEALTH—we identified 29 Great Businesses to Buy Now. As of Friday, August 2, 2024, there are now 28. The Coca Cola Company (KO) was dropped from our list because its price increased, resulting in a dividend yield of less than 3%. However, you must keep your shares of KO and let the dividend reinvest, you just don’t add any new money until the price declines, resulting in a 3% or greater dividend yield.
As a side note, despite the stock market decline, 16 of the 29 DRIP stocks or 55% of those recommended for consideration on July 16, 2024, increased in value!
If you are interested in becoming financially independent, desiring freedom from the 9-to-5 daily grind within the next 10-to-15 years, keep buying DRIP stocks at least monthly, if not weekly. If you are already retired and don’t want to out-live your money, create a DRIP portfolio, which may allow you to pass on generational wealth.
And, if you want your children and grandchildren to obtain financial independence early in their lives, no matter what job or career they choose, and no matter how many mistakes they may make along the road of life, get them started early with the DRIP Strategy. As a suggestion, for their next birthday, get them a copy of The Best Kept Secret to Financial Freedom and include a check for $1,000.
Dum Spiro Spero—While I breathe, I hope.
Slàinte mhath,
Robert (Mike) G. Beard Jr., C.P.A., C.G.M.A., J.D., LL.M.