“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
Tyler Durden, Fight Club
As an idealistic young man, I may have agreed with the preceding statement. Before I had a house, a car, a wife, and a couple of kids, losing everything may have been a blessing. I could have traveled the world, and lived out of a suitcase. I may have bought a second-hand motorcycle and zipped across the country, living the outlaw lifestyle I always dreamed of, but was too busy to actually realize.
I’d be On the Road like Jack Kerouac, I’d be all Fear and Loathing like Hunter S. Thompson, or practicing Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance like Robert Pirsig.
I would have packed up my small collection of worldly possessions and rode the rails, lived off the land, and thrown caution to the wind as I yelled obscenities at the moon.
But now? It doesn’t sound so romantic…
I actually care about retiring in comfort. I want to be able to afford adventures once I stop working. Like I said, I have children. I want to leave behind a legacy for them. I certainly don’t want to blow things up and start anew…
Sadly, that dire situation is happening right now to thousands of Americans who — for one reason or another — didn’t plan on life ending up that way. In fact, they fell victim to not planning enough at all.
Older Americans are going broke and at a record pace…
People over 65 are declaring bankruptcy at the highest rate ever seen.
According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute:
- In 1992, 53.8 percent of families with head-of-household ages 55 or older had debt
- In 2016, it was 68 percent
- From 2007 and beyond, the increase in debt has been most prevalent among the families with the oldest heads of households — ages 75 or older — where the debt percentage has increased by nearly 60 percent (from 31.2 percent in 2007 to 49.8 percent in 2016)
I hate to see this… especially in the throes of a stock market phenomenon the likes of which the world has never seen. It has never been easier to invest and make money than it has been over the past 10 years.
Just look at a simple ETF that tracks the stock market over the last 10 years:
It’s the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO) and it’s returned 153%.
That is just a simple basket of big blue-chip stocks. You could have picked up a cheap ETF like VOO and came out with a king’s ransom — with practically zero risk. There are plenty of other no-brainer investments that you can make today other than that…
I understand that hindsight is 20/20 and — if you’re anything like me — you have plenty of regrets about investments you didn’t make. But there is always time, especially if you’re dealing with money problems now. Like millions of older Americans, you may be relying on Social Security and part-time Wal-Mart jobs, but those aren’t going to do the trick…
There is a better way, and you don’t have to wait another minute to start collecting extra checks that could not only supplement Social Security, but could deliver far more…
You can collect thousand-dollar checks each and every month.
That’s because there is one sure thing in the stock market…
Dividends.
Dividends are the single-best way to ride out financial storms — period. If you own solid dividend stocks you get paid regardless of what happens in the market. If we’re riding high like we’ve been for the better part of the last decade, the dividends flow like water. If we see a crash like we did in 2008, guess what? The companies still have to send you the checks…
Over the past 25 years, dividends are responsible for almost 50% of the S&P returns. If you did the smart thing and reinvested those dividends back into buying more shares of stock during that time, you would have about doubled your gains.
After months of exhaustive research, I’ve unearthed 27 sources of guaranteed dividend income. Each of these income sources could send you monthly or quarterly paychecks that could fully fund your retirement. Some of these stocks pay you every 30 days. Others pay you every three months. It’s like clockwork. Your payments keep coming whether the market goes up or down.
That’s why I’m offering you a free copy of The Big Black Book of Income.
If you are worried about taking another job, relying on Social Security, or if you just want the peace of mind of going to sleep knowing that you won’t lose everything when you wake up — please claim a copy of my free book, The Big Black Book of Income.
You don’t have to lose everything to be free to do anything. Never let it get that far. Whatever it is you want to do, I guarantee you’ll need some money.
