Apple Inc. (AAPL) Dividend Stock Analysis

Today, we decided to release an in-depth look at Apple’s metrics from a Dividned Investor’s standpoint, as they’ve recently increased their dividend and with our dependability on technology, thought it to be fitting.  And actually – my girlfriend’s family is looking to buy new phones and I’m curious what they’ll do, as they all have historically been Apple device owners – phones, computers and all.  With their recent dividend increases, share buy backs and insane customer loyalty, I wanted to take time and dive into their stock with a few competitors along the way…

Continue reading

Holy $%!? We Bought a House

Today is another chapter in the Dividend Diplomats mortgage series.   Time flies and surprises pop up where you least expect them.  I’ve written a lot about my house hunt recently, starting with reasons why my wife and I were not in a hurry to purchase a house all the way to the process of finding the institution that will provide us with the best mortgage.   We were always told that lightning strikes and when you find the right house, you need to move quickly.  Well, that was the case here and I could not believe how quickly things moved.  In all honesty, I’m a little shocked about it all here and I’m still finding myself trying to process what went down.  Mostly happy, with some doubts (as always), but her is the story about how my wife and I found our house.   I’m going to have a two-part series about this process – one about the purchase and one about some of my emotions/feelings after the offer was accepted.  So here is Part 1 of my mini-series!

pay down the mortgage or invest

Continue reading

The Importance of Long-Term Low Cost Investing

This is a guest contribution by Nick McCullum of Sure Dividend. 

When investors can identify trends that either increase returns or reduce risk, it is wise to implement them into their investment strategies.

With that said, implementing positive market anomalies is usually not hard. Rather, the difficulty lies in finding them.

Two of the most straightforward improvements that investors can make to their investment strategies are:

  • minimize investment fees
  • invest for the long-term

This article will describe how each of these techniques can improve investment performance and provide actionable tips on how to implement them into your personal investment strategy.

Continue reading

Lanny’s Recent Stock Purchase – W.W. Grainger, Inc. (GWW) X 2

Well, with my first purchase of W.W. Grainger (GWW) at $193.78, the market took it for a $13+ slide or almost 7%.  If I bought the aristocrat then, then why the heck wouldn’t I buy it on a sharp decline due to guidance going forward?  An aristocrat is usually an aristocrat for a reason.  With that, it was time for me to not only get back on the driver seat, but to get back into the GWW lane this past Tuesday, where I made my second round purchase!

Continue reading

Best Use of Unlocked Cash Flow

Hello everyone!  Today, I went on a run outside and had a nice deep thought about what to do with an unlocked source of cash flow.  No, no this isn’t coming from my INCREASE in housing expenses or a pay raise.  This actually goes back to relate to paying off my auto loan earlier, rather than later.  This won’t be moving mountains, by any means, however this unlocks a new cash flow for me and now the debate is what to use the additional capital that will be available on a monthly basis going forward!

Cash, Flow, Cash Flow, Cycle, Money Continue reading

Finding the Right Mortgage

It shouldn’t be a secret for too many of you.  After nearly a year of marriage and our desire to wait as long as possible to purchase a house, my wife and I are now actively searching for our first home.  We have toured over a dozen houses within the last two weeks and we have not found one that we like enough yet to make the plunge.  It may be another three years before we find one that checks all of our boxes at this rate.  This will be a long process and I’ll have a lot of different topics to write about along this journey.  So today, I wanted to write about my recent process for finding the perfect mortgage and finally getting our pre-approval.

11477884125_392221a3a5_n

Continue reading

April Dividend Income from YOU the Bloggers!

Each month, the dividend blogging community continues to impress the two of us.   Some people are breaking records, some people are posting triple digit growth rates, and some bloggers are beginning their journey towards financial freedom.  Each blogger has their own journey, story, and method for accumulating a dividend income stream and it is a blast to watch and read about.   March’s summary was filled with great stories, and we are even more excited to see how the community built off of their successes in the first month of the second quarter.  Time to check out our April dividend income summary from YOU, the bloggers!

Continue reading