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As many of you may already know, there is an index product put out by the same company that does the world famous S&P 500 that is focused exclusively on companies that have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 years. It is called the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats a very elite list of companies and is one of the first places I go when I am looking for stocks to invest in. Every year the company updates the list by removing companies …

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How would I invest $20,000 - $30,000? That was a question that was recently asked of me by a reader on a recent post I did covering the number of stocks debate. The same question was asked by another reader through the comments section on this site, only his question was for around $100 - $300. I would like to thank these individuals for their questions and hopefully I can provide them with a framework they can apply in this post. Now the first thing to consider from these two …

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My big goal is to have a portfolio value of $300,000 by the year 2018. The question is, what is it going to take to get there? How much money do I need to save on a monthly basis and at what portfolio return do I need to see? Of course, the amount I need to save monthly is dependent on the return. If I achieve a high return, then I do not need to put as much away. On the flip side, the more money I can contribute the less dependent I will be on a high return. One thing is constant though - …

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There has been some good posts and resolutions from personal finance and investment bloggers as a result of Cash Money Life's Financial Resolution for 2008 request. It has had me thinking about writing a post about how to define investment goals and objectives. Patrick presented a very common way to help prepare goals using the SMART methodology (which I use in my job to help employees set performance objectives). I beleive that well constructed goals are only one piece of an overall …

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It looks like it is my turn to host the 36th edition of the Carnival of Money Stories and I have to say that I am glad I got to do this - there were some really interesting posts this week. Here are the articles that were submitted. Editor's Choice: (I have never been called an 'editor' before but it feels pretty good!): 1. What is better than a new car? Paying cash for it! However, thousands of people continue to take out leases for their vehicles. My Two Dollars has a great post …

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Dividend hikes happen at different times for different companies and there is really no set schedule for when a company decides to do it. That being said, a company will often increase its dividend during a specific quarter of each year when they announce their quarterly financials (i.e. 3rd quarter financial results). After you have been in invested in a company for a few years, you should start to see the pattern and learn to recognize when the next dividend increase is coming. …

Continue Reading about Tracking Dividend Hikes Is Not Easy But it Can Be Done