However, we saw the biggest spike in inflation in 40 years during the Biden Administration, thanks to massive deficit spending, near-zero interest rates, and the temporary shutdown of the global supply chain.

Yet “time prices” still came down by the end of 2024, extending the long-term trend.

Between 2000 and 2024, the CPI rose 82.2%.

But hourly earnings for blue-collar workers rose 115.1% – outpacing inflation by more than 40%.

That means an hour of work bought 18.1% more goods and services at the end of 2024 than it did at the beginning of 2000.

That’s progress. Just not the kind that the media bothers to cover.

Unlike money, time can’t be counterfeited or inflated.

There is perfect equality here. We all get 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day.

Our time is truly our most precious resource, the only one that cannot be recycled, stored, duplicated, or recovered.

When time prices decrease – as they have for decades now – an hour of time buys more products and services.

While people often compare what they make with someone earning more, they rarely stop to realize how much more they can buy today compared with what they could buy in the past for the same hours worked.

Time prices are the one unimpeachable standard to compare abundance from one era to another.

And their fall is not due to an increase in material resources. It is due to the expansion of knowledge, which enables us to use resources more creatively and effectively.

This is a powerful phenomenon, yet one that is not commonly understood.

Being able to afford more while working less is further evidence that most Americans are living the Dream without realizing it.

Most of us take the long-term improvement in our standard of living for granted.

Indeed, there is a common misconception that increasing progress and prosperity have been the norm for as long as human beings have been around.

Yet history reveals that this is decidedly not the case.

Imagine, for example, that the Roman statesman Cicero was magically able to time travel and visit Thomas Jefferson at Monticello more than 1,800 years later.

Cicero would arrive at the coast of Virginia the same way Jefferson would have made the trip to Italy.

He would ride a horse to the nearest port and trust his fate to a windblown ship.

When Cicero arrived at Monticello months later, things would look quite familiar.

Jefferson’s home was heated by fire in the winter, and the doors and windows were left wide open in the summer, the same as in ancient Rome.

Jefferson read by candlelight, drew his water from a well, ate mostly what he raised, used an outhouse, and owned slaves, just like Romans did 18 centuries earlier.

Cicero would learn that four of Jefferson’s six children did not survive early childhood.

Nothing new there. This was sadly the case for most of human history.

(Jefferson’s wife died at age 33 of complications from giving birth to their sixth child.)

Except for a few notable innovations – like the printing press, gunpowder, and the compass – life in 1800 was hardly distinguishable from life almost 2,000 years earlier.

Since then, however, there has been an explosion in human progress and prosperity.

Economic historian Deirdre McCloskey calls it the Great Enrichment, a period of exponential wealth creation that started more than 200 years ago and is still accelerating.

This is plainly visible in the quality of your transportation, the speed of your communications, your many laborsaving devices, and the huge variety of goods, services, and outright luxuries available to you at the click of a button.

Thomas Jefferson did not have electricity, cars, trains, airplanes, radio, television, cameras and video recorders, smartphones, computers, lasers, batteries, the World Wide Web, antibiotics, vaccines, pacemakers, artificial hearts, MRI scans, gene therapies, and countless other lifesaving and life-enhancing innovations.

What is most responsible for our exponential increase in abundance?

Two things: freedom and people.

Freedom is crucial because it allows people to create and profit from their innovations.

(That’s why goods and services have not become cheaper for the average consumer in Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and other unfree nations.)

But this phenomenon is not about freedom alone. It’s also about more people. A lot more people.

People generate knowledge. Knowledge multiplies output. And freedom lets people share, trade, and profit from their discoveries.

The freer a society, the greater its time price gains. The more people it empowers, the richer its outcomes.

Scarcity didn’t win. Innovation did.

We have increased food supply, for instance, by increasing yields from existing fields.

We’ve increased our agricultural efficiency so much that less than 2% of the U.S. population farms at all.

After more than a century of intensive fossil fuel use, we have more known deposits of oil and gas than ever before.

(And we’ve surveyed only a tiny portion of the planet.)

Overpopulation is not a threat. On the contrary, limiting population growth limits brainpower.

Yet generations of schoolchildren have been taught that population growth makes resources scarcer.

Indeed, academia and the media repeatedly warn us that we are consuming the planet’s natural resources at an alarming rate… and that they will soon be gone.

Not true. Resource abundance is growing faster than the world population.

Our economy has reached such a level of efficiency and sophistication that we are producing an increasing amount of goods and services while using ever-fewer resources.

For example, from 2014 to 2024 U.S. real gross domestic product grew by 27.6%.

But, over the same period, energy consumption decreased by 1.3%.

Western countries have learned how to get the most energy with the least emission of greenhouse gases.

As we climbed the energy ladder from wood to coal to oil to gas, the ratio of carbon to hydrogen in our energy sources fell steadily.

As a result, fewer American cities are now shrouded in a smoggy haze.

Our distant ancestors spent most of their waking hours hunting and gathering food to live.

Yet the typical American today earns their food in a matter of minutes. And we are spoiled for choice at the average supermarket.

We have more goods and services available – and work fewer hours to afford them – than any previous generation.

The world today is incomparably richer than it was in decades past.

Yet the doomsayers are unable to see it – or don’t want to.

Instead, they continually warn us that the end is nigh.

As a result, many Americans are unable to enjoy the countless advantages of modern life because they believe it is on the verge of ending – and there is nothing they can do about it.

Don’t buy it. Especially the claims about “overpopulation.”

The most important resource in today’s world is not oil or natural gas or some rare earth mineral.

It’s people. By applying their intelligence and creativity, individual men and women make other resources more abundant.

Additional people don’t just create additional demand. (Although that also promotes growth and prosperity.)

They represent an additional supply of ideas, knowledge, and productive work.

We shouldn’t underestimate the power of this. Or what time prices tell us.

When you spend less time laboring to feed and clothe your family, put a roof over your head, keep the lights on, and pay your bills, you are gaining the ultimate wealth: more time to do what you really want.

This is not just prosperity. It’s superabundance.

And another reason to acknowledge that the American Dream is alive and well – for those with eyes to see it.

The post How Americans Have Achieved Unprecedented Prosperity appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

And with more interest rate cuts likely coming and higher tariffs still on the table, I expect inflation to accelerate.

Fortunately, there’s an asset class that has absolutely crushed inflation every decade for nearly a century. And I bet you’ll be surprised when you find out what it is.

It is not gold.

Gold has kept up with inflation over the very long term, but that’s about it. An ounce of gold essentially buys the same amount of goods and services today as it did a millennium or two ago.

The big inflation beater is small cap stocks.

You can see from the chart above that small caps strongly outpaced inflation in every decade. The smallest margin was 4.7% in the 1980s.

On average, small caps returned 13% annually, while inflation averaged 3.2% – meaning small caps increased an investor’s buying power by an astounding 10% per year.

That doesn’t just mean you could have had 10% more money each year. It means you could have bought 10% more goods and services each year – no matter how high prices rose during that year.

To make it clear just how profound this is, let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re a golfer and the average round of golf costs you $100. You have a budget of $1,000 per year for golf (not including equipment). That means you can play 10 times per year.

Now imagine that, due to inflation, a round of golf will cost you $105 next year. If your budget doesn’t increase, you’re down to playing nine times per year. And in a few years, if inflation remains constant, that will decline to eight times.

But now suppose that you added the average yearly return (13%) that small caps have delivered to your golf budget, increasing it from $1,000 to $1,130. Not only would you be able to afford the annual bump in greens fees, but you’d also be able to increase the number of times you can hit the links to 11 per year. You’d be able to play 12 times the following year… and so on.

Small caps get a bad rap. Many investors think they’re super risky. And certain ones are. There are plenty of garbage companies out there.

But as an asset class, small caps have a fantastic track record that goes back decades. And surprisingly, they help investors increase their buying power even during periods of high inflation.

Going forward, it will be important to have small caps in your portfolio. With large caps trading at historically high valuations (and with more rate cuts by the Fed on the horizon), they are likely to be the top performers in the near term.

Many people think of small caps as speculative investments. But they have proven over nearly 100 years to play a vital role in allowing investors to beat inflation and increase their buying power.

The post The Big Inflation Beater appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared an article by Monument Traders Alliance’s Bryan Bottarelli about how September’s Fed meeting could be the biggest in decades.

Now that the meeting has passed, I’ve invited Bryan back to break down how he’s preparing for any potential volatility over the next few months.

– James Ogletree, Senior Managing Editor

CNBC polled 29 ‘professional economists’ about Fed Day.

I ignored them all and positioned for the one thing they didn’t consider: markets doing the opposite of expectations.

While Wall Street’s brightest minds were debating quarter vs half-point cuts…

I was laughing at a different number entirely.

94.7%.

That’s the probability that CME Fed Watch showed for a quarter-point cut.

When I see consensus that strong, my contrarian radar starts screaming.

Because here’s what those 29 experts missed…

Fed Day isn’t about being right on direction.

It’s about being positioned for chaos.

The Consensus Was Suffocating

CNBC’s survey revealed those professionals expected political pressure on Fed independence, inflation concerns, higher unemployment, and slower growth.

All very neat predictions about policy implications.

Meanwhile, I was watching something else entirely: the political warfare brewing between this administration and Jerome Powell.

Three months of name-calling. Court battles over Fed governors. Lisa Cook getting blocked from being fired right before the meeting.

You think that doesn’t create unusual market dynamics?

My Contrarian Setup

That’s why I positioned with a strangle – buying both calls and puts on SPY with strikes around 661 call and 660 put. Total cost: just under $6.

My target? A 1% move in either direction. The position would profit as long as the market moved more than my premium cost.

While the experts debated policy, I was focused on how the market would react to whatever Powell said.

The Real Fed Day Strategy

Position the day before. I sent out the trade at 2:30 Central, 30 minutes before close. Get positioned when you can think clearly, not when Powell’s talking.

Target 1% moves. Anything over 1% up or down on SPY, and the strangle position is profitable. It’s not about hitting home runs – it’s about consistent profitability on volatility.

Use zero-day options strategically. These become precision tools for capturing short-term volatility around known catalysts.

What The Experts Always Miss

Those 29 economists were trying to predict the future. I was positioned to profit from uncertainty.

The difference? When markets do weird things around Fed announcements – which happens more often than anyone wants to admit – I’m positioned to profit. They’re left scrambling to explain why their predictions didn’t match market reality.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

The Fed delivered exactly what 94.7% of the market expected.

But here’s what those 29 economists missed…

This rate cut just set up the next 90 days for PEAK volatility.

And volatility is where the real money gets made.

The zero-day strangle I showed you? That’s just the beginning.

Because when markets get chaotic (and they’re about to), having a systematic approach to profit from that chaos becomes everything.

The Fed Shockwave is Coming

The political warfare between Powell and this administration isn’t over.

The following 90 days could deliver the most volatile three months we’ve seen in years.

Most traders will panic when markets swing wild.

Smart traders will position themselves to profit from those swings.

The post Did the Fed Just Spark 90 Days of Chaos? appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

Will it reduce rates? If so, by how much? How cautious will Fed Chair Jerome Powell be when he addresses the media? How will the markets react?

The answers to all of these crucial questions are less than 24 hours away.

To help cut through the noise, I’ve asked our top two experts here in Wealthy Retirement – Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld and Director of Trading Anthony Summers – two simple questions: What should the Fed do… and what will it do?

What should the Fed do?

Marc: I’ve mentioned several times in the past that the Fed has two mandates. The first is to keep inflation in check. The second is to maintain full employment.

While President Trump has railed against Powell to lower interest rates, Powell has defied him, saying he wouldn’t do so until the data showed that rate cuts are warranted.

They now are.

Ask anyone whether inflation is under control, and they’ll tell you no. The consumer price index’s 0.4% rise in August and 2.9% increase year over year confirm that.

Jobs are deteriorating too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said last Tuesday that there were 911,000 fewer nonfarm payroll jobs than previously reported. For the week ending September 6, there were 263,000 new unemployment claims, the most in four years.

A 25-basis-point rate cut to a range of 4% to 4.25% seems appropriate at this point.

Anthony: The Fed should cut by a quarter-point, or 25 basis points.

On the surface, the job market is softening – though there’s data that suggests the slowdown is somewhat concentrated in certain sectors – and overall economic growth looks shaky. But while inflation isn’t raging anymore, it’s not low either.

In this mix, tight policy could be doing more harm than good. A small cut supports hiring and cash flow for Main Street. It also offsets tariff drag that can slow demand.

All the Fed really needs to do right now is help the job market while keeping a close eye on prices. If inflation flares, pause. If hiring continues to weaken, cut once more.

Keep the mission simple, yet steady. That approach reduces recession risk without inviting a price spiral. It also keeps credit markets open for households and small firms.

What will the Fed do?

Marc: I suspect the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points. That’s not going to suddenly spark hiring, but it does put America on notice that rates are likely going to continue coming down. It’s a warning shot across the bow.

A 50-basis-point cut at this point would feel alarmist. If inflation was abnormally low, 50 basis points might make sense, but with the prices of everything from rent to food to TV subscriptions going higher (regardless of what the government data shows), not to mention the effect of tariffs, lowering rates too quickly could result in rip-roaring inflation.

The Fed has a balancing act to conduct. It needs to lower rates enough to fuel jobs, but not so much that it fans the inflation flames. It’s not an easy thing to manage.

Anthony: I think the Fed will likely do what it should do.

The most probable move is a 25-basis-point cut, but officials will stress that future actions will be determined “meeting by meeting.” They will nod to sticky inflation but frame it as manageable, pointing to softer hiring and cooler growth as the bigger risks today.

That opens the door to another cut if jobs data stays weak. They will not pre-commit to back-to-back moves – nor should they – but they will not rule it out either.

Tariff concerns will get a mention as a headwind. The Fed will avoid big promises about next year’s fiscal plans; that is outside its lane. So I’d expect a cautious tone and a split vote or two.

Markets will hear “one cut now, maybe more to come.” If the next jobs report disappoints, odds are the Fed will follow up with a cut. If inflation pops higher, the Fed will likely pause.

Marc and Anthony both expect a quarter-point cut tomorrow, but not everyone sees it the same way.

A columnist in the Financial Times argued last week that a rate cut would be an “alarmist reflex” and that “there is an equally strong case for a rate increase.”

On the other hand, British bank Standard Chartered supports a sizable reduction, writing that the slowing job market “has paved the way for a ‘catch-up’ 50-basis-point rate cut.”

However, the majority of economists agree with Marc and Anthony that a 25-basis-point reduction is both the most prudent and the most likely outcome.

Will they be right? We’ll know in less than 24 hours.

What do you think the Fed should do? More importantly, what will it do? Are you excited? Are you concerned? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

The post What the Fed Should (and Will) Do Next appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

Right now, markets are pricing in more than a 90% chance that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will announce the first interest rate cut of 2025 this coming Wednesday.

This could trigger shockwaves across the market, and our colleagues at Monument Traders Alliance will be getting investors prepared for what they believe could be a “dream scenario” of buy opportunities.

Click here to learn about their upcoming FREE “Trump vs. Powell FOMC Watch Party” event.

– James Ogletree, Senior Managing Editor

We’re less than 2 weeks away from what I believe is the biggest FOMC event in decades.

I’ve been talking about it for the last few weeks, and for good reason.

The amount at stake is incredible, and I know that sounds like a bold statement.

But in all my years of trading, I’ve never seen a scenario quite like this.

The tensions between President Donald Trump and Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are about to boil over… and I believe an aftershock could be in play.

Here are 3 different scenarios I could see playing out…

FOMC Scenario 1: Powell Kisses Trump’s Ring and Markets Move Up

In this scenario, Powell does exactly what Trump has been wanting him to do.

Powell delivers the news that the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates by 25 bps, bringing the target range to 4-4.25%.

But Powell doesn’t stop there… he takes it a step further.

He goes as far as to say that this is the start of a well-calibrated easing cycle. Meaning multiple rate cuts are on the horizon.

Trump is giddy with enthusiasm. He takes to Truth Social and announces “this is the start of America’s next big economic boom.”

The market reacts to the upside.

Sectors like tech, real estate, consumer, and utilities spike.

Lower borrowing costs also light up growth expectations.

Overall, it sends a signal that yes, this is the start of an easing cycle and not a recession panic.

FOMC Scenario 2: Powell Tells Trump to “Shove it” and Markets Sell Off

Instead of playing nice like the first scenario, Powell hits Trump with a haymaker of his own.

He knows Trump is going to fire him anyway. So why not go out like a gangster and tell Trump “no rate cuts for you” before sailing off into the sunset?

In this case, Powell says he’s not cutting rates, citing that inflation isn’t under control.

Investors feel blindsided. All that talk of an almost certain rate cut and a soft landing is dashed.

Because of this unexpected move, equities react to the downside.

Tech and real estate stocks get hammered fast. Traders dump growth stocks, and long-term yields spike higher as recession fears kick in.

Powell walks out of the burning building without bothering to look at the destruction.

FOMC Scenario 3: Powell Walks the Tightrope and Markets Fluctuate

In this last scenario, Powell doesn’t cave to Trump or get overly hawkish. Instead, he meets Trump halfway.

He announces rate cuts of 25 bps, agreeing that the recent low jobs data is a viable reason for the decision. But he stops short of saying “this is the start of an easing cycle with multiple rate cuts.”

Powell’s tone will be key here.

How cautious does he sound? Is he being too ambiguous?

If he is, stocks might cheer the move in the short run. But growth-heavy sectors like tech and real estate could see wild swings over the long term amid the uncertainty.

Why It Matters for You

Look, while it’s fun to try and predict what will happen during the FOMC meeting, the truth is your money is too valuable to get caught in the wash of all this political drama.

Forget about whose side you’re on for a second…

The stock market HATES uncertainty, and when there’s an all-out verbal civil war happening with President Trump and the active Fed Chair – the probability of a severe aftershock is in play.

So far, we haven’t seen much of a market reaction to this upcoming event. But that could change instantly depending on what happens Sept. 17.

But the beauty is that if I’m wrong and there’s no major reaction, I’ll have research that aims to make you money no matter what.

I’ll be going over more details below on how you can get prepared.

YOUR ACTION PLAN

No matter what happens on Sept. 17, we’ll be ready to help you navigate the aftershock. Next Wednesday, my partner Karim Rahemtulla and I are going live at 1:15 p.m. for our “Trump vs. Powell FOMC Watch Party.”

We’ll talk about the effects the FOMC announcement will have on your money in the weeks and months to come. We’ll also show you how this announcement could set up a “dream scenario” for traders like you.

The event is completely free.

Click here to sign up today.

The post The Biggest Fed Meeting in Decades appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

The market jumped as a result.

Investors should tread carefully – not because valuations are at historically high levels (though that is true), but because inflation is likely to burn hot if the Fed lowers rates.

Powell himself said the Fed has to manage both employment, which continues to stagnate, and inflation, which continues to rise. A rate cut only adds gasoline to the inflation fire.

In January, in the Forecast Issue of my newsletter, The Oxford Income Letter, I predicted that inflation would spike in 2025. A Fed rate cut would likely make that forecast a slam dunk.

There are not many investments that keep up with inflation – particularly ones that generate income.

Fixed income doesn’t do the trick. If you’re earning $1,000 a year in fixed income and prices rise 5%, something that used to cost $1,000 last year now costs $1,050. But your $1,000 in fixed income interest doesn’t budge, so you have a $50 hole to make up.

One of the only ways to combat inflation is with dividend growth stocks.

These companies pay dividends (usually quarterly) and raise their dividends each year. If you have a stock whose dividend is hiked by a meaningful amount, you could actually increase your buying power, even in periods of rising inflation.

For example, Civista Bancshares (Nasdaq: CIVB), a microcap bank based in Ohio, has been around since 1884. Today, the stock yields 3.2%, but the company has raised its dividend every year since 2012 at a compound annual growth rate of over 13%. The most recent dividend increase was lower at 6.3%, but that is still above the current inflation rate, so it still boosted shareholders’ buying power.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is another solid dividend growth stock. The oil and gas giant has a current yield of 4.3% and has raised its dividend every year for 36 years.

The most recent increase was 5%, which as of now is higher than inflation.

Over the past 50 years, companies that raised or initiated a dividend outperformed the equal-weighted S&P 500 by nearly 3.5 times. They beat non-dividend payers by more than 1,700%.

Furthermore, when the spit hits the fan, dividend growers are safer than the overall market. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which tracks companies in the S&P 500 that have raised their dividends every year for at least 25 years, is 10% less volatile than the broad market.

In other words, during a correction, the Aristocrats should decline less than other stocks.

Rates are coming down, and inflation is going higher. Investors should look toward dividend growth stocks to keep up with inflation – or else risk seeing their purchasing power be reduced.

The post Rate Cuts Are Coming… and So Is Inflation appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

The Wall Street Journal called President Trump’s tariff policy “The Dumbest Trade War in History.”

Given that allies Mexico and Canada were hit with 25% tariffs and China is receiving only a 10% tariff, the Journal may be understating it.

Yesterday, Trump delayed Mexico’s and Canada’s tariffs by one month after they agreed to try to curb the smuggling of fentanyl over their respective borders. Additionally, the president said the U.S. will attempt to curtail gun smuggling from the U.S. into Mexico. (The tariffs on China went into effect this morning as planned.)

Hopefully, both Mexico and Canada are successful and the tariffs evaporate. But it would surprise no one if Trump moves the goalposts to try to get further concessions and he eventually implements the tariffs.

In a period when Americans’ budgets are already stretched to the limit thanks to inflation, these tariffs would further raise the costs people face every day. (Remember, countries don’t pay the tariffs. Importers do − and they pass those costs on to consumers.)

Almost half of all U.S. food imports come from Canada and Mexico, including nearly all of our avocados. Mexico is our largest foreign source of produce, and we get more meat and grain from Canada than from any other country. So expect higher prices at the supermarket if the tariffs are enacted.

Car prices would rise by an average of $3,000, and the price of the gas you put into them would rise as well. Though Canadian oil is slated to have a 10% tariff rather than the full 25%, there would still be a significant impact, as Canadian oil makes up 61% of all of the United States’ imported oil.

Housing prices, which are already sky-high, would also increase. The National Association of Home Builders noted that more than 70% of all lumber and gypsum (a mineral used in drywall) comes from Canada and Mexico, respectively.

In the Annual Forecast Issue of my newsletter, The Oxford Income Letter, I told subscribers to expect higher inflation in 2025. I expect inflation to rise to at least 4% and the yield on the 10-year Treasury to reach 5.6%. That’s going to make life more expensive and could put pressure on stocks.

I don’t see that happening immediately, however. I suspect it will be a “second half of the year” event.

In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to prepare for rising prices.

1. Own dividend growth stocks.

The reason I am such a proponent of dividend growth stocks is so investors can be prepared for situations exactly like this. Dividend growth stocks are one of the very few investments that can help you maintain or even increase your buying power during inflationary periods.

If you collected $500 in dividends last year and they’re growing at 10% per year, you’ll receive $550 in dividends this year. So even if inflation climbs above 5%, you’ll still have more buying power than you did last year.

Additionally, dividend growth stocks tend to be more conservative and safer than the broader market. They outperform in bear markets, and if you buy them after a decline in the market, you can obtain some very strong yields.

2. Keep some cash on the sidelines.

Because rates have climbed over the past few years, you can earn a decent interest rate on your cash in money market accounts or short-term CDs. I recommend shopping around to make sure you get the highest rate.

Keeping some money in cash will also allow you to pick up more dividend growth stocks when you’re ready.

3. Own commodities.

Owning commodities – or stocks/ETFs that are based on commodities – should also protect you from higher prices. Food- and metals-related stocks and ETFs are particularly attractive when prices are about to move higher.

Washington’s “Wisdom”

The sad thing about all of this is that some of President Trump’s other policies, like deregulation and lower taxes, are pro-growth. He has an opportunity to do some really good things for the American economy. However, this tariff policy could derail all of that.

It appears that no matter who is in office, boneheaded decisions will continue to come out of Washington, as they have for decades. As investors, we need to take steps to protect ourselves from stupidity in whatever form it takes.

The post 3 Ways to Protect Your Money From Trump’s Tariffs appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

In July, Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld joined YouTube personality Ari Gutman for a wide-ranging interview about his background, dividend investing, his 10-11-12 System, and more. (You can watch that interview right here.)

Recently, Ari invited Marc on for a second interview to focus on his latest observations in the AI and energy spaces.

It’d be impossible to list everything they discussed, so I’ve included a few highlights below. You can click any of the links to jump to that portion of the video, or you can click here to watch the interview from the beginning.

Here’s just some of what Marc and Ari touched on during the interview:

• How to capitalize on the growth potential of AI in both the short term and the long term
• Why there are still ample opportunities for investors to get exposure to AI
• Two of Marc’s favorite energy stocks for income-focused investors
• How heavily investors should be shifting their portfolios into the energy sector
• The Federal Reserve’s interest rate plan for 2025.

I hope you enjoy the interview. Have a great weekend!

Good investing,

James

P.S. Director of Trading Anthony Summers will be back with a new edition of The Value Meter next week. If you have any stocks you’d like him to evaluate, drop the tickers in the comments section below!

The post Have Investors Missed the Boat on AI Stocks? appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

On the final day of 2024, I’ve got a special treat for you…

A year-end recap episode of State of the Market!

From record-setting highs to scary sell-offs…

And from faulty airplane doors to finnicky Fed members…

The past year was full of twists and turns.

And somehow, Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld managed to run through it all in under 6 minutes.

Marc also shared a sneak preview of some of his top predictions for 2025, and – if you can believe it – he even said something nice about Bitcoin!

There was no shortage of curveballs in 2024, and there are sure to be plenty more in 2025. But rest assured that Wealthy Retirement will be there at every turn, helping you to make sense of it all, protect your hard-earned cash, and pursue the retirement of your dreams.

To watch the 2024 recap episode of State of the Market, simply click the image above.

Thanks for reading, and happy new year!

The post (Almost) Everything That Happened in the Markets in 2024 appeared first on Wealthy Retirement.

I said I liked the stock – which was true.

But even though I liked its outlook at the time, I didn’t recommend it to my subscribers in The Oxford Income Letter.

I’ll tell you why in a moment, but first, let me take you behind the scenes of TV land.

I’m Ready for My Close-Up

When a producer calls and asks you to be on a show to give your thoughts on a stock, they want strong opinions. The producer doesn’t want you hedging your position. A wishy-washy answer doesn’t make for good television.

If you don’t give them what they want, they will find someone else. After all, there are lots of people who would love the opportunity to talk to hundreds of thousands of viewers at once.

I won’t go on TV and say something about a stock unless I believe it. I’ve told producers in the past, “I don’t have a strong opinion on this one.” If they’re looking for a bull and I’m a bear, I’ll admit to them, “Sorry, I don’t like it.”

I know that people will act on what I say. No one should buy a stock because they hear someone talking about it for 90 seconds on TV, but people do. I learned that years ago, before I joined The Oxford Club – back when my then-boss refused to take responsibility for any of his market calls.

I was the one reading the emails that people sent him to tell him how much money they lost on his advice.

He didn’t want to hear it or believe it. But I knew these were real people investing real money based on what he said. I’ve never forgotten those emails.

After I appear on TV, I get calls from friends and family asking if they should buy the stock.

So why did I tell CNBC viewers that I liked this telecom stock and then not recommend it to my subscribers?

Increase Your Buying Power

It has to do with my specific strategy for investing in the best dividend stocks. It’s called the 10-11-12 System, and it is designed to achieve 11% yields and/or 12% average annual total returns within 10 years.

The entire goal of the model portfolios in The Oxford Income Letter is to generate solid income today – and even more tomorrow. Typically, the stocks of companies that raise their dividends go higher and outperform the market.

The secret sauce is dividend growth.

The companies that I recommend in The Oxford Income Letter‘s portfolios have long histories of raising their dividends every year – usually by a meaningful amount, such as 10% or more.

Think about what that does for an investor.

If inflation sits at 2.4% per year, what costs $1,000 today will cost $1,126 in five years and $1,268 in 10. If inflation returns to the historical average rate of 3.4% per year, $1,000 worth of goods will cost $1,182 in five years and $1,397 in 10.

That means the 10% dividend raiser easily beats inflation. It actually increases your buying power, improving your quality of life and ability to save.

An investor who receives $1,000 in dividends today and whose dividend payout increases 10% per year receives $1,610 in five years and $2,594 in 10.

The stock that I mentioned on CNBC was and is a great company – a leading telecommunications company with growing margins and earnings.

It had paid a dividend every year for decades and consistently raised it. But it didn’t have impressive dividend growth, so it was not likely to help income investors get where they want to go.

However, a stock that has a similar starting yield to that company’s but grows its dividend by 10% per year will yield 9.9% in 10 years.

A $10,000 investment in even a 4% dividend grower will generate only $597 in income in 10 years, while the same investment in a stock with 10% dividend growth will spin off $990. That’s a big difference.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) is a great example of the kind of dividend-growing stock I’m talking about. The company has raised its dividend by an average of 11% per year over the past five years.

While Best Buy’s 4.2% yield today may not knock your socks off, if the company maintains an 11% dividend growth rate, its yield will be much more attractive a few years from now.

Here’s the bottom line: Buy stocks with sizable and safe yields if you’re most focused on short-term income. But if you’re looking for a way to ensure your investments generate a significant amount of income in the future, be sure to stick with dividend growers that raise their dividends by meaningful amounts.

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