February Links: Snowed In Edition

We’ve made it through the first couple months of 2013.  February was a good month here at Dividend Growth Stock Investing as I started up the monthly newsletter.  If you haven’t yet, make sure to get signed up and you will receive the Free Dividend Growth Investing Guide.  I don’t know about where you live but here in the midwest we’ve been battered by snowstorms lately.  The snowstorms have given me plenty of time to stay inside and check out all the good sites and articles about dividend investing.  Here are a few articles from around the internet I found interesting this past month.

The Lure and Dangers of High Yield Stocks (Part One) - The Dividend Ninja brought about a great article discussing the dangers of investing in high yield stocks.  It is important not to just invest in a stock because it has a high current dividend yield.  There may be a good reason the dividend yield is so high and there are risks involved like potential dividend cuts or something wrong with the company.  Make sure to do your research in any stock you may decide to buy.  This is part one and I am looking forward to the release of part two.

The Big Three - Dividend Mantra writes about the big 3 expenses that people have.  House, car and food expenses can have a large impact on your monthly budget.  If your goal is early financial independence then it will be super beneficial to minimize these expenses as much as you can.  While my goal isn’t necessarily early financial independence and retirement like Dividend Mantra, I still think it a valuable experience to analyze these expenses and see where you can save some money.  The less money we spend, the more we have to invest!

My Investing Pains and How I’ve Solved Them – Over at The Dividend Guy Blog, Mike writes about the different issues he’s had to deal with while investing and how he’s overcome them.  I especially agree with his pain of finding time to take care of investments.  While investing is considered passive, truly you still need to stay on top of all the companies you own and make sure to continue to monitor them as you own them.  Sometimes it can be hard to find the time necessary to stay updated on all the news and financials as they come out, especially if you have a larger portfolio with quite a few different companies.

Lazy Attitudes – Over at Brick by Brick Investing was an article that really resonated with me this month.  The article discusses the issue of always being asked for personal finance and investing advice but yet the person never seems to follow through and actually implement this advice.  I discuss investing all the time with different people and for some reason they don’t ever think to implement my plans into their own lives.  Other people find it wonderful that I invest and am making progress towards my goals of financial independence but yet don’t seem to realize that they can be doing the same thing.  If your going to ask for advice, be ready to take action!

Becton Dickinson 2013 Dividend Stock Analysis – The Dividend Monk did a good analysis of the company Becton Dickinson.  This article was timely for me this month as an unfortunate illness of a family member had me spending quite awhile at a hospital.  Looking around that hospital I notice quite a few devices and products made by Becton Dickinson which I recognized as being a dividend growth company.  I believe the medical industry will be a good industry to be involved with in the future so this might be a good company to consider for purchase.

What are You Doing With Your Tax Refund – It’s tax season and Passive Income Pursuit wrote a good article discussing the different ways you can put your tax refund to use.  Pay down debt, save it, invest it or spend it are a good order.  Personally I like investing it the best!

Dividend Cuts: Throwing a Wrench in the Gears of Retirement - The Loonie Bin wrote a good article discussing the woes of dividend cuts.  The article discusses different warning signs to watch out for in order to avoid investing in companies that are likely to experience dividend cuts.  As dividend growth investors, one of the primary things we want to try and avoid is any of the companies we own having a dividend cut.  Unfortunately, sometimes you may get caught holding a company that cuts their dividend and my course of action would then be to sell.

There were quite a few good articles this month around the web about investing that I wanted to share.  Be sure to check them all out because the best way to learn is by reading what other people are doing!

Related posts:

1. November Links: Fiscal Cliff Edition
2. March Links: Where is Spring?
3. January Links: Let’s Start 2013 Off Right
4. December Links: Looking Towards a New Year