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A dividend is a distribution (normally cash) of a portion of a company’s earnings, decided upon by the board of directors and paid to its shareholders. Dividends are usually paid out on a quarterly or annual basis. Receiving dividends is one of the ways an investor makes money. Bottom line, a dividend is your share in the apportioned profits of a company you own stock in. Attractive, don’t you think?

On January 8th, 2008, I came home from our attorney’s office with a very large check. We had just sold our investment firm. The Everett Financial Group, Inc., had been one of the largest and most successful independent investment companies in the United States. My darling wife MarySue asked me what I was planning to do with the check—I think she felt a shopping spree coming on! My reply was, ‘put it in a guaranteed money market account’. The stock market was overpriced, and I felt led to put the proceeds in a safe place until better investment opportunities opened up.

“Yes, I am a Star Trek fan. I was intrigued by the memorable scene from ‘Star Trek: Into the Darkness,’ when Leonard Nimoy’s Spock advises the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) on how to defeat the treacherous villain, Kahn. It’s a time warp, science fiction moment that gets you thinking. What could I say to a younger me if I could go back in time?

Successful investing can be difficult, illogical, and sometimes downright precarious. If investing were easy, then everyone would be rich, and as we all know, everyone is not rich. That being said, we must embrace reality and deal with it.

Risk is inevitable. All investments have some sort of risk. For instance, bonds have default and interest rate risk. Foreign stocks have currency and political risks - REITs have vacancy risks.