A vision is taking the time to think of (anticipate) in detail what the future will bring. You would need to consider future earnings, savings and economic issues such as inflation. Then based on what you foresee in the future, you would formulate an action plan to ensure the best possible outcome given your unique circumstances. You can't have a retirement plan until you have a retirement vision. It would seem to me that there are a lot or retirement plans out there but very few retirement visions.

A portion of my retirement planning includes dividend investing. One of the beauties of dividend investing is it provides you continuous feedback. As the years and decades go by you can see your earnings steadily grow as you invest your money in dividend stocks. Here are a few select companies that have recently provided their shareholders positive feedback by raising their cash dividends:

• Matthews Int'l (MATW) Boosts Qtr. Dividend by 1.5% to $0.065/Share (0.06%)
• VF Corp. (VFC) Boosts Qtr. Dividend 2% to $0.59/Share (4.32%)
• PPG Industries (PPG) Boosts Qtr Dividend 2% to $0.53/Share (4.20%)
• Goodrich (GR) Boosts Qtr. Dividend by 11% to $0.25/Share (2.71%)
• UMB Financial (UMBF) Boosts Qtr. Dividend by 6% to $0.175/Share (1.31%)
• Home BancShares (HOMB) Increases Qtr. Dividend 55% to $0.065/Share (1.31%)
• Stepan Company (SCL) Boosts Qtr. Dividend by 4.7% to $0.22/Share (2.25%)
• The Eastern Company (EML) Raises Qtr. Dividend by 12.5% to $0.09/Share (2.89%)

After running these companies through my D4L-PreScreen.xls model, VFC and PPG both had a positive NPV of MMA Differential, but fell short of the $3,000 I look for from a company that is a Dividend Aristocrat. None of the others achieved the necessary NPV of MMA Differential to justify a full evaluation.

Disclosure: No position in the aforementioned stocks.

(Photo: Steve Woods)


Related Articles:

• Interest Rates: Things Are Not Always As They Have Been
• MMA Rates Falling, What are You Going to Do?
• Dividends - The Capitalist’s Ideal
• Measure What's Important
• Harvest the Fruit

If you enjoyed this post, please click Buzz Up below!