Image source: Getty Images With December already upon us, many people may be thinking about spending money rather than investing it. Even some people who might want to start investing in shares could decide that that may be a resolution for the new year rather than something to do in December. But it can be easy to keep procrastinating when it comes to investing – perhaps forever. In reality, getting started in the stock market does not necessarily take a lot of money. So, even with a few hundred pounds, someone who has no stock market experience could start investing…
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Image source: Getty Images Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) remains of the FTSE 100‘s most popular dividend stocks. It’s a phenomenon I’m struggling to understand given the collapse in the bank’s dividend yield this year. Lloyds’ share price has rocketed 73% since 1 January. And so its forward dividend yield has dropped to 3.8%, way below the 10-year average of 6%. This figure is also just a shade above the 3.2% for the broader FTSE index. On the plus side, 2025’s full-year dividend is tipped to rise an impressive 14% from last year’s levels. Yet I’m doubtful the bank can keep…
Image source: Getty Images Many of us (including myself) worry about the level of support the State Pension will offer in retirement. How large will it be, and at what age will I be able to claim it? In fact, will the State Pension even be around two to three decades from now? These aren’t worries I’m prepared to sit back and accept while I have time to do something about it. I’m taking steps today to help me become totally financially independent in later life. Want to see what I’m doing? Targeting a million To my mind, saving instead…
Image source: Getty Images Because it’s not possible to withdraw any funds until retirement age, I reckon a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) is the perfect vehicle for income stocks. It means there’s no temptation to spend any dividends received. Instead, they can be reinvested buying more shares, a method known as compounding. Here are three high-yielding stocks that recently caught my eye. Work and leisure Land Securities Group (LSE:LAND) is a real estate investment trust. It must therefore return at least 90% of its annual tax-exempt property income to shareholders. Currently (28 November), it’s yielding 6.7%. The group specialises in…
Image source: Getty Images I recently asked ChatGPT: “Which bargain stock should I put in my ISA?” After congratulating me on asking a good question, it came up with a list of six very different UK companies. I already own two of them – BP and JD Sports Fashion. In business for 177 years Of the other four, M&G (LSE:MNG) is the most familiar to me. Although it can trace its origins back to 1848, it only became a listed company in October 2019, having been de-merged from Prudential. Since then, it’s increased its dividend every year since. And it’s…
Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 250 is more closely tied to the UK economy than the FTSE 100 is. So it’s no surprise the smaller index responded more strongly to the Autumn Budget this week. Within the index, though, some companies naturally stand to benefit more than others. And a couple in particular have caught my attention over the last few days. Greggs It’s hard to think of a company more exposed to UK consumer spending than Greggs (LSE:GRG). The stock has crashed in the last 12 months, but it bounced after the Budget. The hope is that increases…
Image source: Getty Images A Stocks and Shares ISA is a valuable asset for investors looking to earn passive income. In fact, it’s become even more so after the Autumn Budget. The contribution limit stays at £20,000, but dividend taxes are going higher for investors in the basic and additional rate brackets. And the difference might be more than you might think. Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be,…
Image source: Getty Images My Stocks and Shares ISA has largely missed the recent run-up in defence stocks. But could there still be an opportunity for me in a name outside the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250? While shares in other defence firms have surged, Cohort‘s (LSE:CHRT) trading below where it was in January. And I think the stock’s well worth considering before the end of the year. The case for the defence Cohort is actually a collection of smaller businesses. But instead of machinery or weapons, its subsidiaries specialise in things like surveillance, threat detection, and cybersecurity. On…
Image source: Getty Images Growth stocks with durable competitive advantages — or ‘deep moats’ — can create enormous wealth over time. Just look at Microsoft, Nvidia, Netflix, Alphabet, and dozens of other stock market examples. Of course, the deepest moat is a company that has no competition in a particular market. So out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT what the most powerful monopoly growth stock on Earth is. Let’s unpack the AI bot’s answer. Rare European tech giant ChatGPT was pretty emphatic: Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) is the most powerful monopoly growth stock on the planet. It said…
Image source: Getty Images My favourite way of earning a second income is to buy dividend shares. And there’s lots of them to choose from. For example, at the moment (28 November), the five highest-yielding stocks on the FTSE 100 offer an average return of 7.5%. StockYield (%)Legal & General8.7Phoenix Group Holdings (LSE:PHNX)7.9M&G7.4Mondi7.0Land Securities Group6.7Average7.5Source: Hargreaves Lansdown / data at 28 November This means a £20,000 investment divided equally among them could generate a return of £1,500 over the next 12 months. A long term approach But let’s assume that instead of banking this cash, it’s reinvested buying more of…