But we launched this newsletter and our Monthly Dividend Paycheck Calendar income system because there are regular hardworking people looking for a steady income stream. Looking for something they can rely on. And we couldn’t have started too soon for some folks.

You see, contrary to what they try to tell us – the mainstream financial news, the government, the politicians – nothing’s changed for those of us looking for stable and steady income.

You and I both know it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be a dividend investor.

Think about this for a moment: up until the financial crisis the conventional wisdom for retirement money was to put the bulk of your money in bond funds and CDs and live off the interest. Made sense when CDs were paying 5, 6, even 7%. Nice way to fund your retirement.

But that’s not the world we live in today even with recent Fed rate hikes.

What if the Fed Reverses Course to Raise Rates?

This is the second most common question I get from dividend investors through email and at speaking engagements.

I’ll share with you my response to that in two parts. 

First, the Fed isn’t going to raise rates. Jobs numbers are lousy right now.

In fact, they just did the opposite recently and cut rates by a quarter point.

And second, today you’d be lucky to get much more than a 4% yield on a CD without having to tie up a tidy sum for a long time.

4%? Are they kidding us or just plain being greedy and rude? 

Take your pick but either way that’s not even enough to cover inflation as we’ve experienced these past years, let alone let you “live off the interest” like so many of us were promised when we were younger.

And remember, that’s not going to change any time soon.

It’s only the last couple of years that we’ve seen the Fed finally raise rates for the first time since before the Great Recession and even then only modestly. 

And you know what happened? The world didn’t end. Dividend stocks didn’t tank. And just recently the Fed decided to hold rates where they are… after dropping them 100 basis points in just the last half year.

Rates aren’t going back up any time soon. Period.

But let’s pretend they raise rates at every meeting for the next year and it’s not going to make one bit of difference for people like you and me. At least not for those of us who want passive income like we used to expect from CDs and bonds.

So the Fed raised rates a few times. Big deal. Are they looking for a pat on the back? Then they turned right around and lowered them… and then maybe they will raise them back up a bit. It’s just their way of trying to keep our economy from falling apart. But in the meantime they keep jerking savers around with yo-yo rates that at the end of the day don’t come near anything to provide income, let alone keep up with real inflation.

Post-COVID was the first series of serious rate raises in over two decades.

Why? Because just before COVID they couldn’t get inflation to go above 2% – to them inflation that’s too low is considered a bad thing, to those of us who shop for our own groceries it’s a completely different matter. 

After COVID the economy was awash in extra dollars printed as stimulus checks and inflation was cranking like we hadn’t seen since the Carter years.

And since then they’ve paused then raised then paused and then raised a little and played the “wait and see” game. And then maybe they’ll raise them another 0.25% or maybe their drop rates by 0.25%. Who knows?

Let me spell it out: that quarter of a percent is 0.0025. And what has your bank raised CDs to? Back to the 5, 6, 7% we enjoyed a little before the 2008 crash? The kind of return you could actually live off of.

No, the banks raised them to still below 4%. And only begrudgingly. Can you live on 4% interest in a world where the cost of everything continues to go up?

And this will go on for years… maybe a decade or more.

Despite all the cheerleading, the Fed is too scared to do anything other than incremental rate tweaks of 0.0025… and with “wait and see” pauses between each rate change.

Frankly, it’s hard to imagine a day when we ever get back to those decent yields on CDs that we could live off the interest.

And worse, if you follow the news then you know that all of the talk is about cutting rates, not raising them. 

We just have to face it: you’re never going to be able to go back to when you could park your money into CDs maturing in successive months (in banking terms this is called laddering) and take the cash out without so much as lifting a finger. I know that’s not what some people want to hear.

Growing up and even deep into our careers we were told to save our money, put it in CDs, and live off the interest. That’s what they told us… but that’s not an option now and it’s not coming back.

Sorry, but it’s the truth and I’m not the kind of guy to sugarcoat the truth. And the sooner we face up to the truth the sooner we can take action and do something about it… the sooner we can take control of our financial well-being.

And this is why the Monthly Dividend Paycheck Calendar is more important than ever.

At 13.2%, this passive income stock has the highest yield on the FTSE 250. And it trades at a 40% discount

Our writer takes a look at the highest-yielding FTSE 250 passive income stock. But how sustainable is this return? Could it be a value trap?

Posted by James Beard❯

Published 20 December

BSIF

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services.

A £10,000 investment a year ago (17 December 2024) in Bluefield Solar Income Fund (LSE:BSIF) would have earned £955 in passive income over the past 12 months. But over this period, its share price has fallen by approximately a quarter.

If it can maintain its payout for another year, it means those buying £10,000 of shares today would earn £1,322 (38% more) over the next 12 months. This implies a yield of 13.2%, the highest on the FTSE 250.

Should you buy Bluefield Solar Income Fund

A cause for concern?

If I was a shareholder, I’d be concerned about the drop in Bluefield’s market cap. However, based on its latest internal valuation, the fall appears unjustified. It now means its shares trades at a 40% discount to the fund’s net asset value.

In other words, if the business ceased trading today and sold off its assets and cleared its liabilities, there would be around 26p a share – equivalent to three times its annual dividend – to give back to shareholders.

I appreciated that valuing non-quoted energy portfolios can be difficult, but this is an enormous discount. Can the fund’s accountants be so wrong?

And because of the management team’s frustration that investors don’t appear to value Bluefield’s 793MW of renewable energy assets as highly as they do, they have engaged advisors to explore the possibility of selling the group. If successful, it would probably mean the shares are de-listed from the London Stock Exchange.

An uncertain future

But there are no guarantees that a buyer will be found.

That’s due, in part, to the UK government’s decision to launch a consultation on how renewable energy projects should be subsidised in the future. Although there are no changes proposed to current contracts, it has caused uncertainty within the industry and makes investing in the sector riskier than might otherwise be the case.

Also, a higher interest rate environment means investors can earn a reasonable return elsewhere. This has resulted in many shares in the sector falling out of favour. And for the company, it makes it more expensive to borrow, which limits opportunities to expand.

If a sale doesn’t go through, the trust’s share price could continue to drift lower. But if it’s able to continue its recent policy of increasing its dividend each year, the yield will go higher still. Of course, there can never be any assurances given when it comes to payouts.   

Financial year (30 June)	Share price (pence)	Dividend per share (pence)	Dividend change (%)	Yield (%)
2021	121.4	8.0	+1.3	6.6
2022	131.0	8.2	+2.5	6.3
2023	120.0	8.6	+4.9	7.2
2024	105.6	8.8	+2.3	8.3
2025	97.2	8.9	+1.1	10.2

^{Source: London Stock Exchange Group/company reports}

Final thoughts

But I reckon the Bluefield Solar Income Fund has plenty going for it. Most of its income (84% comes from PV assets) is secured by long-term agreements and, although there will be some variability depending on how often the sun shines, the UK weather is generally bright enough to help the fund earn revenue all-year round. And with the price it receives for a significant proportion of its output guaranteed, it should be able to predict its earnings with a reasonable degree of accuracy.  

If a buyer does come forward, it’s hard to see how the directors can recommend selling the group for much less than its net asset value. I think it’s worth considering but not with the aim of a quick sale.

The plan for the Snowball

Using the Snowball’s comparison share VWRP, would have to increase to £475,000 if your plan is to use the 4% rule to fund your retirement.

Current value £151,385.00

Remember the compound interest table only compounds once a year, the Snowball has an advantage in more shares are bought when dividends accrue to above 1k.

VIP closing price is most probably a false price.

Get Rich Slowly: Life beyond the Magnificent Seven ?

Our investment specialist hunts for some alternative growth plays.

Jo Groves

Updated 14 Dec 2025

Disclaimer

This is not substantive investment research or a research recommendation, as it does not constitute substantive research or analysis. This material should be considered as general market commentary.

It’s getting to the business end of the year. The Budget is finally behind us, with a veritable advent calendar of 24 tax rises to open and savour or, as Kemi Badenoch put it, a smorgasbord of misery.

But it’s not all doom and gloom in the Kepler office. This year’s Christmas party features an inaugural guess-the-baby photo competition, sparking a few, erm, “safeguarding concerns” among those longer in the tooth. Thankfully, a few strategically-placed unicorns and emoticons have (just about) restored public decency.

Love is also all around on Regents Street, where we’re treated to a daily parade of influencers preening and pouting their way to TikTok glory from the central reservation. A strong contender for next year’s Darwin Awards for death-by-rotating-ring-light, or natural selection at its finest, depending on your inner Grinch.

Anyway, enough festive digression and back to the equally sparkling topic of my investment portfolio.

Time to stop the tech cavalry?

As we edge towards a new year, thoughts naturally turn to portfolio allocations (or maybe that’s a damning indictment on my social life?).

Top of my list (along with much of the planet) is whether the AI bubble will burst, pop or, well, just quietly deflate. Apparently, we can dial down the bubble-on-bubble anxiety, as searches for “AI bubble” have already burst (and that’s probably enough of the b-word for now).

Fears of an AI bubble are receding

Source: Google Trends

Given the US accounts for around 65% of the MSCI ACWI, I’m still meaningfully underweight at a quarter of my portfolio though not a complete anomaly (at least on the investing front). A recent Visual Capitalist study revealed that UK investors typically hold a third of their portfolio in US equities, a far cry from the near-80% exposure of American investors who are nothing if not a patriotic bunch.

In a recent podcast, veteran manager Terry Smith (who, it must be said, is more of a defensive-leaning chap) suggested that most investors own AI stocks simply because they’re going up, not because they’ve any idea how AI will actually play out. He may well have a point.

My tech exposure is via Landseer Global Artificial Intelligence, Fidelity Global Technology and, to a lesser extent, Alliance Witan (ALW) and Scottish Mortgage (SMT). NVIDIA (NVDA) is my only direct holding, which is up almost 50% or so in the 10 months I’ve owned it.

Interestingly, the elite tribe of Warren Buffett and besties seem to have no room at the inn for the world’s most valuable company. Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and Apple dominate their top tens (in that order), yet NVIDIA is conspicuously absent.

With full disclosure that I’m no algorithm-wielding quant wizard, here goes with my back-of-a-fag-packet sense check, ranking the Magnificent Six (I’ve excluded Tesla given its valuation defies earthly analysis) from most to least expensive, alongside some key metrics.Source: Financial Times & company accounts. Based on last financial year, trailing 12 month p/e ratio & the median of the 12-month share price analyst forecasts from FT data.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

NVIDIA may have the punchiest valuation but it’s also delivered almost double Microsoft’s revenue growth, wins hands-down on margins and its latest quarterly net income even beats the combined revenue of rivals Intel and Broadcom. Admittedly all rear-view mirror stuff but it could still have legs with the highest share price forecast amongst the group.

However, when you’re sitting pretty on a quasi-monopoly and your training rigs cost the GDP of a small nation, there’s undoubtedly a very large target on your back. Meta’s recent tie-up for Google chips is a reminder that even old rivals can find common ground when there’s enough zeroes at stake.

So what’s the takeaway for NVIDIA? Its priced-for-perfection valuation does suggest caution, even if bull markets supposedly climb a wall of worry. As Smith warns, a cooling of AI hype could see NVIDIA tumble 80%, which may explain why the super investors are parking their chips in the more diversified mega-caps. That said, I’m happy to hold for the longer term even if there’s near-term pain ahead.

Do you hear what I hear?

For once I’m not banging on about undervalued UK equities and instead casting a critical eye over my alternative growth plays for 2025 when tech valuations felt a bit toppy.

First on my shopping list was International Biotechnology (IBT) in December 2024. On the back of political headwinds clearing and interest rates falling, the biotech recovery is in full swing, with IBT chalking up a stellar 60%-plus return in the last six months.

Managers Ailsa Craig and Marek Poszepczynski have an impressive track record of uncovering the best opportunities across the sector, with a particularly high hit rate on the M&A front. And if you’d like to find out more about the outlook for biotech, have a listen to our recent podcast with Ailsa.

Next up was Asia: with more than double the number of listed companies of the UK, Europe and the US combined, I’ve opted for the on-the-ground, big-hitting resources of Schroders and BlackRock.

Asia isn’t often seen as a typical income play but Schroder Oriental Income’s (SOI) five-year return of 65% not only tops the AIC Asia Pacific Equity Income sector but is more than double the highest-returning fund in the Asia Pacific sector too. Proof that income doesn’t need to come at the expense of growth, with manager Richard Sennitt showcasing the merits of a steady hand on the tiller in a heterogeneous universe.

Stablemate Schroder Japan (SJG) was added in February to plug the gap in my Asian exposure. There’s plenty going for Japan, from corporate governance reform to rising household income, and SJG’s small and mid-cap tilt has served it well this year, underpinning a one-year return of more than 20%.

Last on the list was BlackRock Frontiers (BRFI) with manager Emily Fletcher gracing our October Market Matters podcast. Emerging markets tick the box on the growth front but are increasingly resembling a Magnificent Seven proxy play given the dominance of the likes of TSMC, Tencent and Alibaba. BRFI avoids the eight largest emerging markets entirely, offering genuine diversification away from both US tech and EM heavyweights.

So how did my picks fare as alternative growth plays to the S&P 500? Well, IBT took top honours with more than four times the S&P 500 return but all the other funds have comfortably outperformed too. Bubble or no bubble, perhaps there is life beyond the Magnificent Seven after all.

My growth picks have all beaten the S&P 500

Source: HL & FE Analytics (as at 08/12/2025. Returns based on the date of purchase to the current date.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

And, finally, may the only bubbles you need to worry about this festive season be the ones in your glasses. Here’s to a jolly Christmas and we hope you join us for more portfolio ponderings in the new year.

All numbers as at 08/12/2025 unless stated otherwise, returns based on share price total returns.

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI)18 December 2025

Disclaimer

Disclosure – Non-Independent Marketing Communication

This is a non-independent marketing communication commissioned by Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI). The report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on the dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research.

SEQI generates an exceptional yield by lending against critical modern infrastructure.

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income (SEQI) offers yield high enough to rival most alternative assets or fixed income trusts from an ungeared portfolio of loans to borrowers in the infrastructure sector. The portfolio has a number of defensive properties, being highly diversified by sub-sector, borrower and asset, majority senior secured debt and managed with a conservative approach that has seen very low realised losses in the portfolio.

The infrastructure referred to includes new economy industries and themes like the physical support for artificial intelligence and new and greener energy supply like renewables and nuclear. With loans being made on a three to five-year basis, there is a constant flow of money back into the portfolio allowing the managers to be flexible with their positioning. Having been an early mover in the data centre space and generating attractive returns, they are currently finding lending standards on new loans slip due to the artificial intelligence boom, meaning this allocation has been falling. Instead, the team have been investing further down the chain in the power supply and networks connecting these to the grid, taking advantage of the same trends via loans with better rates and covenants.

SEQI’s Dividend yield of 8.8% reflects the impact of a Discount of 18%. This compares highly favourably to the company’s AIC Infrastructure and AIC Debt – Loans & Bonds peers. The dividend is fully cash covered, and the team report this cover should increase in the coming months as new loans start paying interest. The board has bought back substantial amounts of shares in recent years to tackle the discount, and states that managing the discount remains a priority.

Analyst’s View

We think SEQI is an attractive income product in the current economic environment. The portfolio is invested in defensive, non-cyclical sectors and in crucial infrastructure with strong economic and policy support behind it. The lack of fund-level gearing is notable, as it means that the NAV should be more stable than many other high-yielding options, and that financing costs don’t affect profitability. With the strong focus on new economy infrastructure like data centres, broadband and power networks we think the trust offers a way for income investors to generate a high return from these secular growth themes without taking equity risk.

We think the discount largely reflects the higher interest rate environment since 2022 which has seen capital go into cash and government bonds, and so as rates continue to come down demand for SEQI’s shares should rise. In that light, buying a portfolio of ungeared loans on an 18% discount looks attractive, particularly when considering the board’s commitment to buybacks and the fact the NAV includes a pull-to-par gain of c. 2.8p, or 3%, on loans trading below 100. While falling interest rates should see yields available fall across fixed income sectors, it is notable that SEQI has maintained its portfolio yield and dividend target while rates have fallen between 125bps and 235bps in the major jurisdictions. We think this speaks to the diversity of the opportunity set, which continues to benefit from strong technicals, and the conservative approach of the management team, who have plenty of levers to pull to maintain the yield without massively tramping up risk.

Bull

• High dividend yield from ungeared portfolio with relatively low credit risk
• Strong technical picture with withdrawal of banks from the sector and few competing funds
• Specialist team with many years of experience in this space pre-SEQI launch

Bear

• Falling interest rates will create a challenge to maintain the yield
• Buybacks have used large amounts of cash which, if continued, would reduce funds available for investment and maintaining yield
• Unfamiliar asset class which is less transparent to the average investor

fdertol mrtokev fdertolmrtokev.comx Timbers51000@gmail.com 204.217.130.252

Hello would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

It’s WordPress thru Fast Hosts

This Flawed Chart Could Spark a 2026 Selloff

by Michael Foster, Investment Strategist

Every year, the stock market has a theme. And I’ve got a pretty good idea of what 2026’s will be.

Simply this: If you buy stocks in the new year, your return will be zilch – at best – for a decade. Maybe more.

Why do I say that? Because the market’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is high by historical standards.

Trouble is, most people are reading this popular indicator all wrong. That disconnect (and the fear it’s starting to cause, which could get worse in 2026) is setting up a nice short-term buying opportunity for us.

Valuation worries are being amplified by this chart from Apollo Global Management, which could easily become the poster child for fearful investors next year:

It comes from Apollo’s chief economist, Torsten Sløk, who notes that the estimated returns we should expect from the S&P 500 over the next decade are zero. This argument is based on that “high” P/E ratio I just mentioned. In other times where we saw a similar P/E ratio, according to Apollo’s analysis, we saw 10 years of flat to negative returns.

This argument has a logical end point: You may as well sell, because we’re in for a long period of flat returns at best.

Except the argument is wrong, and it’s not as logical as it looks.

The issue in the chart above is with what each of these dots represents. The S&P 500 as an entity has only existed since 1957, and the first ancestor to the index showed up about 100 years ago. So at most, we should have 10 dots here to cover 10 decades. Instead, we have many more than that because Apollo is using monthly reads of the index to fill out the chart and get more data points.

That’s not a small decision. It means that many of these dots are almost identical, just shifted forward a bit. For instance, the dots for November and December 2015 share 119 out of 120 months of the same data, so the chart looks like it has lots of separate data points, but it really doesn’t.

Statisticians call this “autocorrelation,” and it often results in charts that look like they have conclusive results when they really don’t say much at all.

Plus, let’s not forget that P/E ratios can be “high” for different reasons. Consider, for example, the spring of 2009, when the S&P 500’s P/E ratio shot above 120. I think we know how the following years played out.

Those Who Sold This “High” P/E Missed Years of Gains

An investor who bought the S&P 500 at its highest P/E in living memory earned a 14.5% total return in the next decade, as the index’s P/E dropped to a more “normal” range.

S&P 500 Returns Soared as Valuations Dropped

In this case, the logic of “Don’t buy stocks when P/E ratios are high” doesn’t work. That’s because – and this is the real takeaway – P/E ratios can jump because prices get too high, sure. But they can also soar when the “E” part of the equation, earnings, slump, as they did in early 2009.

The real question, then, is “Are companies growing profits now?” The answer is yes.

In 2025, US companies saw a 12.1% rise in earnings per share from a year ago. This suggests stock prices should rise at least 12.1% just to maintain the same P/E ratio.

But since earnings growth is surging (an 11% rise in 2024, up from 1.1% in 2023 and 4.1% in 2022), and since revenue growth is unusually high (up 7% for 2025), we should see more than 12.1% yearly gains. That’s exactly what we’re seeing now. It wouldn’t be surprising if we keep seeing this in the future.

Flawed Logic Can Still Crash Markets

Nonetheless, most people put more weight on the “P” than the “E” in “P/E ratio,” so we should expect Apollo’s chart to be replicated, and even take hold in investors’ minds. If that happens, we should be cautious and ready to buy when others sell.

That’s why I’m starting to like funds like the Nuveen NASDAQ 100 Dynamic Overwrite Fund (QQQX). This one is a nice, cheap 8%-paying hedge against uncertainty. It sells covered-call options, or the opportunity to buy its stocks – the tech-focused names in the NASDAQ 100 – at a fixed future price and date.

No matter how these trades play out, QQQX keeps the fee, or “premium,” it charges for this right. Plus, its focus on the big-cap tech stocks of the NASDAQ also means this index tends to have higher volatility when markets get scared, juicing payouts further.

This strategy generates more premium cash in volatile markets. That’s the opposite of what we’re seeing now, as the VIX – the so-called “fear indicator” – remains low.

Market Stays Calm, Despite Investor Fears

In other words, we have a relatively calm market as I write this. That, in turn, means options are selling for cheaper than normal. And unusually cheap options compound the discounts to NAV on option-selling funds like QQQX. Right now, the fund’s discount is at a multi-year low.

Calm Markets Put QQQX on Sale

We saw that discount fade a bit in April, when volatility spiked, only for it to drop back to double-digits as markets remained calm and stocks steadily gained.

But if the narrative behind Apollo’s chart catches on, it could narrow that discount again, driving gains and bolstering QQQX’s 8% dividend. That possibility alone makes the fund a nice hedge against a market panic in 2026.