Brad’s Note: The holidays are a time for gathering with family and friends, sharing delicious food, and expressing gratitude for all the wonderful things in life.

Today, I’m passing the reins to Wide Moat Research analyst Adam Galas. Adam has been investing for 24 years and gone through all the ups and downs of life – getting by with the bare minimum and building his wealth up from nothing into millions. Today, he’s among the most passionate people I know when it comes to the importance and value of generating reliable income.

He’ll share why – when it comes to your financial health and rich retirement dreams – dividend blue chips are among the top things to be thankful for.

And why the opportunity today’s market environment is creating is one that shouldn’t be missed out on…

Centuries ago, there were people who could harness the power of tens of millions of individuals.

Every year, from every corner of the globe, money would flow to these people in the form of tribute. This allowed them to construct giant cities, armies, temples, and monuments, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, which still inspires awe to this day.

These people are remembered as legends today and, in their time, were even thought of as gods by some of their followers.

They were called rulers, emperors, kings, and queens.

Today, these people still exist, but we have a new term for them: dividend investors.

Think about it…

If you own a diversified portfolio of dividend blue chips with hundreds of companies (via blue-chip ETFs), you own a piece of the cash flow of:

  • Hundreds of companies with the smartest executive and management teams on earth

  • Tens of millions of employees

  • Operations in most countries on the planet

  • Every sector of the global economy

  • And you earn quarterly cash “tributes” in the form of dividends

Every year, you benefit from these companies’ efforts to to grow your cash flow, dividends, and wealth.

And with this wealth, you can achieve almost any goal.

Maybe you’re a plumber who just wants to retire in comfort and travel around America. Or maybe you’re one of the super-rich who wants to donate to charity, fighting disease, poverty, or climate change.

Or maybe you’re someone like me, who wants to provide for your family’s health and comfort for as long as they might need it.

Whatever your goal – no matter how big or small – you need income-producing assets to make your dreams come true.

And if you’re a blue-chip dividend investor with the world’s smartest people working hard for you, you can achieve those goals as a modern-day emperor or empress.

Dividend Empires Are Built Fastest in Bear Markets

In 2022, stocks fell 26% in the first nine months of the year. It’s also been the worst bond bear market in U.S. history.

During turbulent and frightening times like these, it’s easy to forget that dividends’ retirement-building power works fastest.

Whether you’re putting new savings to work during this bear market in your 401(K) or just letting dividends reinvest automatically, lower prices in the short term are your friend. And you should take this chance to build out your positions at a discount.

Remember that bear markets are like the Olympics. On average, they come around every four years. They are dramatic, exciting, and over before you know it.

The pain you feel during a bear market is always temporary, as long as you avoid panic selling and simply hold on to the world’s best companies.

When a bull market inevitably comes back around, you’ll thank yourself for it or for accumulating more shares when there was a good opportunity.

In other words, when stocks sell off, the short-term trader sees only risk.

But the long-term blue-chip dividend investor sees the opportunity to make their hard-earned money go further.

That gives them the chance to build their dividend empire faster, resulting in a safer retirement and longer-lasting legacy.

That’s why I’m not just thankful this holiday season for dividend blue chips. I’m also thankful for this bear market, which is helping you, me, and millions of income investors build our empires and achieve our financial dreams faster.

Get Started Building Your Empire of Dividend Payers Today

As I hinted above, one of the easiest ways to own a basket of dividend blue-chip stocks is through an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

And right now, the one I like best is the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM). It holds 442 companies that have a history of paying above-average dividends across multiple sectors. It paid out its most recent dividend of 76 cents in September and expects to pay the next one in December.

However, some of the companies within that ETF might end up performing better than others. And ETFs generally come with fees. That’s why at Intelligent Income Investor, we research and recommend the specific dividend payers we think give you the best chance at boosting your income streams for a lifetime.

To learn more about them, click here.

Safe investing,

Adam Galas
Analyst, Intelligent Income Daily