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Safe Dividend Investing

Safe Dividend Investing

By: Ian Duncan MacDonald
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In 2000, I lost $300,000 in mutual funds that an investment advisor had put my lifesavings into.... I lost it because I had entrusted it to an industry that does not educate investors nor encourage them to look closely at what that industry is doing with their money..... I set out to find a better, safer way to invest..... My podcasts relate to what I learned in creating a generous, reliable income and in growing my wealth.... A few of the more important lessons I learned and explore are:.... (1) It is critical that you become a self-directed investor.....(2) If you can not easily measure the risk and potential in an investment, then do not invest in it. This excludes from your portfolio bundled investment devices, like mutual funds, ETFs and Index funds,..... (3) Financially strong companies who have paid “good dividends” for decades will continue to stay strong and continue to pay good dividends because it is both part of their "character" and in their executives selfish interest.....(4) Diversification is critical. Investing equally in the best 20 strong dividend stocks is the ideal.....A portfolio of 20 limits your risk in any one stock to 5% of your wealth..... No matter how strong you think a stock is, do not fall in love with it..... I have lived very well off my steady dividend income for 18 years, through two market crashes and one pandemic. I have watched my portfolio’s capital more than triple from where I started, despite taking out a generous dividend income every year to live on... In charts, for my second investment book,(Safer Better Dividend Investing), I spent months scoring all 628 dividend stocks paying dividends of 6% or greater traded on the TSX, NYSE and the NASDAQ. I discovered dozens of stocks that can provide not only a generous dividend income but outstanding capital growth.....Financial independence is realizable for careful, patient, dividend investors.

© 2026 Safe Dividend Investing Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Podcast 270 - A REQUEST TO LISTENERS

    Podcast 270 - A REQUEST TO LISTENERS
    Apr 10 2026

    Send us Fan Mail

    Welcome to Safe Dividend Investing’s Podcast # 270 on April 11th of 2026.

    My name is Ian Duncan MacDonald, and I am the author of 7 investment books. My seventh investment book, Achieving Financial Independence Safely - 200 NYSE Stocks Analyzed and Scored" became available January 3rd on Amazon. You can easily find it by searching in Amazon or Google for "Ian Duncan MacDonald books". If you invest in Canadian stocks, my book "Canadian High Dividend Investing - 215 Scored Stocks" would be recommended.

    For more information on all my books, stock scoring software and podcasts go to www.informus.ca or do a search in Google or in Amazon for "Ian Duncan MacDonald Books". At Amazon you will find reviews by investors and sample chapters.

    This podcast is an appeal to listeners to write to me about self-directed investing, financially strong companies and what surprises they have encountered in their investing.

    These responses will be shared in future podcasts of Safe Dividend Investing.


    Ian Duncan MacDonald
    Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
    President of Informus Inc
    2 Vista Humber Drive
    Toronto, Ontario
    Canada, M9P 3R7
    Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
    imacd@informus.ca
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    4 mins
  • Podcast 269 - A 10 BILLION DOLLAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER'S APPROACH TO INVESTING

    Podcast 269 - A 10 BILLION DOLLAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER'S APPROACH TO INVESTING
    Apr 4 2026

    Send us Fan Mail

    Welcome to Safe Dividend Investing’s Podcast # 269 on April 4th of 2026.

    My name is Ian Duncan MacDonald, and I am the author of 7 investment books. My seventh investment book, Achieving Financial Independence Safely - 200 NYSE Stocks Analyzed and Scored" became available January 3rd on Amazon. You can easily find it by searching in Amazon or Google for "Ian Duncan MacDonald books". For more information on all my books, stock scoring software and podcasts go to www.informus.ca

    This week's podcast is a departure from my usual offering. Paul Musson went through my podcast and wrote comments about its content. He was a professional investor employed as a portfolio manager with MacKenzie Investments for almost 25 years. His responsibilities included managing ten billion dollars in assets.

    I have encountered many investment advisors but Paul is the first portfolio manager I have met. I was curious whether he would be critical of my emphasis on investing safely in financially strong stocks paying high dividends. His written comments were recorded by me into the dialogue for the podcast.

    What the podcast is about is how now faced with the sale of a stock where was I going to invest that cash. I have not had to buy or sell a stock in several years.

    Usually most investors are speculators trying to quickly buy and sell their stock at the earliest opportunity to gain a profit or to avoid a loss. Would Paul see my infrequent trading and careful stock choices as contrary to a professional's approach to investing?


    Ian Duncan MacDonald
    Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
    President of Informus Inc
    2 Vista Humber Drive
    Toronto, Ontario
    Canada, M9P 3R7
    Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
    imacd@informus.ca
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • Podcast 268 - ARE HIGH DIVIDEND PAYING STOCKS MONEY TRAPS?

    Podcast 268 - ARE HIGH DIVIDEND PAYING STOCKS MONEY TRAPS?
    Mar 27 2026

    Send us Fan Mail

    Welcome to Safe Dividend Investing’s Podcast # 268 on March 28th of 2026.

    My name is Ian Duncan MacDonald, and I am the author of 7 investment books. My seventh investment book, Achieving Financial Independence Safely - 200 NYSE Stocks Analyzed and Scored" became available January 3rd on Amazon. You can easily find it by searching in Amazon or Google for "Ian Duncan MacDonald books". For more information on all my books, stock scoring software and podcasts go to www.informus.ca

    Who are those ultra high dividend stocks that you are warned against investing in? Investment advisors like to paint high dividend stocks as traps to rob you of your money. I was curious to investigate if I should consider adding some ultra high dividend stocks to my portfolio.

    While I have found that most advisors know little about dividend stocks, I was curious to investigate the differences between several ultra high dividend stocks paying a dividend yield percent exceeding 20% to a stock like Citigroup that 15 analysts recommend buying but only pays a dividend yield percent of 2.13%.

    In this podcast I calculate the IDM stock scores of several ultra high dividend stocks and analyze their risk. If you have ever been considered adding an ultra high dividend stock to your portfolio, you will find this podcast interesting.

    Ian Duncan MacDonald
    Author and Commercial Risk Consultant,
    President of Informus Inc
    2 Vista Humber Drive
    Toronto, Ontario
    Canada, M9P 3R7
    Toronto Telephone - 416-245-4994
    New York Telephone - 929-800-2397
    imacd@informus.ca
    Show More Show Less
    25 mins
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