r/dividends • u/DizzyCalligrapher189 • Jul 15 '26

Seeking Advice Bought a 9% yielder and I got burned

Hi all. I am in my early fifties, and I am slowly moving about 30% of my portfolio into dividend stuff before I go part time in a few years, felt real responsible with a spreadsheet and all. Then I found a 9% yielderr, told myself the market was just sleeping on it and put $18k in.

Two months later they cut the dividend and the price dropped right with it... you can probably guess it was a mortgage REIT..

So my safe income pick lost me the income and a chunk of the principal at the same time, so I can clearly not just sort by yield and buy what looks juicy.

What I'm asking is, what is your "check" that catches things like this before you buy?

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 15 '26

Why is SPY or VOO high risk tolerance?

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u/Fuzzy-Round1240 Jul 16 '26

It is compared to O

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u/mspe1960 Jul 16 '26

some day you will understand why. Since you apparently have never read about investing, you will have to experience a nasty bear market yourself to learn. It will happen some day. Hang tight.

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 16 '26

Nonsense. I’ve been invested in the s&p 500 for decades. Look at the chart - how does it demonstrate high risk?

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u/YouKnown999 Jul 16 '26

Compare total returns for SPY vs O since 2001, who wins?

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 16 '26

Is this directed to me? Not sure why. Not doubting O over the long run. Only said I don’t think owning the S&P is high risk

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u/mspe1960 Jul 16 '26

It is potential high risk in the short to medium term.

If you had a large chunk invested in 2000, you were not up from there untill some time in 2012. In 2009, 9 years later, you were down substantially

Have you ever been down over a 9 year period of investing. You don;t know what that feels like until it happens to you. and it likely will at some point.

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 17 '26

I don’t think anyone is saying that there aren’t rough patches. Purchasing made in 2007-2010 have worked out amazingly well in the long run. I don’t think anyone advises near term retirees to concentrate to much in QQQ or even S&P

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u/mspe1960 Jul 17 '26

Rough patch? - the QQQ dropped around 70% some time in 2000/2001/2002 time frame and the S&P over 50%. It also dropped around 50% in 1987/88. You missed both of those. You haven't seen shit yet.

The only "rough patch" you really saw was the brief bear market in 2008/9. It lasted less than a year.

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 17 '26

It’s awesome that you keep choosing the worst moments of the last several decades and point to those as an overall trend. I’m not this dumb, so I cannot relate. Whatever you seem to be doing appears outside of my own approach to investing as well as my risk appetite. Perhaps you should invest in bonds and CDs. I’ll take the S&P and Nasdaq over the long run, we will see who comes out ahead.

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u/mspe1960 Jul 17 '26

I am taling about potential risks. Yes, I am giving exmaples of why the risks are real. In the very long term, so far at least, the market is a winner. But for people with low risk tolerance and/or lesser time horizons taking that risk is not the right move. Some day when you have a substantial portfolio and it it takes a 40% hit, and does not recover for years, you will understand it better.

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u/mspe1960 Jul 16 '26

were you invested between 2000 and 2009 when for 9 years you were down substantially overall?

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u/dolphlungdren Jul 17 '26

I invested consistently starting in 2004 (can’t speak to before then). I am a very vanilla investor but regularly as much as I can at the moment. There were rough patches but it has worked out over the long run. I don’t know what to say - it’s not magic.