Altira has excellent cash flow, and is the ultimate recession proof stock. During a recession, I am looking for a company that is going to maintain if not grow its earnings and provide a nice dividend. Altria does that. At its current price it has an over 8% yield, putting a good amount of cash into your pocket ever quarter. Continue reading The best stock to invest in during recession

A Revocable Living Trust, also simply called a Living Trust, is a legal document that is created by an individual, called a Trustmaker, to hold and own the Trustmaker’s assets, which are in turn invested and spent for the benefit of the Trustmaker.

This covers three phases of a Trustmaker’s life:
1. While the Trustmaker is alive and and in good health
2. If the Trustmaker becomes mentally incapacitated thus making him unable to decide for himself/herself.
3. After the Trustmaker dies.

Phase One of a Revocable Living Trust: The Trustmaker is Alive and Well

If the Trustmaker is good health and sound mind, the trust agreement will have specific rules allowing the Trustmaker to manage, invest, and spend the trust assets as he see fit. Thus, the Trustmaker will go about business as usual with regard to assets. The Trustmaker will also be able to use his or her own Social Security Number as the taxpayer identification number for the trust and file income taxes on IRS form 1040 instead of form 1041.

The next part of the article will cover phase two of a Revocable Living Trust.

Here is a basic checklist to see if it will be to your advantage to invest in bonds.

Yes, if you have at least $100,000 to invest. It takes bonds from at least 10 issuers to create a diversified portfolio. However, to get decent pricing, you’ll need to buy them in blocks of 10 or more. Since bonds are typically issued in $1,000 increments, that means you’ll need at least $100,000 just for the fixed-income portion of your portfolio. Anything less and you’re better off sticking with a fund.
Continue reading Should I invest in bonds?

Abbott Laboratories (ABT:) Abbott Laboratories is expected to report first-quarter earnings of 70 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research.

Progressive Corp. (PGR:) is forecast to post earnings of 41 cents a share in the first quarter, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Continue reading Current Stocks to watch

Microsoft may not be recession-proof but it turned in a strong performance in a year most companies would like to forget.

Profits jumped 25.7% to $17.7 billion on revenues of $60.4 billion as the software giant offset declining sales of its Windows operating system with increased revenues from its server and tools software products.

You may ask yourself, how can one invest in a time like this? Is it worth the risk with the market at a downturn without no forseable resolution in the horizon? One of the answers that a conservative investor will tell you is that to invest in low risk stocks. Enclosed in this category are utility stocks.
Continue reading How to invest during times of recession