Retirement Strategy: I Am Done Being Wrong About This Market

Summary

• This will be a slightly different type of article.
• Being wrong has been humbling, but I still didn't lose a dime.
• This is where I am now and what I plan to do going forward.
• Even though I have been wrong, all is not as hunky-dory as it might appear.

I have been banging the drum about a market correction, but I suppose I just might croak waiting for one. The bottom line is that I have been wrong or early. Being early is still being wrong, folks, and I won't hide from the facts.

Let's take a peek at where the markets have been and where they have gone:

After the drop in January/February, the Dow has moved basically sideways and rebounded off of its lows several times. It appears that the bottom was support. Since I made the conscience decision to build cash and not buy or sell any stocks, I could say that I missed some good opportunities. At the same time, I didn't sell anything and the dividend income stream continued to rise.

As illustrated by the model Dividend King Retirement Portfolio, the dividend income stream moved higher, while the price fluctuations had no effect on the income. Of course, if I had deployed more cash, the portfolio would have more shares and an even greater income stream.

The model DKRP currently consists of Coca-Cola (KO), Procter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), 3M (MMM), Emerson Electric (EMR), Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF), Lowe's (LOW), Hormel (HRL), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Dover (DOV), and AT&T (T).

Here is the chart that shows the dividend trajectory over the last 3 years:

A smooth, boring increase without breaking a sweat. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead - or actually - Ignore the price fluctuations and keep on investing! Well, I wish I were that cavalier about it at my stage, but I will emphasize once again that the more time you have (10+ years before retirement), the more you might want to just keep plugging away.

Maybe I was being too cute. Maybe I should have taken the same action as

Analyst’s Disclosure:I am/we are long CINF CL DOV EMR HRL JNJ KO LOW MMM NLY PG T. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

The portfolio is for educational purposes only and not an actual portfolio. The long positions are based on the model portfolios.