The Snowball Effect: Using Dividend & Interest Reinvestment To Help You Retire On Time

The Snowball Effect: Using Dividend and Interest Reinvestment to Help You Retire on Time, by Timothy McIntosh, gives the reader both a clear understanding of the basics of investing in the stock market and a specific plan for increasing wealth through reinvestment of dividends and interest payments.Interestingly, I fit his profile of the average investor pretty closely. I invested at the top of the market in early 2000 and watched the value of my holdings plummet. So I got out, on the theory that I’d cut my losses. As he points out – and I learned the hard way, the stock market does not always go up. Many shared my experience. According to the author, in 2007, 65% of the population had investments in the market. In 2016, it dropped to 52%. People are scared of losing their money in a volatile market.However, McIntosh explains that the ups and downs of stock value become less important if you invest in stocks that pay dividends. In that case, you can reinvest your dividends, buying more stock when the price drops. Over time, as the author illustrates through many examples, you are more likely to increase your portfolio value by reinvesting your interest and dividends than by waiting for the market value of the shares to rise.“Investors love dividends”Along the way, McIntosh gives some really interesting history of the stock market and the country. In 1921, the U.S. unemployment rate was 12%. In 1933, it was 25%. In 1974, it was 8.7%. (It’s currently 4.9 %.)Paying dividends became popular after the Great Depression. So many people had lost so much in the Crash that they wanted to see a regular payment to be reassured a stock was worth holding. Today, dividend-paying stocks can help insulate the investor from downward trends in the market by providing income. McIntosh points out that 40% of investor returns over the last 110 years of the market’s existence have come from dividends.However, companies paying dividends are less common now than they were in the post-Depression years. Today, only 50% of the Standard and Poor’s Index of 500 large companies offering stock pay dividends over 2%. McIntosh finds, though, that those companies offering dividends to stock holders enjoyed a better performance than the broader market overall.Balancing your holdingsMcIntosh also talks about the benefits of including small-cap holdings, even though they are typically smaller companies, pay smaller dividends, and have greater volatility.Bonds are also useful for balance. In general, when interest rates fall, bond prices go up, and vice versa, so holding both with allow the investor to weather the vagaries of the economic climate.He recommends US Treasuries as a risk-free addition and corporate bonds as another way to increase your portfolio variety and therefore stability.In all cases, he recommends that you reinvest your interest in order to create “the snowball effect.”This book really surprised me. It’s a clearly written, engaging read by a well-informed author, laying out in great detail an investment strategy that he’s found to be a success. The last part of the book is a list of his Top 100 Picks – dividend-paying companies that he finds reliable choices for this formula.You may have personal criteria that rule out your investing in some of these companies, but you can’t argue with the clarity or depth of the author’s argument. I don’t typically read investment guides, but this book answered a lot of old questions rumbling around in the back of my mind. What’s a P/E ratio and why should I care about it? What does the fluctuation of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average really mean? What’s a micro-cap? What’s a “covered call”?You probably need to read this book. Highly recommended.

The Snowball Effect explains in convincing detail why it’s worth it in the long run to invest in stocks and other market instruments, such as bonds, that pay regular income streams over time rather than just speculate in stock growth without fixed income streams. Using statistics, he makes a compelling case why it’s still worthwhile to invest in dividend-yielding (or, in the case of bonds, interest-yielding) investments. My eyes were opened when he showed graphs that demonstrate that there historically have been several years, if not decades, of sideways stock markets… that is, stock markets where the value at which you started hasn’t really changed, despite the long passage of time. With such persuasive reasoning, it’s not hard to see why income streams can tide you over the dry years (or rather, the bear years).His first (The Treacherous Secular Bears) and last (The Future and the Top 100) chapters were the best, although chapter six on The Covered-Call Strategy was a bit dry and technical. But at the end of the book he has a very helpful appendix, outlining the top one hundred dividend-yielding global stocks as based upon the last ten years. Too bad I don’t live in America, otherwise I could buy many of the U.S. stocks he recommends!

Much to learn in this book.Very optimistic and a thoroughly enjoyable, engaging read.A page turner that is hard to put down once I began reading.Would highly recommend this book.

Having been interested in the markets for years, I immersed myself easily into Timothy McIntosh's well-written explanation of what goes on inside them. What makes the markets move – either up or down. It's easy to understand, provides a mix of history and advice, and it's a smooth read as well.The 1982 secular bull market is recounted, and I well remember its start. The actual day, in fact. I was living in Saudi Arabia then and bought a copy of Newsweek Magazine. On the cover was a picture of Joe Granville with a caption underneath reading “Joe says jump.” Granville was a leading market guru at the time and he advised everyone that when the market opened on the following Monday it was going to be very bad indeed. In fact, Monday morning the market fell precipitously, but then recovered and closed up on the day. That was the start of an astounding bull run that went on for years. At the time, I was very focused on gold, which had been the outstanding performer in the previous decade. Like an old general, I was fighting the last war and missed out on the start of that amazing investment opportunity.For younger people especially who are looking to secure a comfortable financial future, this book gives sound advice. The list of dividend-paying stocks at the back of the book gives an excellent, simple guide to follow also.“The Snowball Effect” is highly recommended, and rates an easy five stars.

As a retiree, I bought this book looking for ways to produce an income while keeping my money safe. This is a big issue today with CD and bank savings accounts ridiculously low. I really like the beginning of the book and all the history of the stock market. I know that people that went through the Depression in the 1930s never trusted stocks and now I know why, they went nowhere from 1929 to the mid 1950s! And I learned that was not the only time in history. I liked the fact that the author gave alternatives to CDs like higher paying dividend stocks and also bonds. I understand bonds much better now after reading through his chapter. A big plus was the list in the back of his favorite 100 dividend stocks. Most of these are paying twice or more what CDs are and are also the "safer" type stocks you can buy. I can recommend this book for any retiree looking to get a higher return from their money.

Con todas las críticas positivas que tenía este libro me esperaba mucho más. No añade nada a la inversión en dividendos. Encima aboga porque la beta de la compañía sea uno de los parámetros a tener en cuenta. Me ha decepcionado.

Lots of useful stats and information for IS based investors. Less helpful for overseas investors not buying individual US dividend paying stocks

I really liked this book, it's simply debunked a lot of complexity around the purchase and sale of shares. It's theme is irrespective of what happens day to day to stock prices there is a long term approach that will pretty much guarantee steady returns.It clearly demonstrates that by reinvesting dividends rather than going for capital appreciation will deliver great returns.I found this book easy to read and follow and got through it in under 3 hours. I would happily recommend it to anyone who is either starting to buy and sell shares as well as those who already have a portfolio.Well done!

I enjoyed reading and learning from this book. A lot of great information which I can put into practice. Overall excellent