re: Dividend stocks and DRIPs as a long term investment vehicle

Chris Farley while I respect your opinion, I don't see how there is risk in what I'm saying? All I advocated was merely going after $100B+ market cap companies that have a solid dividend history and are typically inelastic to market conditions.

Care to tell me the risk in that? I've said many times I like cigarettes,soda,consumer products that aren't hurt by reductions in consumer spending and aren't affected by market prices like oil.I've laid out how to determine value based on forward earnings and what P/E does and doesn't mean.

What strategy would you suggest the average person employ? A fee based ETF or mutual fund

Let me guess you work in asset management?

Some people aren't sheep and can do their own homework and analyze their own investments, ETF's,bogleheads are for the sheep. Sorry, I have an MBA and probably know just as much if not more about finance after working in banking for years. I don't need a financial advisor to "teach me", I love their ideas, respect their work, and think it's great they can help the uninformed invest.

You let me know how that high dividend ETF is working out for you when your portfolio is $3M and you're paying $500/month to an advisor to inform you that coca cola,cigarettes, and toilet paper are still in demand because thats what XLP does and they seem to agree with my strategy by making it their top 3 holdings and 33% of their portfolio. Until the world population stops growing exponentially we will need more sodas, more cigarettes, and more toilet paper to wipe more asses.

I don't pay anyone a fee to help me run my business, why should I pay a fee to someone to help me make my investments? You should be on top of your money always, and if you can't, then don't invest in the market.