Many recent studies have been done on the economics of different generations. Researchers want to know if Millennials and Gen Z are in fact worse off than their Boomer and Gen X parents. There are quite a few ways to look at this data.

Some look at inflation, wage stagnation, and the cost of comparable housing. Some look at the cost of higher education, whether advanced degrees result in higher wages, and the level of outstanding student loan debt. While others simply look at whether younger generations have an emergency savings fund set aside.

What shocks me more than the conclusions of these studies is the way that people of all ages view their futures.

According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, 72% of adults were pessimistic about their children’s financial future. A year later, a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll showed that 78% of adults “do not feel confident” their children will be better off than they are.

The studies and surveys tell us it’s more important than ever to start building generational wealth to pass down to your heirs. And you can get started no matter how much money you have.

Math Is the Secret Weapon to Building Wealth

Albert Einstein declared compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He’s credited as saying, “He who understands it, earns it, he who doesn’t, pays it.”

Total household debt hit $17.8 trillion last quarter, up $109 billion from Q1! Mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit cards… all of this debt will fall victim to compound interest. We’re paying the banks, and their interest income is growing exponentially.

But you can flip the scrip by simply checking a box in your brokerage account. Doing so means you will collect dividends on your dividends just like banks collect interest on your interest. It’s called dividend reinvestment or DRIP.

Your online broker should have a section where you can select which of your dividend stocks offer dividend reinvestment. Once you select this option, your broker will do all the work for you automatically. You should do this as soon as possible. The more time you have the more your money growth will be super-charged.

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Here’s a great example of how time leverages the compounding effect. This chart shows the growth of $5,000 invested in McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) starting in 1990.

Right off the bat, you can see it takes about a decade for the reinvestment magic to really kick in.

Taking your dividend as cash, your $5,000 would grow into a hefty $150,000. Along the way, you would be tempted to spend that money, and divert it away from your heirs’ generational wealth.

By reinvesting your dividends into more shares, the value of your investment would nearly double to $295,000—and without the temptation to blow the money along the way.

That’s a life-changing difference over those 34 years. To see results like that, you need to also select stocks that you can hold for decades.

The Perfect Stocks for This Strategy

Regular readers know that my full portfolio of recommended stocks is available in my premium service Yield Shark. Our portfolio is divided into Bedrock Income and Current Yield positions. The first group is the best for this strategy.

However, if you’re more of a do-it-yourself investor, there are places you can look for high-quality stocks you might be able to hold forever. Here are two examples:

1. Consumer Staples

This is one of the 11 official sectors of the S&P 500. These are companies that sell things considered essential by consumers. I’m talking about food, household products, and personal care items. No matter what’s going on in the economy, people are still going to stock their pantries and bathroom cabinets with these everyday essentials. Tobacco companies are part of this category.

Since these companies are recession-resistant and resilient, this is a great place to look for dividend payers you can hold for the very long term.

2. Dividend Royalty

This is the term I use to describe two separate groups of stocks: Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings. Both groups have long track records of increasing their dividends year after year.

To qualify as a Dividend Aristocrat, a company must be a member of the S&P 500 and have increased its dividend every year for at least 25 consecutive years. And it must have a market cap of $3 billion and average daily trading volume of $5 million for the three months before acceptance.

Dividend Kings only have one requirement: to have raised their dividend every year for at least the last 50 consecutive years.

Keep in mind that past performance does not guarantee that these companies will continue to pay out higher dividends. Since COVID, we have seen a handful of companies fall off both of these lists. You’ll need to do more research, but these are two places to start your search.

You can find a list of both groups online, or use the list that comes with your free Dividend Digest subscription. It’s easily available in the Resources section of our members-only community. You can access this through the Mauldin Economics app on your mobile device or through your browser. Here you’ll also find our community chat area where you can access me directly and ask your income-related questions of our growing community.

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For more income now, and in the future,

Kelly Green

• compound growth
• consumer staples dividends
• dividend aristocrats
• dividend kings
• dividend reinvestment
• McDonald’s dividend

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