Tim Plaehn is the main research guy for dividend investments at Investors Valley. He’s also the editor behind The Dividend Hunter newsletter. Obviously, he’s a firm believer that buying stock for dividend gains rather than capital gains is the way to go. His focus is on generating income, says him, and dividends being paid on the regular fits the bill. Should you trust him in giving you sound investment advice? Find out in my review about him below.
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Not only is he a Colonel Sander look-alike, he’s also “cooking” recommendations every month for the best stocks to get dividends from. And somehow, just like the KFC famous silhouette guy being a part of the military for some time, Tim also claims that he has a similar (military) experience as an F-16 fighter pilot and instructor with the US Air Force.
It’s all, ehem, gravy until I saw his claim of being a certified financial planner and stock broker (and also, enough KFC reference for today). Not that I fully believe that his ass flew a fast mover before, I just don’t have the means to tell him otherwise. However, I can definitely check if he’s a legit financial planner and stock broker.
Saw his name on the certified financial planner list, but got none on the stock broker database. I’m not discounting the remote possibility that he’s not the planner I saw on the CFP list too since the creds he mentioned in his Linkedin account don’t match. Like, alright, you keep telling us on your profile that you’re THAT dude – a certified financial planner and stock broker – but why only list down being a sales guy and freelance writer as your experience? Make it make sense, old fella.
The fine print on the company he’s working for does the opposite of instilling confidence in their legitimacy either. Here’s the excerpt of it: “Information contained in this email and websites maintained by Investors Alley Corp. (“Investors Alley”) are provided for educational purposes only and are neither an offer nor a recommendation to buy or sell any security, options on equities, or cryptocurrency. Investors Alley and its affiliates may hold a position in any of the companies mentioned. Investors Alley is neither a registered investment adviser nor a broker-dealer….”
So, aside from him not being a licensed stock broker like everyone else in Investors Valley, there’s also a possibility that he’s nothing but a shill to some stock companies. In other words, not only he’s misleading us with ‘em labels, but also there’s a chance that he along with his co-researchers are just paid to recommend some stocks without consideration to their actual value and performance. Y’know, doing it just to fill their coffers with some bribe money. I’m not saying he and his peers are like that, but the chance that they are is not zero. Just sayin’.
And yes, imagine trusting your money north of $25k with something that can’t be taken as financial advice legally. Imagine… Now turn that sh*t into reality by following his recommendations on The Dividend Hunter and his other programs. Sarcasm aside, I don’t suggest doing it. Don’t be reckless, don’t be stupid, and don’t go full YOLO. Just don’t.
To answer the question above, I’ll say no, I don’t think Tim will be able to give sound investment advice. I mean, legally speaking, he just can’t give it at all. At best, what he’ll say is just for “educational purposes” and nothing more. No reason to take it as financial advice, then. Won’t trust a misleading mofo like him either.
Besides, I’ve already mentioned this in my review of his newsletter, but I’ll say it again that I’m not down with dividend investing as a business model. Tim was right, albeit partially, when he described the investment as boring, but I really won’t call it myself stable like he did. Even the companies known for consistent dividend payouts for many, many years either slashed their payouts or even wiped it off completely when sh*t hits the fan. Happened during the financial meltdown in ‘08, and is still happening now to some extent. In Tim’s recommendations alone, I’ve seen some reviews mentioning that a lot of it got the slash. Thank you, NEXT!
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