Would you like to earn 5 to 10 percent per year in investment returns? It’s easy right now. An opportunity not to be missed.

Sounds like one of those advertisements for a risky unreal investment, doesn’t it?

“Hey, watch, listen, I’ve got an unbelievable offer for you. A secret no one knows about, just you and I. So give me your money. Just invest all your hard-earned cash in my fantastic secret and become rich. … well, maybe not, but at least I will fill my pockets. Hohoho.”

Here at Captain Finance I would never mislead anyone. Captain Finance is a community of savvy investors and no place for selling anything ambigious products. It is about enjoying this incredible financial and life journey together.

So why then these outrageous claims that it is possible to earn five to ten percent per year in the current climate? Thank the bears. Not the ones residing in your nearby forest (we don’t have too many bears in our parks here in Paris, but maybe you are lucky enough to call them your neighbors), but the bears who are running wild on the stock market.

Stay calm – The bears are running wild

In January’s summary the bear market occupied quite a hefty portion of our list, and dear oh dear have they been aggressive in the last few days and weeks. If you have been affected in the last few weeks, don’t despair, the market will go up again, it always does. If you have done your research and are confident in your investment, you can relax, sit back, and concentrate on other awesomeness in your life until the waves settle. Or use the time to invest even more.

I, for one, follow a very specific investment strategy and have not acted in a bearish manner. I am currently, and have been for most of my investment career, a value investor and am primarily interested in what an investment is able to return in the long-term. Thus this moment in time, when one seven-year cycle is coming to an end and another one to be commencing eventually, represents the perfect time to go back into the market and buy dividend champions. Companies that are stable and pay high and recurring dividends.

With the recent bear market, there are now more of these quality shares out there than in the last few years. Some will pay you up to 11%. Many more will pay you somewhere between 5 and 8%. These are no penny stocks, but companies that are bigger, economically speaking, than many countries on this planet. These are real blue chips, giants in their industry and acting on a global scale.

5% dividend and more

If you are an investor in any of these companies, you will receive these dividends on a regular basis, not accounting for any special dividends. Sorry for going off on a tangent, but it’s worth mentioning: A number of companies, including Intercontinental Hotel Group are expected to again pay out a massive special dividend this year; just as they have done repeatedly in recent years. Granted their dividend yield is lower than five percent (not accounting for the special dividend that is), but their share price development has outperformed many other shares in the last years. Even some banks and insurance companies are thought to share more of their profits with their investors. So why not benefit from the current climate and earn some money in the meantime while the bears roam the investment forest?

Do you, for instance, fancy owning parts of a company producing machinery while being rewarded almost 5% in dividends? Why not buy shares in Caterpillar?

Or how about a media company? Vivendi currently pays almost 12% in dividends to their owners.

How about going against the stream and buying into oil? Total, for instance, pays more than 6.5% dividend. And for long-term investors, oil companies, just like the commodity they are trading in, were battered in recent months. If you believe, as I do, that the human species is not yet able to live without this precious natural resource, this could be worth a thought.

Just a quick disclosure: I am not holding any investments in Caterpillar or Vivendi, but they stood out during the research for this article. It is important, as you know as an avid reader of Captain Finance, to only invest after you have done your own research and are confident that this particular asset increases your wealth and that your money works hard for you.

And even if you are worried about another downturn, you might want to wait a bit. But the perfect timing down to the exact second, that one best moment when entering the stock market or any investment – whether buying a property, bonds, ETFs, or futures - is impossible.

Not only dividends but also share price returns

We should really thank the bears for this. The markets have received such a beating that on top of these great dividend returns, the share price returns will add an even bigger smile to your face. It is very unlikely that you see substantial share price returns for the next four to six months. I believe the market will take another serious beating before the bears go into hiatus, but once they are asleep, the stock market will do as it has done in the past century, it will turn upwards and climb to new heights.

Don’t take my word for it; check any chart mapping most indices from the day of their inception until now. You will notice a general pattern: upward.

So don’t fall victim to a widespread panic; sit back, relax, and focus on the money coming in while your investments weather the storm only to sail higher after the bears have guzzled enough.