Launching The Winter Warrior Investor: A Proven Retirement Program

Editors’ note: This article is meant to introduce the new Marketplace service from David Alton Clark, The Winter Warrior Investor.

Every time it seems things can’t get any worse, they do. With inflation at levels not seen in decades, war in Europe, the cost of food, gas, and shelter shooting through the roof, markets crashing, and a recession looming, retirees and investors alike are searching for solutions in the midst of the madness. In fact, “41% of Americans now say it’s going to take a miracle” to be ready for retirement. With late cycle recessionary risks rising, it appears we have reached peak inflation frustration.

Presently, many discerning retirees and those preparing for retirement are looking for solutions to fill the ever-widening gap between their income and expenses. If this gap has become negative for you (as it has for many affluent retirees), you’ll need more cash flow from your investments to ensure your golden years are spent in the style you have become accustomed to and deserve. This is whereThe Winter Warrior Investor‘s proven retirement program, the Diversified Cash Flow Method, comes in to play.

As an over decade long Seeking Alpha retirement income ideas stalwart, I have provided quite a few successful retirement income ideas for Seeking Alpha members which have produced superior returns over the years.

What’s more, I’m no stranger to navigating volatile markets and recessionary cycles with 30 years of investing experience. This includes successfully navigating the 2000 and 2008 bubbles as well as the recent COVID crash. So now, I’ve decided to take the next logical step and launch The Winter Warrior Investor comprehensive retirement best practices and ideas service on the SA Marketplace. The focus will be to deliver to members retirement best practices, timely macro insights, and quality investment ideas.

I want to personally thank all Seeking Alpha members for your support over the years! As a gift to you, anyone who joins the service as a Charter Member during the initial two-week free trial will receive a discounted lifetime rate of $59 per month or $359 per year, never to be increased. The following is what your subscription will include.

Your Subscription Includes:

The following is a list of what you will receive with your membership. Please remember we’re just getting started. I will continually work to improve and expand the service attributes and deliverables to provide as much value as possible.

• Google sheets model portfolios to track the service selection performance
• At least one top idea each week
• Each Saturday an article detailing my macro insights, and what may lie ahead
• Monthly retirement planning lessons learned and educational articles
• Monthly service video webinar/update
• Quarterly portfolio update report
• Quarterly live Zoom session with members
• Real-time trade alerts via Rocket Chat
• Prompt replies to member requests
• Access to 24/7 active “live” chat room

The Winter Warrior Investor’s Primary Focus

The service is laser focused on identifying only the best-in-class high quality retirement ideas, providing timely macro insights and delivering retirement best practices and lessons through educational materials and webinars.

Maintaining a balanced retirement portfolio composed of a diversified set of securities selected from a wide spectrum of market sectors, structures, and asset classes is a must in turbulent times such as these. Being highly diversified in only the best-of-breed dividend paying as well as growth and value securities increases the likelihood of capital preservation by providing a robust margin of safety. Never put all your eggs in one basket, as the saying goes.

Furthermore, the best way to achieve future financial freedom is by implementing a long-term buy and hold strategy, ensuring you never run out of money. It’s “time in” the market, not “timing” the market that creates true wealth. Quality high-yield income producing investments are the heart of the Diversified Cash Flow Method. What do I mean by quality? The following are my top five quality covenants.

Clark’s Top 5 Quality Covenants

One of my abiding mantras is “quality over quantity.” The word “quality” implies the opportunities meet all five of my quality covenants. These quality covenants increase the odds of obtaining dependable income streams coupled with a substantial margin of safety. It’s a top down method of investing. We start by identifying companies with strong long-term growth stories and drill down from there. The following are my five Quality Covenants:

1. Long-term growth story intact
2. Sound valuation fundamentals
3. Predictable and growing cash flow
4. Adequate coverage
5. Healthy dividend yield or growth potential

Now, let’s turn our attention to another important facet of the Diversified Cash Flow Method, wealth creation vis-a-vie capital appreciation.

Diversified Cash Flow Method Doctrine

The defining attribute of the Diversified Cash Flow Method is you always keep a portion of your assets allocated to securities with the potential for substantial capital appreciation as well as income generation. This will ensure you have an adequate level of wealth in case of an expensive emergency or for when your expenses increase when it comes time for long term care such as assisted living and nursing home care, which Medicare does not pay for.

Income received from dividend-paying stocks are an entirely suitable source of funds for retirement. Nonetheless, by relying solely on these alone, you’re selling yourself short. The saying “never put all your eggs in one basket” comes to mind. Along with the proverb is “excess of everything is bad.” This means that everything in life should only be in the correct and adequate quantity. Excess of anything causes harm.

For instance, REITs provide a great source of income. Yet, to qualify as a REIT, a company must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income annually in the form of dividends. Often, the stock will actually drop by the same amount as the dividend paid in the following days. It’s logical since the company is giving away an asset. This is why you need a portion of your retirement portfolio dedicated to growth and value stocks focused on capital appreciation. If you really want to create wealth over the years, it’s important to allocate a portion of your portfolio to growth and value stocks that reinvest their profits rather than return them to shareholders. Now here is a little more about me.

About David Alton Clark

I am a self-made man. I started my adult life by joining the US Army’s famed 10th Mountain Division in Ft. Drum, New York in 1987 as a “Winter Warrior” mountain infantryman to earn the money for college. Relentless perseverance and patience became my mindset. This state of mind translated into ‘Patience Equals Profits’ in my investing career! I credit this mentality as the impetus for all my successful endeavors thereafter.

Education and Career history

I graduated top of my class with honors from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1994. I am member of the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Honors Fraternity. I began my professional career as an auditor and later a consultant at an international level with the prestigious CPA firm, Ernst & Young. My client list included many Fortune 100 companies including AT&T, Coca-Cola, Nike, Hertz, Time Warner, Bank of America, and Ford, to name a few. I then did a stint in the banking industry as a Citibank Executive. Eventually, I delved into the real estate industry by founding a luxury custom homebuilding company. Finally, I became a licensed FINRA registered securities broker in the oil and gas venture industry as well as a licensed Texas Realtor, all the while managing my own portfolio.

Publishing history and track record

In 2011, I was published in the Wall Street Journal regarding my provocative call that the U.S. would soon become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas. After, I began writing for Seeking Alpha. In 2016, I was thrilled to be featured in a Barron’s article regarding my superior performance based on pick returns, which led me to become a CNBC PRO Contributor as well. What’s more, I was recently identified by TipRanks in a Yahoo Finance article for holding down the top spot on “Top 25 Financial Bloggers list for a majority of the previous decade.” Over the years, my articles have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, Fortune, USA Today, Barron’s and on CNBC PRO, to name a few.

Current status

I’m a currently CNBC Pro Contributor. I spend 100% of my time focused on managing my retirement income investments and researching for new investment opportunities. I see the recent pullback as a great buying opportunity for those preparing for and in retirement. I’m extremely excited to launch this service and begin working with prescient Seeking Alpha members. During tough times such as these, it’s always great to have a sounding board of like-minded investors to collaborate with and bounce ideas off of! Let’s not just survive, let’s thrive!

Become a Charter Member Today – Take advantage of the 2-Week Free Trial Now

I want to personally thank everyone who joins the service as a Charter Member! You will receive a discounted lifetime rate of $59 per month or $359 per year, never to be increased. This special be available ONLY during the first two weeks the service is open. I will be running a two week free trial during this time as well! So you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I am honored to have you on the team.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

All my best, David Alton Clark – The Winter Warrior Investor

If you’re reading this via Seeking Alpha’s mobile app, to try this service right now go to seekingalpha.com and enter The Winter Warrior Investor in the site search to visit my Marketplace Service checkout page.