02/21/26 - The Best Dividend Reads This Week 📚

Debt Traps, Dividend Streaks, and the People Who Keep the World Moving

💡 MaxDividends Mission: Helping people build growing passive income, retire early, and live off dividends.

This week, we’ve gathered some of the most compelling dividend stories every investor should know.

🔓 Request Free Early Access to the MaxDividends App

---

Intro

With our Premium members, we build custom dividend portfolios together and enjoy the ride. We trade ideas, track progress, and celebrate each other’s wins inside the community. It’s not just about investing—it’s about growing real income and having a group of like-minded guys on the same path.

Companies with a strong dividend history usually share one thing: they consistently generate real cash and know how to allocate it wisely. That’s where MaxDividends delivers real value.

And this is where MaxDividends truly proves its value.

The MaxDividends Income System, powered by our dividend intelligence app — a proven, safe financial engine that turns invested capital into growing dividend income so you can live off dividends and retire early on your own terms.

👉 Upgrade to MaxDividends Premium

---

Get instant access to the MaxDividends Income System & App. A proven system for building income you can live on — powered by our dividend intelligence app.

We help you get paid — forever. Live off dividends. On your terms.

With a system you can trust.

Max’s Word Here

02/20 Update — email me anytime: max@maxdividends.app

Overall, the week went as planned. Nothing dramatic. Just steady execution.

Last week the market gave me an opportunity to buy more shares of Primerica Inc., and I took it — especially after the company announced a 15% dividend increase starting next quarter. That’s the kind of news I like. When a business grows and rewards shareholders at the same time, that’s exactly what we’re building this portfolio for.

The second “gift” this week was Pool Corp. I added more shares on the news of declining sales in the most recent reporting period. Let me explain how I see it.

First, businesses are living organisms. They don’t grow in a straight line every single year just to satisfy analysts or fans. There are strong periods and softer periods. Sometimes those softer periods create opportunity.

As an entrepreneur, I understand the full range of challenges a company can face — and the strategic moves that can follow. Not everything fits neatly into Wall Street expectations. At some point, you choose: do you want to look good on paper for a while, or do you want to actually run a real business? I’m always on the side of real business.

Second, my investing is also a business — just like yours. My capital and savings are resources I manage. So we’re really dealing with two businesses: the company I’m investing in, and my own capital. The priority is clear — protect and grow my interests first.

Pool Corp was already about 3.6% of my portfolio. This week I added roughly another 0.3%, bringing it to around 4%. That’s a controlled position. A managed risk. I fully understand that every business carries risk — there are no untouchables. If the company enters a prolonged stagnation and the negative signals become structural, I’ll sell and move into another business. Calmly. No drama. Everyone ultimately makes their own decisions — this is simply how I operate.

This week I also opened a new position in Virtus Investment Partners. It’s been on my watchlist for nearly two years. Right now, the opportunity looks attractive. The current yield is high, and there appears to be a reasonable margin of safety in the dividend. The company looks undervalued to me, and I plan to build the position gradually. If conditions change, you already know what I’ll do.

Over the next few weeks, my focus remains on: Pool Corp, Primerica, Shoe Carnival, Virtus Investment Partners, Booz Allen Hamilton, Tractor Supply, Zoetis, and T. Rowe Price.

The system stays the same. Capital stays disciplined. We keep building. Steady steps. Clear roles. Long horizon. That’s the rhythm.

Live off dividends on your terms! 💪💰

---

This Week’s Best Reads 💡

Dividend Deep Dives & Investing Gold

This week’s lineup is a great mix of real-life money rules and the kind of steady businesses that just keep showing up. We’re digging into the “debt time bomb” and why borrowing against your future can quietly turn into a problem, even when everything feels fine in the moment.

On the steadier side, we’ve got a global coatings leader with a long dividend-hike tradition, plus an asset-light freight broker that makes modern logistics work without owning the trucks. And to round it out with a little heart and history, there’s the story of Fred Smith—one of those rare builders whose ideas didn’t just create a company, they reshaped how the world runs.

Settle in, relax, and enjoy your weekend read.

• The Maverick Who Delivered the World: Fred Smith’s Final Departure

• 2.20% Dividend Yield, 55 Years of Dividend Hikes – A Global Coatings Leader That Touches Cars, Planes, Factories, and Homes

• The Debt Time Bomb: Why Borrowing from Your Future Could Blow Up Your Finances

• 1.21% Dividend Yield, 12 Years of Dividend Hikes – An Asset‑Light Freight Broker Orchestrating Truck Capacity

---

Premium Partner Spotlight

• The MaxDividends Macro Report: February 2026

• This Week’s Dividend Growth Standouts

• New Dividend Idea: The Kind of Business I Like to Own for 10+ Years

⭐️ Get Full Access to Our Top Dividend Picks ⭐️

MaxDividends Community

MaxDividends Mission: Helping people build growing passive income, retire early, and live off dividends.

We follow our time-tested strategy for tapping into overlooked dividend plays that can make your portfolio more resistant to recessions and other market panics and pack on consistent gains for years to come.

MaxDividends Idea

“Retire early and live on dividends. Because no one wants to work forever.”

👉 My Own High Yield Dividend Growth Story

With MaxDividends Community you’ll always be part of a winning team and stop viewing the future as an uncertainty. Worry will fade, replaced by confidence and peace of mind. You’ll focus on doing what you love while your passive income continues to grow.

The only one who cares about your wealth is you. This is your money, your future, and your life. Your passive income is a result of your efforts, and it’s a reflection of your success.

Choosing a strong environment is the key to achieving outstanding results. If you surround yourself with people who dream bigger than you, you increase your chances of reaching greater heights. Surround yourself only with those who will support you on your path to success.

PS: The Subtle Line

The size of your portfolio doesn’t automatically bring peace of mind. If you’re looking for real financial confidence, you need to measure something else.

I’ve asked dozens of people — serious, thoughtful adults who genuinely want to manage their money better — why they invest. A lot of them give what sounds like a logical answer: “To accumulate as much as possible.” In their mind, the longer the number on the screen, the more successful they are.

But here’s the subtle truth. Financial security and psychological comfort don’t come from the size of your capital. They come from something much more practical.

Our well-being doesn’t come from how much money sits in an account. It comes from how much money we can actually spend — consistently, whenever we choose. That’s not the same thing. Read that again.

On the surface, those ideas seem identical. But your brain knows the difference. It doesn’t care about abstract wealth. It cares about usable stability.

The world constantly pushes the “net worth obsession.” Institutions label people based on assets. Magazines rank billionaires by adding up assets, rarely highlighting liabilities. Even we, if we’re not careful, start measuring ourselves by the number in the account.

But real wealth isn’t calculated that way.

In real life, we don’t need to know how long the number is on our monitor. What we really want is a lifestyle we can comfortably sustain. We want to know what we can afford — without stress. And that isn’t measured by portfolio size. It’s measured by regular income.

Or even more specifically — by dividend income.

A dividend-focused strategy shifts attention away from “How big is my portfolio?” to “How much does it pay me every month or year?” That shift changes everything. It turns investing from a scoreboard into a cash-flow engine.

When you stop staring at the total value and start calculating the usefulness of that capital, things click into place. You stop thinking in empty labels like, “I’m successful because I’m a millionaire.” And you start thinking in practical terms: “I’m successful because my assets pay for my life.”

Measure your progress by the size of your recurring income, not just the size of your capital. When you do that, something inside settles down. Your mind understands how the money serves you. That’s when financial protection starts to feel real. That’s when psychological calm follows.

That’s exactly why MaxDividends exists: the MaxDividends Income System, powered by our dividend intelligence app — a proven, safe financial engine that turns invested capital into growing dividend income so you can live off dividends and retire early on your own terms.

👉 Go Premium — access the MaxDividends Income System & App

---

⭐️ Join MaxDividends Premium.

Get instant full access to the MaxDividends Universe, MaxDividends Income System & App.

— Max

The best time to start was years ago. The next best time is now.