General advice for potential Dividend Investors.

1.  Gain knowledge before taking action.  Read Josh Peters' book on dividend investing, "The Ultimate Dividend Playbook" and subscribe to M*'s "Dividend Investor Newsletter". 

2.  Do not rush the process of shifting toward Dividend Investing.  It is a truism that "haste makes waste".  Hasty action may lead to later regrets and end up only pleasing the tax collector.

3.  I recommend a premium subscription to M*.  They give you unbiased opinions of individual stocks.  Not to say that they can't be wrong on occasion, but they are not getting paid to push certain stocks.  And yes, I am skeptical of brokerage recommendations.  

4.  Read this forum.  The investors here do not always agree on every detail, on every stock, on every Fund, but there is a lot of collective experience and wisdom.  

5.  IMO, a key to successful investing is developing an investing strategy you can live with, i.e., one that is compatible with your psychology. 

Regards,
Russ