Lazy Investors: 1 Easy Way to Create a Passive-Income Empire

Laziness can finally be seen as a virtue, if you’re investing in stocks like WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:WIR.U) to achieve it.

The word lazy has had a pretty bad rap, and frankly, I don’t know exactly why.

Granted, there are those who look at the word and think it means being unable to contribute to society, but I disagree. I’m more of the “work smart, not hard” mindset. And that, potentially, could be seen as pretty lazy.

So, when it comes to investing, I think the entire goal should be laziness. You don’t want to be working hard; that’s the company’s job. Yours is to work smart. Find the stocks that give you the best chance of making bank. What are the best ones for us lazy investors? Dividend stocks.

Dividend stocks are the perfect option for investors looking to buy and forget stocks for even decades. In that time, choosing the right stock means your shares will just go up and up and up, but it’s not like you want have cash in hand while you wait to sell. Instead, you’ll have passive income coming in that you can choose to reinvest in your growing passive-income empire or put towards mortgage payments, a vacation, or maybe just finally subscribing to Crave to binge-watch Game of Thrones. Hey, I don’t judge.

No matter what you do with that money, it’s yours — all of it. That’s because you have the option to put that money away in a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and keep it all in your pocket and out of government hands. Now, what’s that one simple way to make that passive-income empire? It’s easy: invest in a great stock like WPT Industrial REIT (TSX:WIR.U).

Why REITs?

A real estate investment trust (REIT) is the perfect option to build a passive-income empire. That’s because these firms are required to pay out at least 90% of their income to shareholders. That usually comes in the form of dividends. This means that REITs offer some of the highest dividend yields out there, and almost all of them dish out these dividends monthly.

So, when considering your own passive-income fund, a REIT is a sure way to see monthly income coming in that you can use to reinvest or make that Crave subscription. Heck, it’ll likely pay for those monthly subscription fees!

Why WPT?

Now to the good stuff. WPT Industrial is an amazing opportunity for shareholders right now. You’ve probably been aware that with online shopping increasing, malls and other brick-and-mortar retail stores have been closing shop. As e-commerce continues to grow, those companies will need a place to store and distribute products. Those places will be needed, and soon, as by the end of 2018 and into 2020, e-commerce sales have been estimated to increase to US$1.2 trillion.

That’s where WPT has created a solid foothold in this sub-industry. The company already has 70 light industrial properties within the United States with an impressive occupancy rate of 99.1%, but it’s also in growth mode. Acquisitions are coming in that will bring the firm’s bottom line up even higher, with WPT estimating an increase of 3.4% in net operating income year over year.

Foolish takeaway

Finally, we have that dividend yield. As of writing, WPT offers a dividend yield of 5.58%. That means if you were to take all your contribution room and put it in this stock, you’d be looking at $293 of passive income every month, or about $3,520 per year as of writing.

Now, of course, I’d never recommend you put all your eggs in one basket. But whether it’s that Crave subscription or income for retirement, this stock offers a simple solution to build a substantial passive-income empire.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. WPT is a recommendation of Dividend Investor Canada.

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