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What it argues
The Single Best Investment is Lowell Miller's extended argument for dividend growth investing as the most reliable long-term wealth-building strategy available to individual investors. The single best investment of the title is not a specific stock or fund but a class of investment: high-quality companies with a track record of consistently growing their dividends. Miller, a professional money manager, makes the case that dividend growth combines the total return potential of equities with the income certainty of bonds, and does so in a way that compounds powerfully over time.
The conceptual core is what Miller calls the three components of return: the current dividend yield, the rate of dividend growth, and any change in the price-to-earnings multiple investors are willing to pay. He argues that the first two components are more predictable and controllable than the third, which is largely at the mercy of sentiment. A company that currently yields 3% and grows its dividend at 7% annually produces a 10% nominal return even if the P/E multiple never changes. Over decades, this compounds into substantial wealth, and the growing dividend income provides a cushion during market downturns that pure capital appreciation strategies lack.
What it gets right
- 1.
Dividend growth investing targets companies that consistently raise their dividends — not just high-yielding companies, which can signal financial distress.
- 2.
Total return from a dividend growth stock has three components: current yield, dividend growth rate, and multiple expansion. The first two are more predictable than the third.
- 3.
A portfolio of growing dividend payers provides rising income over time, helping investors stay invested during market downturns when capital-only investors panic.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Lowell Miller is an investment manager who founded Miller/Howard Investments, a money management firm specializing in dividend and income-focused strategies. He has managed assets for institutional and individual clients for decades. The Single Best Investment, first published in 1999 and updated in subsequent editions, grew from his experience managing dividend-oriented portfolios through multiple market cycles. Miller writes from a practitioner's standpoint and is known for making quantitative investment concepts accessible to non-professional investors.
