Chuck Saletta

You've earned your Social Security benefits after a long career. If you're considering taking those benefits early, here are three good reasons why that may be a reasonable option.

Genuine Parts is a leader in the auto parts business, but does it have what it takes to earn a spot in your portfolio?

ADT has a sticky business model, a reasonable balance sheet, and a well-covered and growing dividend -- and it may well be available at a bargain price.

J.M. Smucker remains a great company, but its market price more than fully reflects its status as a relatively "safe" company.

Treat every penny you earn as if it were a critical part of your financial plan.

It's a real possibility when you invest in companies that regularly increase their dividends.

Teva Pharmaceuticals company is struggling as its largest profit source dries up, yet it's certainly not failing.

Sam Walton's shrewdest move just may have been handing over control of Wal-Mart to his kids decades before it got huge.

Industrial titan United Technologies sports a solid balance sheet, a well-covered and growing dividend, and a valuation that's not too far ahead of its fair-value estimate to warrant selling it.

Infinity Property and Casualty has a reasonable valuation, a decent balance sheet, and a covered and growing dividend.

By the time you reach the point where you can pay off your mortgage, chances are you've gotten good enough with money that you don't need to.

Scotts Miracle-Gro has a reasonable balance sheet, a covered dividend with room to continue growing, and a valuation that looks decent if the company meets expectations during its busy summer season.

So long as reasonable values are available in companies that pay and increase their dividends, why sit on cash?

Kinder Morgan has a reasonable valuation, a decent balance sheet, and a covered and growing dividend.

It's tough to peg a value on a rapidly growing, barely profitable company, but here's one method that judges Amazon.com by some of the companies it seems to be trying to emulate, like Wal-Mart, Google, and Apple.

It has a reasonable valuation, a healthy balance sheet, and a solid, well-covered, and growing dividend.

Emerson Electric has a reasonable valuation, a solid balance sheet, and a healthy, covered, and growing dividend.

But you can use valuation as a great check on whether the market bets you're making are reasonable.

It has a reasonable valuation, a decent balance sheet, and a well-covered and growing dividend, and it seems to have found a profitable niche with a growing demographic.

Raytheon has a decent valuation, a solid balance sheet, and a well-covered dividend with room to continue growing.