Yeah that's too bad, especially if they are energy MLPs. I hope you weren't involved in that- could have gotten crushed!

I'm not too familiar with dividend aristocrats. It sounds like the type of blue-chip stock that you invest in for the long-haul. I'm in for a while myself, but being only 25, I can accept more risk to see some real rewards. I've recently gotten into options trading. I am a big fan of covered-calls and cash-covered puts. VERY low risk way to trade. Are you into that at all?