Introduction: The Myth of the “Soft Landing” Wall Street loves a bedtime story — and the “soft landing” is its favorite lullaby. Every few years, when markets wobble and inflation bites, the same narrative returns: this time, the Federal Reserve will manage to slow the economy just enough to cool inflation without breaking anything. No recession, no panic, no pain — just a gentle glide into prosperity. But history doesn’t rhyme with fairy tales. The Fed has never truly nailed a soft landing when inflation ran above 4%. What usually happens is a delayed crunch: rates stay high “longer than expected,” credit tightens, and the economy buckles under the weight of its own optimism. The landing might be “soft” in headlines, but it’s rarely soft in your portfolio. So here’s the smarter play: forget the fantasy and prepare for gravity. When the economy slows, investors scramble for safety — not just in bonds, but in high-quality dividend stocks that keep paying through the storm. These a...