The 10 Best Dividend Stocks For Retirement

Final Thoughts

This article analyzed 10 great businesses that fit the 5 characteristics retirement investors should look for in dividend stocks

1. High yield for income

2. Trading at a fair or better price

3. A strong competitive advantage for safety

4. A long growth runway for reliable future growth

5. A long record of dividend increases for consistency

All 10 of the best dividend stocks for retirement analyzed in this article are shown below, sorted by dividend yield:

– Johnson Controls has a dividend yield of 3.1%

– Archer-Daniels-Midland has a dividend yield of 3.2%

– Flowers Foods has a dividend yield of 3.3%

– Consolidated Edison has a dividend yield of 3.4%

– SCANA has a dividend yield of 3.5%

– Emerson Electric has a dividend yield of 3.7%

– Cummins has a dividend yield of 3.7%

– Verizon has a dividend yield of 4.3%

– Southern Company has a dividend yield of 4.5%

– AT&T has a dividend yield of 5.0%

You will notice that none of the companies above have ultra-high dividend yields of 8%, 9%, 10%, or more. Businesses with extremely high yields tend to either have serious risks associated with the business or tend to have negative growth prospects.

Retirement investors who reach for yield run the very real risk of seeing their income stream decline over time. Investing in businesses with favorable growth prospects and above average yields provides a balance of current income and rising income potential in the future.

Above all else, it is critical to take a long-term perspective when investing; even in retirement (perhaps especially in retirement).

“The single greatest edge an investor can have is a long-term orientation”
– Seth Klarman, Billionaire manager of Baupost Group

Disclosure: None