Believe it or not, seniors fear running out of cash more than they fear dying.
Also, retirees who have constructed a nest egg have valid justifications to be concerned, since the traditional ways to plan for retirement may mean income can no longer cover expenses. Some retirees are now tapping their principal to make a decent living, pressed for time between decreasing investment balances and longer life expectancies.
In the past, investors going into retirement could invest in bonds and count on attractive yields to produce steady, reliable income streams to fund a predictable retirement. 10-year Treasury bond rates in the late 1990s hovered around 6.50%, whereas the current rate is much lower.
While this yield reduction may not seem drastic, it adds up: for a $1 million investment in 10-year Treasuries, the rate drop means a difference in yield of more than $1 million.
And lower bond yields aren’t the only potential problem seniors are facing. Today’s retirees aren’t feeling as secure as they once did about Social Security, either. Benefit checks will still be coming for the foreseeable future, but based on current estimates, Social Security funds will run out of money in 2035.
So what’s a retiree to do? You could cut your expenses to the bone, and take the risk that your Social Security checks don’t shrink. Or you could find an alternative investment that provides a steady, higher-rate income stream to replace dwindling bond yields.
We feel that these dividend-paying equities-as long as they are from high-quality, low-risk issuers-can give retirement investors a smart option to replace low-yielding Treasury bonds (or other bonds).
Look for stocks that have paid steady, increasing dividends for years (or decades), and have not cut their dividends even during recessions.
Going beyond those familiar names, you can find excellent dividend-paying stocks by following a few guidelines. Look for companies that pay a dividend yield of around 3%, with positive annual dividend growth. The growth rate is key to help combat the effects of inflation.
Here are three dividend-paying stocks retirees should consider for their nest egg portfolio.
ACNB (ACNB) is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.34 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.03%. This compares to the Banks – Southwest industry’s yield of 0.37% and the S&P 500’s yield of 1.50%. The company’s annualized dividend growth in the past year was 6.25%. Check ACNB dividend history here>>>
