Dividend Stocks You Can Hold Forever

Despite the five-year bull market, the millennium has been tough for investors. It seems every time investors start to see solid gains, a market crash wipes out the cycle's returns. Ex-dividends, the S&P500 has only returned 1.5% annually since January 2000. One thing that cannot be wiped out in the next market collapse is the regular cash return from dividend-paying stocks. Since 1946, dividends have accounted for 55% of the real return to stocks, though yields have dropped lately to just 2% for those in the S&P500.

Besides a strong history of dividend growth, look for companies in sectors with cyclical trends that should last for at least a decade or two. Fortune-telling is not my strong suit and I doubt that anyone could forecast sector returns over the next 20 or 30 years, but there are some strong tailwinds for a select group of industries and sectors. These sectors include energy, healthcare, agriculture and rail transportation: Agriculture - Deere & Company (DE), Rail Transportation - Union Pacific (UNP), Healthcare - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Energy - Chevron Corporation (CVX).

Source: Seeking Alpha

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