3 Top-Ranked Dividend Stocks: A Smarter Way to Boost Your Retirement Income

As a replacement for low yielding Treasury bonds (and other bond options), we believe dividend-paying stocks from high quality companies offer low risk and stable, predictable income investors in retirement seek. Look for stocks that have paid steady, increasing dividends for years (or decades), and have not cut their dividends even during recessions. One approach to recognizing appropriate stocks is to look for companies with an average dividend yield of 3% and positive average annual dividend growth. Numerous stocks hike dividends over time, counterbalancing inflation risks.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks retirees should consider for their nest egg portfolio: Guess (GES) is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.3 per share, with a dividend yield of 5.2%. This compares to the Textile - Apparel industry's yield of 0% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.67%. The company's annualized dividend growth in the past year was 33.33%. M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) is paying out a dividend of $1.3 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.12% compared to the Banks - Major Regional industry's yield of 4.19% and the S&P 500's yield. The annualized dividend growth of the company was 8.33% over the past year.Currently paying a dividend of $1.25 per share, Prudential (PRU) has a dividend yield of 5.35%. This is compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 1.96% and the S&P 500's current yield. Annualized dividend growth for the company in the past year was 4.17%.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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