If you’re looking for safety, with yield to boot, look at the Dividend Aristocrats.
With the Aristocrats, you’ll find the cream of the crop of stocks, which have raised dividends for more than 25 years. While you can always buy individual Aristocrats, you can get bigger exposure, and collect dividends with funds such as:
ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL)
With an expense ratio of 0.35%, and a yield of 2.03%, the ETF focuses on the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats—high-quality companies that have not just paid dividends but grown them for at least 25 consecutive years, with most doing so for 40 years or more. In fact, some of its top holdings include Caterpillar, Pentair, AbbVie, AFLAC, General Dynamics, Clorox Co., Walmart, Hormel Foods, and dozens more. All of which have a strong dividend-paying history.
Schwab U.S. Large Cap Value ETF (SCHV)
With an expense ratio of 0.04%, the Schwab U.S. Large Cap Value ETF (SCHV) holds a portfolio of large cap value stocks, including Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Exxon Mobil (XOM), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Home Depot (HD), AbbVie (ABBV), Pfizer (PFE), and Merck (MRK) to name a few. We’ve mentioned this particular ETF before. We like it even more because it just caught strong support after a brief pullback. SCHV also yields 2.47%.
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD)
There’s also the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD).
With an expense ratio of 0.06%, the ETF tracks the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend index. It also yields 3.58%, and has holdings in Amgen, AbbVie, Home Depot, Cisco Systems, Broadcom, Chevron, UPS, and Coca-Cola to name just a few.