Why Retirees Should Scoop Up This Dividend Stock Before the Next Recession

All bull markets come to an end, and this past decade has been a remarkable one for investors who've escaped largely unscathed from any corrections. While no one knows when the next recession will hit, there's good reason to believe we're closer to the next one than the last one. Now would be a good time, then, to clad your portfolio in armor to protect it from the inevitable downturn. One of the best ways is through investing in quality, dividend-paying stocks, a key attribute for investors living off their stocks in retirement...

Here's why global energy giant ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) may be one of the best stocks for income-loving investors girding themselves for the fall. Oil is north of $60 per barrel now, but having spent the past few years preparing its business to run on lower oil prices, Exxon is among just a handful of producers that can still profit if a new bear market swamps the industry. The combination of investments upstream, downstream, and in chemicals allowed it to outline a path forward that it says will let it double its earnings by 2025 to $31 billion. Even during the Great Recession, which sent shock waves through the oil industry, Exxon was financially stable enough to continue paying out its dividend. The yield on Exxon's dividend is now 5% as a result of the depressed share price, but without adding too much risk, even though it has substantial negative free cash flow at the moment.

Source: Motley Fool

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