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

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. A rule of thumb for finding solid income-producing stocks is to seek those that average 3% dividend yield, and positive yearly dividend growth. These stocks can help combat inflation by boosting dividends over time. Here are three dividend-paying stocks retirees should consider for their nest egg portfolio.

Prosperity Bancshares (PB) is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.55 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.12%. This compares to the Banks - Southwest industry's yield of 1% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.69%. The company's annualized dividend growth in the past year was 5.77%. Prudential (PRU) is paying out a dividend of $1.25 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 5.21% compared to the Insurance - Multi line industry's yield of 1.96% and the S&P 500's yield. The annualized dividend growth of the company was 4.35% over the past year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.38 per share, Synovus Financial (SNV) has a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is compared to the Banks - Southeast industry's yield of 2.05% and the S&P 500's current yield. Annualized dividend growth for the company in the past year was 3.03%.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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