Investing in stocks has always been one of the go-to strategies for anyone looking to increase their wealth and make a return on their extra money. Not only that, with a multitude of platforms providing content on almost everything, including financial literacy (i.e. eToro, Robinhood, etc.) and others, have increased consumers' awareness of trading and investing. However, even with all this information and access to platforms, it is still difficult for an average investor to have a safe and consistent long-term strategy. Finding a balance between risk and return on investments has been an elusive goal for main-street traders and investors.
But what if there are stocks that are characterized as companies that can provide growth and a margin of safety from their stable income? These are dividend stocks. Within these dividend stocks comes an elite set of companies that have been continuously increasing their dividend payouts for at least 25 years; they haven't only been offering share growth - they also grow their dividends. It's like getting a raise every year just for holding a stock. These elite companies are your Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings. A Dividend Aristocrat is an S&P 500 Index-listed company that has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years. But there's a much more elite group of dividend stocks that aren't as well-known: Dividend Kings. These do not have to be members of the S&P 500 but must have increased their dividends for at least the last 50 consecutive years.
