Gyroscopic Investing

Dividend paying stocks are best investment for anyone young or old. No matter you are near your retirement or a young investor, if your portfolio includes a list of best dividend paying stocks, you are there for sure.

Dividend-paying stocks are lower risk, that is way these stocks are an appealing investment for both younger people looking for a way to generate income over the long haul, and for people approaching retirement who are looking for a source of retirement income.

They are an advantage of the steady payments and further opportunity to reinvest the dividends to purchase additional shares of stock.

Reality Check Time

Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund Investor Shares, from 2007 peak to 2009 trough, about -43%

S&P 500 index, from 2007 peak to 2009 trough, -56%

Dividends stocks are safer than the S&P500, but not "safe" in the absolute sense for some investors over some periods of time.

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All investment carry some risk - even dividend stocks.

The list of former Dividend Aristocrats is quite long, but when speaking of dividend growth investing, that point is usually swept under the rug.

All investments carry some risk and stock picking increases that risk significantly. You want to play with dividend stock picking, go to town, but you'd better have a well defined plan to exit those stocks if they suddenly fail to meet a predefined criteria. And by the time they lower or eliminate dividends, it's undoubtedly too late.

Yes, it is true that the stocks appealing to young generation are mostly high dividend paying stocks but I don't think that high dividend paying stocks are less risky or safe. Whichever stock you invest,  it will carry the risk factor.