The solution to your problem may lie in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
 

Funny, I used to work for Value Line and love the fact that they supply safety ranks. That said, individual stocks in a quantity less than 30 are simply to risky in price volatility and credit risk for you to put too much of your nest egg in. Please do not do that.

The answer to this dilemma may lie in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), mutual funds that trade like stocks but cheaper and more efficient. They hold a collection of securities that together will deliver much more safety through diversity. The no-brainer ETF to me right now is SCHP, it holds US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities with a yield guaranteed to rise with inflation. Most brokers will try to talk you into something managed to hedge inflation (more costly and more risky). Don't fall for it. SCHP has a near-zero expense ratio and can be bought for zero through Schwab or Fidelity discount brokerages. Current yield on SCHP is 3.5%. If you are willing to take a bit more risk but far less than holding a single,high-yield utility or energy or transportation, stock, I have a few suggestions for you to check out on your discount brokerage platform. The best for you may be PCEF, an INVESCO ETF that holds 100 income-oriented closed-end funds (also funds that trade like stocks with technical differences). The internal expense ratio of this fund of funds and its market risk are considerably higher than SCHD. However, the bankruptcy risk is zero unlike that of individual stocks. PCEF has been around more than a decade. It pays MONTHLY, not quarterly dividends and it's current annual yield is more than 7.3%. PCEF has no equity market risk other than the price of the stock itself. which will go up or down relative to interest rates but will increase over time so don't sell it, just enjoy the yield. .Another more conventional ETF to buy and hold is SCHD which holds the highest dividend stocks in the S&P 500 and charges a neat-zero expense ration. Its current yield is 2% which is about 50% higher than the S&P 500. I hope this helps.

Dividend stocks that don't suck as businesses; alternative high dividend index ETFs
 

You might consider High Dividend ETFs or Mutual Fund indices. The following article is of interest if that is a potential investment of interest.

8 Top Dividend Index Funds | The Motley Fool

Good luck on whatever you choose to do.

Then battery technology companies would also be good.

There is an easy way to get a start on educating yourself on dividend paying stocks by looking for easily accessed clues to stocks that might work for you.

Find the list of Dividend Aristocrats. That will show you how many years a company has annually increased its dividend. To make this list, it has to be 25 consecutive years. There is a lesser known list called Dividend Kings, that’s 50 years, in a row, of increases. (Miss a year — get kicked off the list and have to start over. That is why you sometimes will see a big range in increases from year to year. Depends on how the company is doing, of course. Could be a 1%, could be a 10%, but those companies do not like to have to break their stride by missing an annual increase.)

The Dogs of the Dow list can be worth a look once in a while. (I have not looked for that for a long time. I guess it is still around.)

Those lists are a manageable starting point because you will recognize a lot of the stocks and then you can narrow your focus to the ones that interest you most.

Understand that the yield is not everything. In fact, if it gets really high, it could be a warning. Look at the payout ratio.

Also beta could be important, depending on your risk tolerance.

Another point of beginning could be to go into a site like Fidelity, find their dividend funds, then look at the funds’ top ten holdings. See what the experts are doing.

Another thing you can find on those sites are their select funds — utilities funds, etc. See what holdings are in those. (I used to try to follow certain fund managers and once in a while, I would copy their homework.)

Also, if you are new at this, you will see terms you might not get. Investopedia will explain all those so you can get a working vocabulary on the subject.

(Yeah. I know. Bumpkin that I surely must be, my starting point is far too simplistic for the esoterically inclined among us. But, hey, it can work.)

Boomer

Seriously? Why don’t you show us which battery companies are paying a good safe dividend.

This is some good information. Thanks. Seems like SCHP would be best for untaxed retirement accounts because it will need to be traded into and out of when inflation rates decrease. For instance, if I sell BRK.b stock in a taxable account I'd be hit with the cap gains tax and wipe out any potential gain from the TIPS returns for at least two years because of the taxes on the BRK sale. Then when inflation subsides I'd have to sell again and reinvest into equities because TIPS would pay very little.

My understanding is that inflation is best offset by: 1) TIPS 2) Real Estate by a .7 ratio (house keeps up with inflation by 70% - or 30% loss inflation adjusted, 3) Stocks; in that order per history.

I'm familiar with the dogs of the dow list that pays dividends consistently. Most of them, to me, don't seem like great bets as companies though.

I don't want to churn my money to someone who spends their day talking to people instead of running a profitable company. I consider Warren Buffett to be the best CFP in the World but he is in his 90s.

I tend to trust no one for investment decisions. Seeking Alpha for example what is the real motive of the author? To make money for you? Or to make money for him or her self? Offer a trial subscription-a common marketing tactic. They know exactly how many people will not cancel or often forget to cancel.

Re: Warren Buffet
I like most people find him interesting. I've read articles by and about him with stuff like,
he buys for the long term. Am I the only one to see and state the obvious, the guy is in his 90's long term? I've read things by Buffet, I lost 45 million on that investment. Buffet like?
If, I lost 45 million on any investment there would be a lot of people wondering how they could have been so stupid as to LEND me that much money. Buffet like? Was I to call say Powel to ask what is going to happen with interest rates, his staff would have a good a good laugh and tell me some great excuse why he can't take my call. Buffet calls and they put his call right through.
Recently, Buffet said publicly that he suggests people buy the S&P index. Buffet actually stated in public that he rarely beats the S&P.

Not really.

You should learn about a regulated electric company and how they earn a profit.

I regularly tease with a long time friend. I am looking for stocks with NO RISK that pay a GOOD DIVIDEND and are GUARANTEED TO ONLY GO UP.

As far as a good yield. The CPI consumer price index is now 7.5%. We have to pay that with after tax dollars. To simply stay where you are, as I view it you need to take YOUR top tax bracket and add it to the cpi to tread water. Thus 7.5 plus say 30%, your top tax bracket, is 9.75 to be even. NO RISK? The treasury 10 year bond is paying, last time I looked roughly 1.9%. TAX, I find that interesting. The treasuries are debt of the Federal government. The interest is free of State and Local tax. I find that amusing. The Fed still takes their pound of flesh. Free of State tax does not matter in Florida with no state tax.
In New York with a 6% state tax and a 3% city tax it has more appeal.

True. .

EV's won't increase the grid assets enough to make a huge difference, but will increase usage. Electric rate is made up of two components recovery on investment of assets, and increased customers/uage
Solar and Wind will decrease the utility cost of generation, but the maintenance of the grid, ie load balancing, transformers, poles and wires, will remain and increase with the price increases of labor and copper, plus its costly to maintain the fossil fuel generation as a backup supply, so the cost of fossil fuel generation over the limited use will cause rates to increase. The rates are based upon Assets, and you can't get rid of the assets due the random nature of wind and solar.

:) yes, I would still invest in electric utilities, maybe not gas utilities as much. . . but the revenue is not going down. . its all a matter of how often a regulated utility applies for a new rate to cover new costs and new investments.

:boxing2:

[QUOTE=DAVES;2064682. I regularly tease with a long time friend. I am looking for stocks with NO RISK that pay a GOOD DIVIDEND and are GUARANTEED TO ONLY GO UP. [/QUOTE] - - - - - - -


DAVES, I know them, too. But you gotta luv ‘em. Too antsy for the market, but always expecting a 5% CD. (sigh)

Boomer

"A thousand dollars invested with Warren Buffett since 1965 would be worth more than $27 million today, while the comparable amount for the S&P 500 is roughly $200,000."

I'm going to stick with Buffett. He's also sitting on $160B in cash right now and buying back stock.