Published on July 28th, 2025 by Bob Ciura
The best retirement stocks have a combination of a high dividend yield, and a secure payout that can withstand market downturns.
High dividend stocks are naturally appealing for income investors such as retirees. High-yield stocks pay out dividends that are significantly higher than the market average.
For example, the S&P 500’s average dividend yield is only ~1.2% right now.
As a result, high-yield stocks can be very helpful to shore up income after retirement.
With this in mind, we have created a spreadsheet of over 200 stocks (and closely related REITs and MLPs, etc.) with dividend yields of 5% or more…
You can download your free full list of all high dividend stocks with 5%+ yields (along with important financial metrics such as dividend yield and payout ratio) by clicking on the link below:
Of course, investors always need to do their research, to make sure the underlying stock can sustain its dividend payout.
To do this, we screened for stocks in the Sure Analysis Research Database with current yields above 5%, that have at least 10 consecutive years of dividend growth.
This article will provide a list of the best retirement stocks with high yields and secure dividend payouts. The stocks are listed by dividend yield, in ascending order.
Table Of Contents
The table of contents below provides for easy navigation of the article:
Best Retirement Stock #10: Polaris Inc. (PII)
Polaris designs, engineers, and manufactures snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles. In addition, related accessories and replacement parts are sold with these vehicles through dealers located throughout the U.S.
The company operates under 30+ brands including Polaris, Ranger, RZR, Sportsman, Indian Motorcycle, Slingshot and Transamerican Auto Parts. The global powersports maker, serving over 100 countries, generated more than $7 billion in sales in 2024.
On April 29th, 2025, Polaris reported first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, revenue fell 11.5% to $1.54 billion, but this was $10 million above estimates.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of -$0.90 compared unfavorably to $0.23 in the prior year, but this was $0.01 better than expected.
For the quarter, Marine sales decreased 7%, On-Road was lower by 20%, and Off-Road, the largest component of the company, declined 10%. As with previous quarters, decreases in all three businesses were mostly due to lower volumes.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PII (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #9: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP)
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is one of the largest global owners and operators of infrastructure networks, which includes operations in sectors such as energy, water, freight, passengers, and data.
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is one of four publicly-traded listed partnerships that is operated by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM).
BIP has delivered 8% compound annual distribution growth over the past 10 years.
Source: Investor Presentation
BIP reported resilient results for Q1 2025 on 04/30/25. The diversified utility reported funds from operations of $646 million, up 5.0% year over year. FFO per unit (“FFOPU”) was $0.82, up 5.1%.
Year to date, BIP has generated ~$1.4 billion of sale proceeds, making meaningful progress towards its goal of generating $5-6 billion over the next 2 years.
A portion of these proceeds will be used to acquire Colonial Enterprises, which consists of the largest refined products systems in the U.S., spanning about 5,500 miles along the U.S. East Coast between Texas and New York.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #8: Canandaigua National Corporation (CNND)
Canandaigua National Corporation (CNC) is the parent company of The Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company (CNB) and Canandaigua National Trust Company of Florida (CNTF).
It offers a wide range of financial services, including banking, lending, mortgage services, trust, investment management, and insurance.
With 23 branches across its service areas, CNC is focus on serving local communities by providing personalized financial solutions to individuals, businesses, and municipalities.
CNC emphasizes community banking, focusing on reinvesting in the local economy through a diverse lending portfolio. As of December 31st, 2024, CNC reported total deposits of $4.0 billion.
In early March, Canandaigua National released its full-year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the year, total interest income grew 13% to $248 million.
Total interest expenses grew 29% to $111 million. Net interest income grew by 3% to $137 million. Total other income (service charges on deposit accounts and trust and investment services) increased 6% to $54 million.
Total other expenses (Inc. salaries, occupancy, and marketing) grew 6% to $125 million. Net income was $45 million, relatively flat year-over-year. EPS was $24.15.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on CNND (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #7: Best Buy Co. (BBY)
Best Buy Co. Inc. is one the largest consumer electronics retailers in North America with operations in the U.S. and Canada. Best Buy sells consumer electronics, personal computers, software, mobile devices, and appliances and provides services.
At end of Q4 FY2025, Best Buy operated 886 Best Buy stores and 24 Best Buy Outlet Centers in the U.S., 20 Pacific Sales Stores, 21 Yardbird Stores, 128 Best Buy stores in Canada, and 29 Best Buy Mobile Stand-Alone Stores in Canada. The company’s annual sales exceeded $13.5B in fiscal 2025.
Best Buy reported Q1 FY2026 results on May 29th, 2025. Enterprise revenue decreased to $8,767M from $8,847M and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share decreased to $1.15 from $1.20 on a year-over-year basis. GAAP diluted EPS declined to $0.95 from $1.13.
Comparable enterprise revenue decreased -0.7%. Domestic revenue fell -0.9% on lower comparable sales and store closures. Sales were lower for 3 out of 5 categories. Comparable domestic online sales increased 2.1% compared to the prior year. Domestic online sales comprised about 31.7% of total domestic revenue.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on BBY (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #6: NNN REIT Inc. (NNN)
National Retail Properties is a REIT that owns single-tenant, net-leased retail properties across the United States. It is focused on retail customers because they are much more likely to accept rent hikes to avoid switching locations and losing their customer base.
On May 1, 2025, NNN REIT, Inc. reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025. The company achieved net earnings of $0.51 per diluted share, a slight decrease from $0.52 per share in the same period of the previous year.
Core Funds From Operations (Core FFO) and Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) per diluted share both increased by 3.6% year-over-year, reaching $0.86 and $0.87, respectively. Total revenues grew to $230.9 million, up from $215.4 million in the first quarter of 2024.
During the quarter, NNN REIT invested $232.4 million in 82 properties, achieving an initial cash cap rate of 7.4% and a weighted average lease term exceeding 18 years, completing over 40% of its 2025 acquisition volume plan at the midpoint.
The company maintained a high occupancy rate of 97.7% across its portfolio of 3,641 properties, slightly below its 20-year average of 98.2%, primarily due to tenant defaults.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on NNN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #5: Universal Corp. (UVV)
Universal Corporation is the world’s largest leaf tobacco exporter and importer. The company is the wholesale purchaser and processor of tobacco that operates between farms and the companies that manufacture cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and cigars.
With 55 years of dividend increases, Universal Corporation is a Dividend King.
Universal Corporation reported its fourth quarter earnings results in June. The company generated revenues of $702 million during the quarter, which was considerably less than the revenues that Universal Corporation generated during the previous period. Revenues were also down on a year-over-year basis.
This was a weaker performance compared to the last couple of quarters, when Universal was able to grow its revenues on a year-over-year basis. Overall, 2025 was a year during which the company grew its revenues by 7%.
Universal’s adjusted earnings-per-share totaled $0.80 during the quarter, which was way weaker than the results seen in the previous quarter, when Universal generated a substantially larger profit. In all of fiscal 2025, Universal Corporation saw its earnings-per-share pull back by close to 10%.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on UVV (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #4: Enbridge Inc. (ENB)
Enbridge is a Canadian oil stock that operates the following segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Distributions, Energy Services, Gas Transmission & Midstream, and Green Power & Transmission.
Enbridge bought Spectra Energy for $28 billion in 2016 and has become one of the largest midstream companies in North America.
Enbridge was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Enbridge reported its first quarter earnings results in May. The company generated revenues of CAD$13.3 billion during the period, which was up by 64% compared to the previous year’s quarter, and which pencils out to US$9.7 billion.
During the quarter, Enbridge grew its adjusted EBITDA by 18% year over year. Distributable cash flows came to US$2.8 billion, or US$1.28 on a per-share basis.
Enbridge is forecasting distributable cash flows in a range of CAD$5.50 – CAD$5.90 per share for the current year. Using current exchange rates, this equates to USD$4.17 at the midpoint of the guidance range, which would be up 9% versus 2024.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ENB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #3: Edison International (EIX)
Edison International is a renewable energy company that is active in energy generation and distribution. Edison International also operates an energy services and a technologies business. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Rosemead, CA.
On April 29, 2025, Edison International reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company achieved a net income of $1.44 billion, or $3.73 per share, a significant turnaround from a net loss of $11 million, or $0.03 per share, in the same quarter of the previous year.
Core earnings, which exclude non-recurring items, increased to $528 million, or $1.37 per share, up from $438 million, or $1.13 per share, in the first quarter of 2024.
This improvement was primarily driven by reduced interest expenses related to cost recoveries authorized under the TKM Settlement Agreement. Despite a 6.5% year-over-year decline in revenue to $3.81 billion, the company reaffirmed its 2025 core earnings guidance of $5.94 to $6.34 per share.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EIX (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #2: Altria Group (MO)
Altria is a tobacco stock that sells cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, e-cigarettes, and more under a variety of brands, including Marlboro, Skoal, and Copenhagen, among others.
The company also has a 35% investment stake in e-cigarette maker JUUL, and a 45% stake in the Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group (CRON).
On April 29, 2025, Altria Group reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company posted net revenues of $5.26 billion, a 5.7% decline from the same period in 2024, attributed primarily to lower cigarette shipment volumes, which fell by 13.7%.
Despite this, adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose by 6% year-over-year to $1.23, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.19.
In the smokeable products segment, net revenues declined by 5.8%, but adjusted operating companies income increased by 1.2%, driven by higher pricing and lower manufacturing costs.
The oral tobacco products segment saw a 0.5% increase in net revenues, supported by an 18% rise in on! nicotine pouch shipments.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Altria (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Best Retirement Stock #1: Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
Enterprise Products Partners was founded in 1968. It is structured as a Master Limited Partnership, or MLP, and operates as an oil and gas storage and transportation company.
Enterprise Products has a large asset base which consists of nearly 50,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and refined products pipelines.
It also has storage capacity of more than 250 million barrels. These assets collect fees based on volumes of materials transported and stored.
Source: Investor Presentation
On April 29, 2025, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company posted a net income attributable to common unitholders of $1.4 billion, or $0.64 per diluted unit, compared to $1.5 billion, or $0.66 per unit, in the same quarter of 2024.
Distributable cash flow (DCF) increased by 5% year-over-year to $2.0 billion, providing 1.7 times coverage of the declared distribution and allowing the partnership to retain $842 million for reinvestment.
Adjusted EBITDA remained strong at $2.4 billion, reflecting consistent operational performance. The company declared a quarterly distribution of $0.535 per common unit, a 3.9% increase from the previous year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EPD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts
The best retirement stocks have strong business models that generate high levels of cash flow. In turn, they can provide high dividend payouts to investors, and raise their dividends each year.
The 10 best retirement stocks in this article could be attractive investments for income investors looking for reliable dividends that can withstand recessions, and continue to grow over time.
If you are interested in finding high-quality dividend growth stocks and/or other high-yield securities and income securities, the following Sure Dividend resources will be useful:
High-Yield Individual Security Research
Other Sure Dividend Resources
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