3 Dividend Stocks to Help Protect Your Retirement

This year's volatile swings on Wall Street are disconcerting, but the truth is, they aren't actually all that unusual. Corrections, downturns, and even bear markets are normal parts of investing, no matter how upsetting they are. But you won't have to spend as much time worrying about market moves if you refocus your investment strategy on something that's more stable --dividends. And on that front, Enbridge (NYSE: ENB), Realty Income (NYSE: O), and (NASDAQ: PEP) are all attractive high-yield dividend stocks to own right now.

Technically, Enbridge is an energy company. But don't let that dissuade you from buying it, because it operates in the midstream, which is the most stable part of the energy sector. Essentially, it owns major pipelines and other assets that move energy around the world and store it. It charges fees for the use of its assets, making it a simple toll-taker business. That's the big picture story that has supported Enbridge's 30 consecutive years of annual dividend increases (in Canadian dollars).

That streak is nice, but even nicer is Enbridge's huge 5.8% dividend yield at its current share price. Compare that to the S 500's miserly yield of 1.3% or the average energy stock's yield of around 3%. And Enbridge's long-term strategy actually involves changing to adjust to the global energy market's shifting demands. Around 25% of its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) are already derived from regulated natural gas utilities and clean energy sources. That makes it the type of high-yield energy stock you can buy and hold for the long term even as the world moves increasingly toward cleaner energy alternatives.

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Source Fool.com