Â
Â
Yogi Berra, the long-time catcher for the New York Yankees, might be a truly wise man… the American Confucius. Or he might actually be mentally handicapped. We’ll never really know. But his witty yogisms have left their mark on the English language over the decades. Perhaps centuries from now we will find them in fortune cookies.
Well, I’m going to adapt a quote attributed to him — “The future ain’t what it used to be†— to retirement. The future of retirement ain’t what it used to be.
Retirees today generally do not have a pension to fall back on, and Social Security hardly pays the bills. This means that now, more than ever, Americans are responsible for funding their own retirements.
Today, we’re going to look at three stocks that I consider a solid foundation for a retirement portfolio. All pay respectable current dividends, and — importantly — all have a long history of raising their dividends. That’s critical to ensure your income stream keeps up with inflation over time.
Three stocks does not make a properly diversified portfolio, of course, but these three can be thought of as core holdings you can hold through thick and thin. Buy them, collect the dividends, and put your mind at ease.
McDonalds
At the top of the list is a stock that has become nearly as a big of a pariah as Big Tobacco: Global fast-food giant McDonald’s (MCD).
I know, I know. Americans are eating healthier these days, and that means fewer Big Macs and fries washed down with sugary Dr. Pepper. (Yes, Dr. Pepper. It’s a Texas thing. Deal with it.)
But keep in mind, McDonald’s has been around for a long time, and its menu has changed more times than I can count since the stock went public in 1965. As Americans’ tastes have changed, so have McDonald’s offering.
I should also add that McDonald’s is not purely an American company. In fact, it gets less than a third of its sales in the U.S. A little over 40% of sales come from Europe with most of the rest coming from Asia and emerging markets.
