Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks

Face it, you want it all. You want to have your cake and eat it too.

You want the reliable income and stability that dividend-paying stocks provide, but you also want to beat the market.

Sound like a pipe dream? It's not.

According to Ned Davis Research, between 1972 and 2010, dividend-paying stocks returned 8.6% versus just 1.4% for companies that didn't pay a dividend. That's an astonishing outperformance that means the difference between turning a $100,000 portfolio into $2.4 million versus just $174,000.

And for those worried about the storm clouds in today's global economic picture, Ned Davis also showed that during periods of market decline between 1970 and 2000, dividend payers outperformed their stingy counterparts by 1.5% per month.

Here's why they trounce the market so impressively

For one, since dividends are paid in cash, when you invest in a dividend-paying stock you can be more confident that the company you're investing in actually makes cold, hard cash. That may sound simplistic, but many companies report accounting profits without actually banking any cash.

In addition, the beauty of many dividend stocks is the long-term dependability of the companies backing them. This allows investors to take advantage of compounding returns over long periods of time. Long-time dividend investors are surely on board with Albert Einstein, who supposedly called compound interest "the most powerful force in the universe."

Back by popular demand

In a previous Motley Fool report, we offered readers the opportunity to download a dividend-focused special report that delivered a 13-stock dividend portfolio. That report was downloaded by almost half a million investors across the globe!

Due to the overwhelming popularity of that report, we decided to revisit the wonderful world of dividends to bring you a new, ready-to-trounce-the-market dividend-stock portfolio.

In this report you'll find nine dividend stocks that will not only let you sleep like a baby, but can also help put your portfolio on the path to market-beating returns.

While you certainly don't have to buy all nine of these to get the most out of the power of dividends, these have been specifically chosen from a range of industries and a range of dividend strategies so that, taken as a group, they create a complete dividend portfolio.

Click below to get started with five of the dividend world's biggest rock stars.