Retiring means you switch your investor hat from accumulation to preservation, generating enough growth to keep inflation from eating at your wealth while avoiding the risk of ruining your retirement dreams.
Here are three surefire blue chip financial stocks that have proven to be the real deal and are poised to help keep your senior years flush and on the right track.
1. Berkshire Hathaway
Investing in conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B -0.68%) is like entrusting your money to Warren Buffett. Berkshire is Buffett's lifelong work, and he's built it into a massive holding company that owns a diversified portfolio of businesses like Geico and Dairy Queen. It also holds billions of dollars of stocks in companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America.
Berkshire has more than doubled the return of the S&P 500 since 2000, while still accumulating an enormous $106 billion cash position that Buffett uses to make strategic investments or share repurchases.
Buffett hasn't lost his touch in his elder years. Berkshire sports a 17% return on equity, near the highest in a decade. This shows that, despite being a complex business with tons of moving parts, Berkshire Hathaway generates a great return on its capital resources.
BRK.B Return on Equity data by YCharts.
The stock doesn't pay a dividend, but investors are getting a top-class money manager leading a ship that's produced market-beating returns over a long time frame. Buffett won't be around forever, but it's hard to imagine Berkshire's collection of blue chip investments and fortress-like balance sheet failing anytime soon, making it a stock you can count on.
2. Aflac
The global insurance industry is worth more than $5 trillion, and Aflac (AFL 0.63%) has thrived in this huge industry for decades. Aflac is a leading supplemental insurance company in the U.S. and Japan. Additional insurance can be a safety net for what primary insurance won't cover. Aflac's policies cover many things, ranging from expenses for accidents, dental, and cancer to hospital stays and short-term disability.
Insurance companies make money in two ways. First, they collect premiums from customers and must analyze risk well enough to ensure that they're bringing in more premiums than what they pay out in claims. Second, the pool of premium money is invested mostly in bonds and other conservative assets to generate investment income.
Aflac's been at it a long time and has paid a dividend for many years. It's a Dividend Aristocrat that's raised its payout for 40 years, with a current 2.95% dividend yield. The company's stock blends yield and consistent growth, and the most recent 21% increase signals that management is optimistic about the business. The low dividend payout ratio of 22% virtually guarantees the dividend is affordable, barring an apocalyptic scenario.
AFL Dividend data by YCharts.
Aflac won't wow you with growth, but earnings per share (EPS) have grown an average of 12% annually over the past decade, making it a safe business that offers retirees some upside in their portfolios.
3. S&P Global
Companies have credit ratings, just like consumers do, and S&P Global (SPGI 0.01%) is one of the agencies that monitors and reports on the creditworthiness of corporations. S&P Global does corporate credit ratings and market-intelligence reports and creates and manages indexes like the S&P 500. Ratings are S&P's most prominent business segment, contributing half its total revenue and 57% of operating profits.
S&P Global is one of the key authorities in its field, along with Moody's and Fitch. These three are the primary companies officially recognized by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for issuing corporate credit ratings. This essentially blocks the competition because companies need official opinions on their credit to borrow money successfully.
The company has proven its durability through its dividend, which has been raised in 49 consecutive years. It will soon be a Dividend King. The yield won't knock your socks off at just under 1%. However, EPS has grown 15% annually over the past decade, and the stock has outperformed the market. The payout ratio is also just 21%, leaving room for future growth.
SPGI Dividend data by YCharts.
Many companies have borrowed heavily over this past decade of low rates, and S&P Global figures to keep active monitoring and updating their opinions on them. Debt is and will likely always be a heavily used tool of corporations, so investors can feel good that S&P Global will continue performing over the coming years.
