Most Americans hope to have enough income to make it through their retirement. Ideally, Social Security won't expire before they doand their retirement accounts will provide a bit extra so they won't have to move in with their kids. Sadly, the dream of sufficient retirement income is just that for most Americans: a dream. However, what if we told you that adequate retirement income doesn't have to be a dream?

We asked our analysts for their favorite income stocks for retirement. Here are three dividend stocks they believe could turn their dream retirement into a reality.

Matt DiLallo: Enterprise Products Partners (EPD -0.41%) won't win any awards for being a cool company to own. However, the oil and gas pipeline and processing company has been an investment fit to convert retirement dreams into reality for several years now. Just look at the company's long-term stock chart:

EPD Chart

EPD data by YCharts.

As we can see in that chart, this compounding machine's total return is 1,800% over the past two decades when dividends are reinvested, turning a $1,000 investment into $18,000 over that time frame. Even without reinvesting dividends the initial investment still grew to over $5,000 as the quarterly income stream grew. In fact, the company has raised its payout to investors for 42 straight quarters and still has plenty of growth ahead.

With a current yield just under 4.2% Enterprise Products Partners can provide current retirees with solid income for years to come. Meanwhile, it can also provide those of us with dreams of an eventual retirement with quite a compounding machine. This is why it is one of the bedrock stocks in my own portfolio as I dream of a nicer retirement than the one the Social Security Administration is offering.

Tyler Crowe: Like Matt, I also think some of the most boring-sounding investments can be some of the most lucrative. That's why oil refiner HollyFrontier (HFC) looks so appealing. Turning crude oil into gasoline might seem like a business that will go through massive boom and bust cycles based on the price of oil -- and I'm not going to lie, it is subject to these factors -- but even with these factors working against it, management has built a dividend-paying machine.
 
HFC Chart

HFC data by YCharts.

HollyFrontier has done this through a few factors:
  1. It has the most complex refineries among U.S. independent refiners, which means it can buy heavy crude oil, which is cheaper but harder to work with than light crude, and transform it into a high percentage of desirable products, such as gasoline.
  2. It has developed a strong crude supply infrastructure to ensure those disadvantaged crudes reach its refineries.
  3. It has been a disciplined in its capital allocation and has looked to make acquisitions when the market is down and its peers are in financial distress.
HollyFrontier's 3.89% annualized dividend yield might not sound that impressive, but the company has been paying a "special dividend" of $0.50 per share per quarter for the past 12 consecutive quarters. Add these special dividends to its regular dividend, and the company is yielding 9.9% today. As long as the U.S. uses gasoline -- which looks likely for quite some time -- then HollyFrontier should crank out great income checks for years to come.
 
Jason Hall: People looking for income from stocks often make the mistake of chasing high yield. While there's nothing particularly wrong with getting the best payout your investment dollars will buy, it can lead to major mistakes. As we all learned from Seadrill's story -- if you missed it, a 20% yield went to zero overnight -- those big payouts can go down (or away) quickly. 
 
A better approach? Invest in stocks that have a record of dividend growth. If you're counting on income from your portfolio, you want your payouts to rise over time. Midstream energy giant Phillips 66 (PSX 0.15%) is doing just that. Since being spun out of ConocoPhillips  (COP -1.08%) in 2012, the company has boosted its dividend three times:
 
Management has committed to increasing it at double-digit rates for at least the next several years. 
 
The 2.9% yield on today's stock price might not look like much, but think about it this way: If you bought the stock in July 2012 for $35, you're getting paid a strong 5.7% yield on your original investment today. 
 
Furthermore, Phillips 66's core businesses aren't really hurt by low oil prices, meaning a more stable business with predictable cash flow. The cherry on top? An aggressive stock buyback program has reduced shares outstanding by 11% since 2012. That makes increased payouts cheaper, increasing the likelihood the dividend will continue to rise. That is great news if you want your income to grow over time.