3 Dividend Stocks Worth Buying and Holding Till at Least 2050

What will the economy of 2050 look like? Flying cars, carbon neutrality, robots doing our work for us? Who knows? What we do know is that certainty and reliability are two core attributes of top-tier dividend stocks. And that dividend stocks can be a great way to generate income throughout ups and downs in the market cycle.

We asked three of our contributors an ultra-long-term question: If you could buy and hold only one dividend stock till at least 2050, what would it be? They hit the drawing board and selected United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC), and Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC) (NYSE:BEP). Here’s what makes each a great buy now.

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Positioned to deliver great returns for decades to come

Daniel Foelber (United Parcel Service): For a stock to be a good long-term buy, it helps to think of some of the best winners over the last 30 years. Starbucks, Disney, and even Procter & Gamble are all easy-to-understand businesses that have produced superb returns for decades.

One stock that could continue raising its dividend and beat the market over the long term is UPS. It’s one of the largest industrial stocks by market cap, has been growing its dividend for about 20 years, and is an industry-leading package delivery company. 

The most obvious sector tailwind benefiting UPS is e-commerce. Even before the pandemic, UPS was investing heavily in e-commerce by providing tools for small and medium-sized businesses to have the same advantages as their larger competitors. 

FedEx‘s latest earnings report showcased challenges in the real economy, proving that managing an international shipping and logistics company isn’t easy when there are supply chain challenges and a labor shortage. Even if Amazon and other e-commerce companies continue to expand their own fleets, there should be plenty of space for UPS to enjoy stable growth over the long term. The company generates gobs of free cash flow and returns a good chunk of it to shareholders through its dividend — which currently yields 2.2%.

This train can keep on running

Lee Samaha (Norfolk Southern): If you commit to a dividend stock for the long term, you need to be sure that the stock will be around in the decades to come. Outside of a takeover, it’s highly likely that East Coast-focused railroad Norfolk Southern will be still around and paying dividends too.

Operating as an effective duopoly on the East Coast (CSX is its primary competitor), the Class 1 railroad offers long-term dividend investors three things. First, the stability of its market position. Railroads tend to own their infrastructure, and as long as there’s a need to ship physical goods around the U.S., there will be a railroad to do it.

Second, all the major listed North American railroads are implementing precision scheduled railroading (PSR) initiatives to improve long-term profitability. So far, all the evidence points to PSR working, so…