Companies you know and use that pay strong & steady dividends.

Investing in companies that you know of and/or use their products/services, isn’t such a bad idea.  For one, you know something about their company and what they offer.  If you use what they produce/service, then you also know something about the quality of their product(s)/service(s).  This provides you with a nice foundation upon which to begin your research into whether or not it makes sense for you to invest in the company.

A good number of companies you come into contact every day pay sizable dividends and they’re relatively strong and stable companies in comparison to the rest of the public companies on the market.

Take for example the list below (information as of 5/11/10):

Company – Annual Dividend Yield

AT&T (T) – 6.7%
Verizon (VZ) – 6.7&
Altria (MO) – 6.7%
Phillip Morris (PM) – 5%
Coca-Cola (KO) – 3.3%
Pepsi (PEP) – 2.8%
McDonald’s (MCD) – 3.2%
Chevron (CVX) – 3.7%
Waste Management (WM) – 3.8%

As a new investor or an investor that doesn’t have the time to do extensive amounts of research, identify companies that you are in contact with or know about and see what they have to offer in terms of investing.  The short list above is an example of very common companies that have great yields compared to what you would get from a savings account and even most CDs.

Finding investment ideas doesn’t have to be hard.  It can be as simple as looking around while you drive or opening the refrigerator door.