The same is true for stocks. Consider that global icon Apple Inc. (ticker: AAPL) yields a mere 0.4%, despite having roughly $100 billion in net income and one of the most entrenched brands in the planet. That's because it's easy to maintain a nominal dividend, but much harder to drive a huge yield – even for titans like Apple.

Tobacco titan Altria (NYSE: MO) has long been a solid dividend-paying company. It remains one today -- and it's offering a fat dividend yield, recently 7.8%. It's generally smart to seek out dividends growing at a good clip,

As the U.S. stock market experiences a notable upswing, with major indices like the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average posting their best weekly gains in months, investors are increasingly looking toward dividend stocks as a stable source of income amidst the volatility.

A quarterly dividend payment from a high-quality stock may be as close to a sure thing as an investor can find on Wall Street. Even during periods of broad market weakness, the lower a stock's price falls,

Sun Communities is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on niche property types. It's the largest publicly traded owner and operator of manufactured home communities, RV parks, and marinas. It's also the second-largest owner/operator of U.K. holiday parks.

Fintech, the broad term for financial technology, is expanding quickly as companies continue to merge their financial products with the latest tech innovations. Let's take a closer look at why American Express (NYSE: AXP) and SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) could be the right place for your money if you have $500 available to invest.