One of the safest ways to invest in dividend stocks is by buying shares of real estate investment trusts (REITs). They have stable and consistent business models that don't involve much risk and while the pandemic did provide some early scares with the threat of some tenants not paying rent, now that the economy is in better shape, those aren't big concerns today.
And to make your investment even safer, investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that holds many different REITs could be even better. And that's what the ALPS REIT Dividend Dogs ETF (NYSE Arca:RDOG) does.
The fund holds REITS from a variety of different sectors, including technology, industrials, retail, residential, healthcare, hotel & resorts, and others. Technology REITs and specialized REITs account for the largest portions of the fund, each making up more than 13% of the total holdings. No one REIT makes up more than 3% of the total weight, however. That's important since it means investors don't have to worry about if one particular REIT is struggling.
With a yield of over 4%, you can earn some solid income from this ETF on top of some great returns. Year to date, ALPS is up 18% and it has outperformed the S&P 500 (which has risen just 11%). The fund's management fee of 0.35% is modest and not overly expensive so you don't have to worry about it chipping away at those returns.
If your priority is safe, recurring income, then ALPS is an ETF you should consider as it gives you a broad array of REITs and a top yield that you can count on.
