Retirement income is a math problem before it is a stock-picking problem. With the 10-year Treasury yielding 4.69% as of August 20, 2026, dividend equities have to earn their spot in a retiree portfolio through a combination of yield, growth, and payout durability, not yield alone. The five names below screen for safety first: multi-decade payout track records, regulated or fee-based cash flows, and manageable payout ratios. Yields range from modest to competitive with Treasuries, and each has a live catalyst worth tracking into year-end.
One framing note before the picks. As one financial advisor put it recently, "dividends have grown at twice the rate on average of inflation," which is the real argument for owning dividend growers in the distribution phase of retirement. Growth of income matters as much as the starting yield.
Kimberly-Clark (KMB): Dividend King With a 4%+ Yield
Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB | KMB Price Prediction) is the highest-yielding name in this group and the one that fits the "high-yield" descriptor most cleanly. The stock trades at $109.31 as of August 21, 2026, with a dividend yield of 4.67% and a forward P/E of 15. Management raised the quarterly payout to $1.28 per share, with the next payment scheduled for October 2, 2026, extending a streak that the company has now stretched across 54 consecutive years of increases.
The bull case rests on category durability. On the Q2 call, CEO Mike Hsu described "the 10th consecutive quarter of solid volume plus mix performance" and said "the fundamentals of our business remain strong." The pending Kenvue acquisition is the swing factor. Risks include the China diaper controversy and integration execution. Shares are down 13.85% over the past year, which is exactly why the yield is where it is.
PepsiCo (PEP): Dividend King Rebuilding Momentum
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) trades at $143.48 with a 4.05% dividend yield and a trailing P/E of 19. The quarterly dividend rose to $1.48 per share from $1.4225, keeping intact a payout track record that rivals Kimberly-Clark’s.
Q2 was the inflection: core EPS of $2.20, revenue up 6.4% year over year to $24.181B, GAAP operating profit more than doubled to $4.023B, and international segments posted double-digit growth (LatAm Foods +15%, EMEA +10%, Asia Pacific Foods +12%). The company plans ~$8.9B in total 2026 cash returns. Watch the North America Foods drag and tariff exposure. Shares are up 5.77% over the past month, suggesting sentiment is turning.
Exelon (EXC): Regulated Utility With a Data-Center Kicker
Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) is the pure regulated-utility exposure here. Shares closed at $43.78, yielding 3.64% with a forward P/E of 15. The current $0.42 quarterly dividend pays out September 15, 2026.
CFO Jeanne Jones reaffirmed "annualized earnings growth near the top end of 5% to 7% from 2025 through 2029, supported by 7.9% annualized rate-based growth" backed by approximately $41 billion of capital between now and 2029. AI data-center load in the ComEd and PJM footprint is the growth kicker. Regulatory timing on rate cases is the primary risk, and shares are down 6.25% over the past month.
Principal Financial Group (PFG): Retirement Services Compounding a Dividend
Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) is more dividend-growth story than headline-yield story. Shares trade at $110.75 with a 2.89% yield, trailing P/E of 16, and forward P/E of 9.
CFO Joel Pitz announced "an 84 cent per share dividend payable in the third quarter. This is a two cent increase from the prior quarter and 8% higher than a year ago, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to our 40% dividend payout ratio." That was the 13th consecutive quarterly increase. Q2 non-GAAP EPS came in at $2.50 versus $2.33 estimated, and total AUM reached $808B. The caveat: net cash outflows of $11.1B in the quarter concentrated in active equity. Shares are up 27.7% year to date, so the entry yield has compressed.
Northern Trust (NTRS): Trust Bank With a 10% Dividend Hike
Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) is the lowest-yielding name in the group, earning its place on dividend growth rather than headline yield. The stock trades at $183.90 with a 1.75% yield and trailing P/E of 16. The Board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.88 from $0.80, payable October 1, 2026.
Management framed the increase as "an $0.08 or 10% increase to our quarterly common dividend, reflecting our strong capital position, the durability of our business model, and our continued confidence in the firm’s earnings power." Q2 revenue rose 13% year over year, and the firm returned $499 million to common shareholders in the quarter. Risk: nonaccrual loans rose to $71.3M, and the stock’s 47.77% one-year gain means investors are paying for the dividend growth, not the yield.
Positioning Ahead of Year-End
These five names span the retirement-income spectrum: two Dividend Kings on a consumer-staples reset (KMB, PEP), a regulated utility with an AI tailwind (EXC), a retirement-services compounder (PFG), and a trust bank raising its payout at a 10% clip (NTRS). Fifty-plus straight years of raises is a small club, and we ranked ten of them by valuation in a free Dividend Kings report for readers who want to keep going down that list. With the 10-year Treasury near the top of its trailing range at 4.69%, only KMB and PEP clear the risk-free rate on current yield. The rest of the case rests on payout growth and the durability of the underlying cash flows, which is where retirement-income investing lives or dies.
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