If you want to see all the assumptions used in the math for the Top 100 Dividend Stocks, you can read them here: assumptions.
My name is Tom Bates and I started Top100DividendStocks.com just for fun. I am in my mid-fifties, semi-retired and living in Barcelona Spain with my family. I am not a registered investment advisor. Back in the dot-com era I was licensed with FINRA when I worked in finance at an investment bank where I had advisory roles as well as worked as an equities trader...but that was a long time ago, neither Tom Bates nor Top100DividendStocks.com is currently registered with the SEC or any regulatory authority. Read full financial disclosures here.
Today, I am basically a hobbyist investor who enjoys showing people how to do what I do, which is dividend investing. I love dividend investing because I prefer cash flow over paper returns. I prefer the idea paying for my retirement with income, because I don't want to sell my retirement nest egg off 4% each year until there is no money left, hoping that my wife and I will die before the money runs out. That sounds terrible. I prefer the idea of legacy investing...when I die I want my estate to be worth more than when I started retirement, and I want all of those stocks to be transferred through trusts to my heirs. I want people to aim for retirement income from dividends & interest of $100k-$200k/year.
The Top 100 Dividend Stocks list is not intended to be a portfolio. It's just a list of 100 dividend stocks that I want to showcase or discuss, and in January 2026 I will update the list. I am mostly interested in dividend growth investing and so I look at dividend stocks through dividend growth and total return lenses. This is not a high yield dividend stock list. I do not love high yield stocks and ETFs because I don't like their eroding stock prices. Yes, I do own some high yield stocks/ETFs/BDCs in my personal portfolio, but I don't love them. I prefer dividend stocks that appreciate in price and grow the per share dividend payments over time. You'll notice that I do not even show the current dividend yield on the Top 100 Dividend Stocks list. That's very intentional. I want to teach people to think long-term, in decades. Explore your yield-on-cost numbers and I think you will be a happier, more tacticle investor. Ultimately, this is the number that will determine your cash flow during your retirement years.
Top100DividendStocks.com is published for entertainment purposes only. This is not financial advice. If you are seeking financial advice you should speak with a registered investment advisor. Read full financial disclosure here.