Want Over $5,000 in Annual Dividends? Invest $23,000 in Each of These 3 Stocks

Whether you want to retire early, work less, or just have extra money to fund a vacation, dividend stocks can provide you with the cash flow to help you achieve your goals. The key is to find high-yielding stocks that aren't too risky to ensure you aren't setting yourself up for disappointment later on.

Three stocks that can be great dividend-paying investments to build your portfolio around are Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), BCE (NYSE: BCE), and Western Union (NYSE: WU). They all pay you more than four times what you would get with the average S&P 500 yield of 1.3%. Here's how investing $23,000 into each of these stocks can allow you to receive more than $5,000 in annual dividend income.

1. Pfizer

One of the best dividend stocks you can get right now is Pfizer. The healthcare giant yields about 5.9%, which is unusually high for the stock, and that's partly due to its struggling share price. Down 13% during the past five years, investors have become worried about the company's long-term prospects now that it's not getting a boost from COVID-19-related revenue and with multiple patent expirations looming.

However, Pfizer has been investing in strengthening its growth prospects with many acquisitions in recent years. One exciting opportunity could be slicing out a piece of the lucrative anti-obesity market, which could top more than $100 billion by the end of the decade. Pfizer doesn't have an approved treatment yet, but it has a once-daily pill that has been generating encouraging results thus far. There could still be a lot of growth on the horizon for the business in the future. With more than 110 programs in its pipeline, investors shouldn't be too bearish on the stock, as there's still lots of potential for Pfizer.

The company has posted some underwhelming quarters recently due to asset impairment charges, but Pfizer still has a promising future and the payoff could be significant for investors who are willing to remain patient with the healthcare stock. Investing $23,000 into Pfizer today would give you about $1,360 in dividends during the course of a full year.

2. BCE

Another good and dependable dividend stock to own is BCE. The Canadian telecom company is an industry leader, and what is attractive about its operations is consistency. The company has steadily increased revenue from 22.9 billion Canadian dollars ($16.9 billion) in 2020 to CA$24.7 billion in 2023.

As long as you aren't expecting fast growth and are primarily investing in the stock for its stability and dividend income, you likely won't be disappointed with this investment. BCE averages an incredibly low beta value of about 0.50, meaning it doesn't move much with market fluctuations, making it an attractive option for risk-averse investors.