You get the Best of Both Worlds: The first is what you would categorize as the optimist pitch, where you are told that you can get the best of both bond and equity investments when you buy high dividend stocks. Summarizing the pitch: These are stocks that deliver dividends that are comparable and, in some cases, higher than coupons on bonds. Buy these stocks and you can count on receiving the dividends for the long term. If there is price appreciation, it is an added bonus. In fact, this story is bolstered by the fact that many stocks that pay high dividends are safer, larger companies where the potential risk is low.