3 Top Dividend Stocks For Perpetual Retirement Income

Dividend investing is ultimately about replacing your working income with a passive income stream for a secure retirement and financial freedom. The reality of inflation means your income stream can’t just be static. It must be perpetually growing.

To build your perpetual dividend machine, investors should focus on quality dividend growth stocks with strong yields, recession-proof payouts, and the ability to grow their dividends each year.

With all this in mind, the following 3 perpetual income stocks have market-beating dividend yields and growing dividends.

Arrow Financial (AROW)

Arrow Financial Corporation is a multi-bank holding company based in Glen Falls, New York. The company operates through two main subsidiary banks, the Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company, and the Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company.

Arrow Financial Corporation is also the parent company of North Country Investment Advisers and Update Agency, an insurance agency. The company is a small cap, and it produces about $163 million in annual revenue.

Arrow posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on January 29th, 2026. Earnings for the quarter came to 85 cents per share, while Q4 revenue was $43.41 million.

The bank posted quarterly net interest income of $35.1 million, which was a record. Net interest margin was also a record for the quarter, coming in at 3.25% on an adjusted basis, up slightly from the prior quarter.

The bank noted elevated average municipal deposits negatively impacted net interest margin by four basis points.

For the full year, NIM came to 3.19% on an adjusted basis, which was up sharply from 2024’s 2.74%. Net charge-offs for the year were 0.19%, while they were just 0.08% in the fourth quarter, signifying exemplary credit quality. Tangible book value ended the quarter at $24.71 per share, which was up 3.6% from the prior quarter.

Arrow boosted its dividend by 3.4% to a new payout of $1.20 annually, which would be its 30th consecutive year of dividend increases.

Mondelez International (MDLZ)

Mondelez manufactures and distributes snacks in more than 150 countries, generating annual revenues of ~$38 billion. Its 2025 revenues came from Europe (39%), North America (28%), Asia, Middle East, & Africa (21%), and Latin America (13%). 

While cocoa cost headwinds continue to impact Mondelez’s profitability, the company is doing what it can control -- improved volumes, brand investments, structural cost savings and disciplined capital allocation -- to create multi-year shareholder value as cocoa prices normalize over time. 

Mondelez reported its Q4 2025 results on 02/03/2026. For the quarter, its organic net revenue growth was 4.4%, with pricing up 8.5%, offset by volume/mix of -4.1%. Net revenue rose 9.3% year-over-year to $10.5 billion. Organic net revenue growth of 8.3% in Europe was the strongest, followed by 7.5% in Asia, Middle East, & Africa, and 4.4% in Latin America. It was negative at -0.5% in North America. 

The adjusted gross profit rose 5.8% to $3.2 billion, along with an adjusted gross profit margin contraction of 1.0% to 30.5%. Adjusted earnings rose 7.2% to $929 million, while the adjusted earnings per share rose 10.8% to $0.72. 

For the full-year, its organic net revenue growth was 4.3% with pricing up 8.0%, offset by volume/mix of -3.7%. Net revenue rose 5.8% YOY to $38.5 billion. Organic net revenue growth of 8.6% in Europe was the strongest, followed by 5.7% in Asia, Middle East, & Africa, and 4.6% in Latin America, while it was negative at -1.9% in North America. Free cash flow was $3.2 billion for the year. 

Mondelez initiated its guidance for 2026, as follows: Organic net revenue growth of 0-2% and adjusted EPS growth of 0 5% on a constant currency basis, while it projects to generate free cash flow of ~$3 billion.

Long term, MDLZ should continue to innovate, invest in its brands, and expand its offerings. We estimate a five-year EPS growth rate of 7.5% assuming that emerging markets will typically drive relatively higher growth than developed markets and estimate dividend growth of 3.0% annually for a payout ratio that better aligns with its historical levels of ~50%.

Becton Dickinson & Co. (BDX)

Becton, Dickinson & Co. is a global leader in the medical supply industry. The company was founded in 1897 and has 75,000 employees across 190 countries. The company generates about $20 billion in annual revenue, with approximately 43% of revenues coming from outside of the U.S.

BD reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025. For the quarter, revenue grew 8.3% to $5.89 billion, but this was $20 million below estimates.

Adjusted earnings-per-share of $3.96 compared favorably to $3.81 in the prior year and was $0.05 more than expected. For the fiscal year, revenue grew 8.2% to $21.8 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $14.40 compared to $13.14 in FY 2024.

BD provided an outlook for fiscal year 2026 as well. Revenue is projected to grow at a low single-digit rate. Adjusted earnings-per-share are expected to be in a range of $14.75 to $15.05. At the midpoint, this would represent growth of 3.5% from FY 2025.

The company’s key competitive advantage is that its products are in high demand as medical devices and other healthcare products are still sought out during a recession. People will seek medical care regardless of how the economy is performing.

BDX has increased its dividend for 54 years in a row.