Are you looking for an extra income stream? I believe that investing in ASX shares paying high dividends is an excellent strategy for achieving this. My top 3 picks right now are BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares.
All 3 of these ASX 200 shares pay strong dividends and are fully franked. This can further boost your income as you get a 30% tax rebate.
Wesfarmers shares
Wesfarmers is a highly diversified business. I believe this is the group's core strength.
It has operations across a broad spectrum of the Australian economy. This provides it with a buffer to any industry-specific challenges that may come its way.
Wesfarmers has operations in general retail segments including merchandise and office supplies. It also has a number of industrial divisions with operations in energy and fertilisers, and industrial and safety products.
It continues to evolve its online offering, which has seen strong demand during the coronavirus pandemic. This includes its online-only channel via Catch and its Target and Kmart online offerings.
The Wesfarmers share price is sitting at $41.72 and offers a very nice forward fully franked dividend yield of around 3.6%.
BHP shares
BHP has diversified operations across a range of divisions. These include iron ore, as well as copper and aluminium.
The mining giant is definitely my pick of the resource companies listed on the ASX right now.
In its April quarterly activities report, it noted that it continues to expect to generate strong cash flows. This is despite the continued challenges it faces in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, with signs of global markets improving, this could see its business pick up further in the second half of the year.
Based on current earnings with a share price of $36.34, BHP offers a very attractive forward fully franked dividend yield of around 5.2%.
Telstra shares
In a recent market update, Australia's largest telecommunications provider revealed that it is on track to achieve most of its T22 strategy goals.
This includes a goal to reduce its underlying fixed costs by as much as $2.5 billion annually by the end of FY 2022. The telco giant is evolving into a leaner, more efficient telco provider.
Telstra has also witnessed strong demand for its services throughout the pandemic so far. This has helped to boost its recent performance.
I believe that Telstra remains well placed for long-term growth over the next five to 10 years.
Growth over the next few years will be partly driven by its market-leading position in the rollout of 5G services.
In addition, Telstra provides investors with a forward fully franked dividend yield of around 3.1% with a current share price of $3.23.
