The ASX is home to many capable dividend stocks. Yet I also look to US stocks for income in my own personal investing portfolio.
US stocks may not offer the large upfront dividend yields and franking credits that their ASX counterparts can. However, that doesn't mean they are useless when it comes to dividends. There are many things to love about American companies in this regard.
For one, they tend to pay dividends every quarter, rather than the six-month interval that we are used to. For another, many US stocks boast dividend increase streaks that would make an ASX share blush. To illustrate, there are more than 50 US stocks that have a 50-year-and-counting streak of delivering annual dividend pay rises.
Here on the ASX, we only have one that has hit 27 to date.
So with this in mind, here are three US stocks that I own for dividend income.
Three US stocks that I bought for big dividend income
McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
McDonald's is a company that needs no introduction in Australia, despite its absence from the ASX. Its logo and products are ubiquitous in popular culture.
McDonald's isn't quite at a 50-year streak with its payouts just yet. But it's pretty darn close at 48. This company has grown its shareholder payouts by about 7.3% per annum over the past five years.
For me, McDonald's is one of those businesses that will always do well. As such, I keep its shares in my portfolio what the hope, and expectation, that those dividends will keep increasing for at least another 48 years.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Next up is Alphabet, the owner of Google.
Now, Alphabet doesn't quite have the same level of dividend prowess that McDonald's can boast of. In fact, it only paid out its inaugural dividend last year, despite having the capacity to do so for more than a decade prior to that.
Even so, it has hit the ground running, delivering a 5% increase to its quarterly dividend in 2025. Given Google's complete domination of the Search category around the world, as well as Alphabet's other ventures, including YouTube, Gemini and Waymo, I have complete confidence that this stock will be a dividend powerhouse one day.
Procter & Gamble Inc (NYSE: PG)
Our final US stock for today might seem a little boring. But in the world of dividend investing, I think boring is usually good.
You might not have heard of Procter & Gamble. But you almost certainly have some of this company's products in your house as we speak. This company owns a stable of popular household brands. These range from Tide laundry powder and Pantene shampoo to Fairy dishwashing liquid and Gillette razors.
These brands are all household staples, and have stood the test of time. That makes them, in my view at least, almost impervious to economic shocks like inflation and recessions.
This is evident in Procter & Gamble's dividend track record. This US stock has grown its annual dividend for a whopping 68 years in a row. Over the past five years, that growth has averaged 6.07% per annum, well above the rate of inflation. Again, this is a stock that I am happy just to have in my portfolio for the rest of my life.
