When it comes to money, people tend to get stressed. It’s stressful enough to try and make money, so when I get to the stage of then investing it, I wanted to try and find options that came make me passive income without all the worry and concern.
Here are some FTSE stocks on my watchlist to fit the bill.
Straight to the bank
First up is Barclays (LSE:BARC). The UK bank will announce the latest dividend alongside the half-year results due out today (1 August). I expect it to be higher than the 2.7p from the same release last year, thanks to continued profitability over this period.
It’s true that the dividend yield has fallen this year, from around 5.5% at the start of 2024 to 3.44% now. However, this is down to the share price rise. In fact, over the past year, it’s now up 52%!
The total dividend per share payment’s been rising for the past few years, and with the bank well into the strategic drive to improve efficiency, I feel the future for the firm (and the dividends) is bright.
It has a strong track record of paying out income over the decades, but a risk is linked to the financial regulators. For example, during the pandemic they advised banks to stop paying dividends to protect cash flow. So this could happen again and is something I can’t really control.
A consumer staple
A second option is the Supermarket Income REIT (LSE:SUPR). This has a high dividend yield of 8.15%. The share price is down 2% over the past year.
The investment trust owns a portfolio of supermarket real estate sites, which it leases out in order to generate income. The bulk of this is then paid out to investors as a dividend. In order to keep receiving favourable tax status as a REIT, it has to pay out a high amount of profit as dividends. Therefore, I’m confident this will be a lifelong income stock.
One risk is that this REIT’s quite niche, in focusing just on supermarket sites. Even though I think this is a stable area to serve in the consumer staples space, others might disagree. Should this area take a hit, the trust doesn’t have any real diversification.
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Decades of constant income
Finally, I like Pennon Group (LSE:PNN). The FTSE 250 stock provides essential utility services and environmental infrastructure. As a result, it serves in a stable industry.
The 11% fall in the share price over the past year has helped to push up the yield to 7.11%. Part of this is down to last year being one of the wettest on record. The resulting increased wastewater flows and pollution wasn’t a great image for the company.
The proposed merger of Sutton & East Surrey Water and Pennons South West Water could provide another boost for finances going forward. The economies of scale and higher efficiencies could translate through to a more profitable overall outfit.
Having paid constant dividends for over two decades, I think this should continue, reducing my stress levels. I’m keeping the FTSE shares I already own and I’m thinking about adding the ones I don’t currently have to my portfolio.
