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Some people lose their minds over cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But for me, you can’t beat a good dividend yield. Call me boring, call me old-fashioned, but I think the long-term rewards of buying a top FTSE 100 stock offering sustainable shareholder payouts are far greater than gambling on alt-coins.
I had a text from an over-excited friend this morning, who had just read that Bitcoin has jumped 25% this year and is trading at around $21,000. This is the same friend who spent most of last year moaning about how his crypto stake was shrinking and shrinking, as the price crashed from around $68,000 in November 2021.
Give me a good dividend yield
He was looking at ways of clawing back his losses, but I advised him to forget Bitcoin. The price may rise further from here and he could make a lot of money. But it could just as easily crash all over again, and he’d lose even more.
Personally, I will not be adding to my holding of roughly one Bitcoin. I think it serves no practical purpose apart from inflaming investor greed and polluting the planet.
I would much rather buy FTSE 100 insurer Aviva (LSE: AV), even though it is never going to make me rich overnight. I’m not buying this dividend aristocrat to get rich quick, but to build my wealth steadily.
There is nothing new, flashy or exciting about Aviva, which sells insurance, investments and pensions. Its share price is not about to shoot the lights out. In fact, lately it has been a flop, falling 23.65% over the last year, and 37.24% over five years.
It has even missed this year’s FTSE 100 rebound. While the index as a whole is up 3.97% year-to-date, Aviva stock is down 1.61%. That doesn’t worry me. In fact, I find it a positive. The index is nearing its all-time high and there is a growing fear that all the bargains have gone.
Yet Aviva has missed the surge, which makes me think now could be a good time to buy. Its stock is still cheap, trading at just 7.9 times earnings. I accept that Aviva has looked cheap for years, but failed to put on a share price spurt. I’m in no hurry.
I’ll buy Aviva soon
I wouldn’t buy Aviva expecting a sudden share price transformation. But I would buy it – and I will buy it, shortly – to take advantage of that 8.6% yield which is nicely covered 1.7 times by earnings.
Aviva now has a tighter business plan after chief executive officer Amanda Blanc hived off its sprawling international business to focus on its core UK, Ireland and Canadian markets. Assets under management in its wealth business have held firm despite a rocky year for stock markets, and could rise nicely if things get better in 2023.
Yet the main thing that attracts me to Aviva and its dividend yield is that it should give me a regular, growing income measured in decades. Over such a lengthy period, I should also enjoy some share price growth at some point. I’ve no idea when, but I’m confident it will come. Whereas Bitcoin could go anywhere and will never, ever pay me any income.
