In everything we do, we always want to be the best or be associated with the best. You never hear fans yelling, ‘We’re number 2, we’re number 2?, while holding two fingers in the air. The same is true when selecting dividend stocks. One attribute of the very best dividend stocks is a long history of consecutive dividend increases.

Have you ever noticed those that most vehemently attack a buy-and-hold strategy really don’t understand how the strategy works? They confuse a buy-and-hold strategy with day-trading with a longer duration. A true implementation of buy-and-hold includes a focus on blue-chip stocks with a sustainable advantage, along with a reasonable asset allocation framework.