With the most recent stock market downturn and much-increased volatility, many investors are fretting and rubbing their hands together with anxiety. But income-oriented investors might want to instead celebrate, especially if they have cash they can begin moving into solid companies that now sport a higher dividend yield.

As some of the larger tech companies continue to mature, their dividend yields have slowly but surely crept up as well. We investors now have some wonderful choices when it comes to solid tech companies paying a dividend that has grown every year, even in recessions. However, some of these companies have a relatively large dividend yield while others have a lower yield, but a high dividend growth rate.

For many investors approaching retirement income planning for retirement has become extremely difficult, if not downright impossible. So many people had hoped to live off of income generated by relatively safe treasury bonds and high quality corporate bonds, but that strategy is out the window for most given where interest rates are today. Even with interest rates rising over the past few months, they are still well below historical norms.

Growth is slowing in the U.S., Greece is on the verge of leaving the Euro, and some economists are now predicting a recession this year. Add to that the possibility of the Fed finally raising interest rates and we have a recipe for a potential plunge in corporate earnings and the stock market.

With the stock market continuing its rise, the dividend yields on many stocks are down. This combined with the continued low interest rate environment is putting major stress on those who want enough income in retirement so that they never run out of money.

Target (TGT) has been on a tear lately with its stock price up 26% over the past year. Perhaps equally impressive is that its dividend has increased by 20% over this same time period. For investors in Target, times have been very good.

With the recent major decline in oil prices, Exxon's (XOM) stock price has taken a hit. It is now down about 10% from its peak. Given the price decline, it dividend yield is now up to 3%.

The stock market has once again shown that the days of nerve-wracking volatility are not over. Economic growth in the developed world remains sub-par to say the least and many still believe that most of the stock market here is propped up with easy money from the Federal Reserve.

Every day we see articles about how so many of those in their 60s cannot stop working for at least another decade. Many of those approaching retirement age simply did not have enough money saved and were not prepared. This, combined with losses from the crash of 2008 and 2009, has left many people struggling to figure out how they might retire before they’re 65 or even 70 years old.

It is not easy these days to find companies that pay a dividend yield of nearly 5%, have never cut their dividend in over 40 years, and who continue to increase the dividend at a nearly 10% rate. But there is one such company out there. Altria (MO), parent company of Phillip Morris, continues to pay out its steady dividend, even during recessions, making it a wonderful addition to retirement portfolios.

When looking to build a long-term portfolio of stocks that pay high dividends, investors usually come up with a mix of stocks that either have high dividend yields or high dividend growth rates. However, it is not easy to analyze and compare how various dividend payers will pay off in the long-run. That is why it is important to look at both dividend yield and growth through time and calculate some objective numbers. For this article I want to look at possible payoffs for Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T).

When I look to add dividend paying stocks to my retirement portfolio I always look for companies that have a long history of paying dividends as well as a history of solid growth in those dividends. It's even better if the company has shown it can weather recessions by not cutting its dividend when the economy goes south.

When I look to add dividend paying stocks to my retirement portfolio I always look for companies that have a long history of paying dividends as well as a history of solid growth in those dividends. It's even better if the company has shown it can weather recessions by not cutting its dividend when the economy goes south.

Bond yields have finally starting moving up as the Federal Reserve has begun hinting that they might reduce the amount of bonds they have been buying. The ten year treasury yield is now at 2.12%, which is nearly 0.50% higher than we saw a year ago. Of course, we have a long way to go to reach the 5% level we saw in 2007.

As I write this Apple's (AAPL) stock is down 42% from its peak of $705 a share. It has been a brutal nosedive for those who recently bought Apple hoping they would see some of the tremendous gains that other investors have over the past four years.

Even with the stock market continuing to go up (and break records) so many still cannot retire when they thought they could. Many investors reduced their equity exposure, or left the stock market completely, and have been sitting in cash or low yielding bonds. This, combined with losses from the crash of 2008 and 2009, has left many people struggling to figure out how they might retire before they’re 65 or even 70 years old.

We’ve heard the problems again and again: Interest rates are too low, savings aren’t enough, and too many people lost too much wealth over the past five years to be able to retire before they’re 70.

Since the lows of 2009 the S&P 500 index is up nearly 120%. Before this rally there were those who had been talking about low stock market returns for years to come. With the stock market having rallied so far so quickly, the odds of lower returns going forward might even be higher now.

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When looking to build a long-term portfolio of stocks that pay high dividends, investors usually come up with a mix of stocks that either have high dividend yields or high dividend growth rates. It is difficult to find good companies that have both. This means that there is often a choice to be made. All else equal, should one invest in the company that has that enticing high dividend yield, but a low dividend growth rate, or does one exude patience and invest in the company with a relatively low yield, but a high dividend growth rate? To help answer this question I looked at two companies that offer these different alternatives: AT&T (T) and Exxon (XOM).

About every quarter I update my weights for my dividend paying stocks in my retirement portfolio. Let me first summarize the idea behind my weighting scheme. I do not normally believe in weighting by market capitalization, nor do I generally believe in equally weighting stocks. There are better ways to figure out how to distribute the money in your portfolios. I suggest a weighting mechanism for dividend paying stocks that rewards a company with a higher weight as it makes good decisions that are in the interests of shareholders.