Forget the 2.8% Social Security Increase. These Aristocrats Pay You 4% to 7% More Annually

15 hours ago 7

Jeremy Phillips

Sun, December 14, 2025 astatine 9:51 AM CST 6 min read

An infographic titled '5 Dividend Growers That Historically Beat Social Security COLA Increases.' A enactment graph compares 'Dividend Growth' (green line) showing consistently higher growth, against 'Social Security COLA' (orange line) labeled arsenic 'Volatile & Lower Average (Avg. ~2%).' Below the graph are 5 panels featuring institution logos and their dividend statistics: Caterpillar (CAT) with a 10-Year CAGR of 7.2% and a 32-Year Streak; Coca-Cola (KO) with a 10-Year CAGR of 4.5% and a 62-Year Streak; Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) with a 10-Year CAGR of ~6.5% and a 62-Year Streak; PepsiCo (PEP) with a 10-Year CAGR of 7.1% and a 52-Year Streak; and Procter & Gamble (PG) with Avg. 5-7% Annual Growth and a 68-Year Streak. Text astatine the bottommost states 'Historically Outpacing Inflation & COLA by 2x-3x.'

Social Security COLA averaged 2% annually with precocious volatility ranging from 0% to 8.7% betwixt 2010 and 2023.
Five dividend aristocrats delivered 4.5% to 7.2% compound yearly dividend maturation implicit 10 years.
Procter & Gamble accrued dividends for 68 consecutive years with a 60% payout ratio supporting aboriginal growth.
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The Social Security Administration announced successful October that beneficiaries volition person a 2.8% cost-of-living accommodation (COLA) successful 2026, pursuing a 2.5% summation successful 2025. While these adjustments assistance support purchasing powerfulness for 71 cardinal Americans, dividend maturation stocks person historically delivered substantially higher yearly increases. Five blue-chip companies with multi-decade dividend maturation streaks person consistently outpaced Social Security's emblematic 2-3% yearly adjustments.

Recent COLA past shows important volatility: 8.7% successful 2023 during highest inflation, 3.2% successful 2024, and present 2.5% for 2025 and 2.8% for 2026. Over the agelong term, COLAs person averaged astir 2% annually, with 3 years (2010, 2011, and 2016) seeing nary increase. The pursuing dividend aristocrats person built way records of beating these adjustments done consistent, compounding dividend growth.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) has delivered a 10-year compound yearly dividend maturation complaint of 7.2%, much than tripling emblematic COLA increases. The concern instrumentality shaper raised its quarterly dividend 7.1% to $1.51 successful December 2025, marking its 32nd consecutive twelvemonth of increases.

Caterpillar's yearly dividend has surged from $1.84 successful 2012 to a projected $6.04 successful 2026, a 228% summation implicit 14 years. The institution generated $3.7B successful operating currency travel successful Q3 2025 and returned $1.1B to shareholders. Recent quarterly gross maturation of 10% demonstrates continued momentum contempt cyclical manufacture headwinds.

With a nett borderline of 14.3% and instrumentality connected equity of 46.3%, Caterpillar maintains a blimpish payout ratio of astir 30%, leaving important country for aboriginal increases. The existent dividend output of 0.93% whitethorn look modest, but the maturation complaint consistently outperforms ostentation adjustments by 4-5 percent points annually.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years, delivering a 10-year compound yearly maturation complaint of 4.5%. The beverage elephantine accrued its quarterly dividend 5.2% to $0.51 successful 2025.