That's especially the case when you invest in stocks that pay you to own them. I'm referring to dividend stocks, of course. There are plenty of great stocks that offer attractive dividends and don't cost too much.

Top 10 dividend-paying buy-and-hold stocks for your portfolio, offering both stability and growth potential over the next decade. Click here to find out more.

Investors flock to dividend-paying stocks in hopes of juicing their portfolios with income generation and often, stability through market turbulence. Dividend-paying stocks that offer high yields and strong share price returns are an even better bet as they combine income with growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, or simply the Dow, is one of the most well-known and influential stock market indices globally.

Many dividend stocks lost their luster in 2022 and 2023 as rising interest rates drove jittery investors toward safer CDs, Treasury bills, and other fixed-income investments. However, many of those high-yielding dividend stocks stabilized in 2024 as the Federal Reserve finally implemented three interest rate cuts.

Fintech, the broad term for financial technology, is expanding quickly as companies continue to merge their financial products with the latest tech innovations. Let's take a closer look at why American Express (NYSE: AXP) and SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) could be the right place for your money if you have $500 available to invest.