Boomers Want Safe Passive Income in 2025: Grab These 6% Yielding Blue Chips Now

Blue-chip stocks are shares of large, well-established, financially stable companies with a consistent and reliable performance history. They are often considered less risky and are a popular choice for long-term investors. Additionally, nearly all leaders in the category pay dependable, recurring dividends each quarter, regardless of the state of the economy. The term “blue chip” originates from the game of poker, where a blue chip is the highest-value chip. Investors love dividend stocks, especially the blue-chip variety, because they offer a significant income stream and have massive total return potential. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), passive income generally includes earnings from rental activity or any trade, business, or investment in which the individual does not materially participate. It can also include income from limited partnerships, stocks, bonds, and other similar enterprises in which the investor is not actively involved. The more passive income helps cover rising costs—such as mortgages, insurance, taxes, and other expenses—the easier it is for investors to set aside money for future needs as they prepare for retirement. Dependable recurring dividends, especially those paid monthly, are a recipe for success.

We constantly screen our 24/7 Wall St. passive income stock research database for the best ideas. Four stocks that most investors are very familiar with are perfect ideas for growth and income investors looking for reliable dividends, passive income, and some growth potential to keep up with inflation. All are rated Buy at the top Wall Street firms we cover.

Why do we cover dividend stocks?

Since 1926, dividends have contributed approximately 32% of the total return for the S&P 500, while capital appreciation has contributed 68%. Therefore, sustainable dividend income and capital appreciation potential are essential for total return expectations. A study by Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend stocks delivered an annualized return of 9.18% over the 50 years from 1973 to 2023. Over the same timeline, this was more than double the annualized return for non-payers (3.95%).

Altria

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and related products. This tobacco stock offers value investors a compelling entry point and a generous dividend yield. Altria manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States.

The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand, as well as:

• Cigars and pipe tobacco, principally under the Black & Mild and Middleton brands
• Moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands
• on! Oral nicotine pouches
• e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand

It sells its tobacco products primarily to wholesalers, including distributors and large retail organizations, such as chain stores.

Altria used to own over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD), the world’s largest brewer. Earlier this year, the company sold 35 million of its 197 million shares through a global secondary offering. That represents 18% of its holdings but still leaves 8% of the outstanding shares in its back pocket. Altria also announced a $2.4 billion stock repurchase plan partially funded by the sale.

Stifel has a Buy rating with a $63 target price.

Enterprise Products Partners

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company with its headquarters in Houston, Texas. This company is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships, paying a very reliable dividend. It provides various midstream energy services, including:

• Gathering
• Processing
• Transporting and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), and fractionation
• Import and export terminalling
• Offshore production platform services

The company has four reportable business segments:

• Natural Gas Pipelines and Services
• NGL Pipelines and Services
• Petrochemical Services
• Crude Oil Pipelines and Services

One reason many analysts like the stock might be its distribution coverage ratio. The company’s coverage ratio is well above 1x, making it relatively less risky in the MLP sector.

JPMorgan has an Overweight rating with a $38 price objective.

UPS

The delivery giant announced it is cutting its shipping volume for the e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) by more than 50% by the second half of 2026. The company said the move is part of a broader strategy by UPS to focus on more profitable and less risky business segments. United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) provides a range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 200 countries and territories.

Its segments include:

• U.S. Domestic Package
• International Package

The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers a range of United States domestic air and ground package transportation services. Its air portfolio offers time-definite, same-day, next-day, two-day, and three-day delivery alternatives, as well as air cargo services.

UPS ground network enables customers to ship using its day-definite ground service. UPS SurePost provides residential ground service for customers with non-urgent, lightweight residential shipments.

The International Package segment comprises its small package operations in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. It offers a selection of guaranteed day- and time-definite international shipping services. Its supply chain solutions consist of forwarding, logistics, and other businesses.

Bank of America has a Buy rating with a $115 target price.

Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications company that continues to offer tremendous value. Its stock trades at 9.13 times its estimated 2026 earnings and is up almost 10% in 2025. Verizon provides a range of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and government entities worldwide.

It operates in two segments:

• Verizon Consumer Group
• Verizon Business Group

The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the United States through Verizon and TracFone networks, as well as through wholesale and other arrangements.

It also provides fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband through its wireless networks and related equipment and devices, such as:

• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Smartwatches and other wireless-enabled connected devices

The segment also offers wireline services in the mid-Atlantic (including the District of Columbia) and northeastern United States through its fiber-optic network, Verizon Fios product portfolio, and copper-based network.

The Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, including:

• FWA broadband
• Data
• Video and conferencing
• Corporate networking
• Security and managed network
• Local and long-distance voice

Network access services to deliver various IoT services and products to businesses, government customers, and wireless and wireline carriers in the United States and internationally.

Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating and a price target of $52.

Four Stealth Passive Income Stocks Under $10 Pay Huge Ultra-High-Yield Dividends

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