When investors try to project their investment horizons, a long-term deal may only be up to five years; anything longer than that becomes wishful thinking to expect to know what could happen in such a broad period. Today, you will learn why there are hacks to figure out the best investments to hold in the next decade that are poised to keep rising and give you dependable dividend income growth. Today, you will focus on the three areas indispensable to the everyday consumer, sectors, and businesses that are likely never going away, creating the perfect environment for financials to keep expanding and dividend payments to keep growing dependably for the foreseeable future. It is this stability and dependable growth that comes to filter out the selection for the following stocks in this list. Here are three dividend stocks you won’t want to miss.

Dividend Stocks: Equity Residential (EQR)

People will always need a place to live, right? As long as the need for residential housing in the United States exists, it is stocks like Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) that will come out as sure winners and dependable compounders in the next decade; here’s why.

Part of the world of REITs (real estate investment trusts), these stocks see their valuations go higher as the underlying value of the properties they own also goes up, which means that Equity Residential is exposed to the unstoppable trend of population growth which will need to see a similar rise in residential properties to house them.

Not only can you expect the value of this REIT to keep going higher, but you can also count on the dividend payouts that are – by law – financed 90% by the collected rental income.

This is why the stock pays a dividend yield of 4.4% today to beat inflation, a payout that has been steady since 2009, surviving the harshest economic environments seen in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

This unbeatable stock will bring you dependable upside and dividend income forever, or at least for the foreseeable decade. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) is a consumer staple stock that never goes out of fashion. Whether unemployment is 3.0% or 7.0%, people still need to brush their teeth and manage personal hygiene.

Backing this market penetration and brand loyalty comes the company’s gross margin rates, which have been steadily above 55.0% for the past few years. This high margin allows the company to reinvest aggressively into further growth and product refinement, expenditures that are sure to keep paying off.

Its ROIC (return on invested capital) of over 25.0% implies the company is almost indestructible and well-managed in a way to keep delivering price appreciation on top of a dependable – and affordable – dividend. Speaking of which, today, you could lock in a rate of 2.3% on top of some additional upside.

Analysts are projecting earnings per share growth of nearly 9.0% for the next twelve months, which may only sound like a little once you realize the size of this behemoth. Almost double-digit growth for a $71 billion company is definitely something to write home about.

Nestle (NSRGY)

Moving back into the population growth example, as long as babies are born, baby food will be a key necessity for parents to pick off the shelf at the supermarket. This is why Nestle (OTCMKTS:NSRGY) is the perfect stock to keep expecting steady demand with dependable financial growth, which results in a solid dividend.

With a price target of $124.0 a share, analysts believe there is a net 15.0% upside to be had in this stock from where it trades today. You can rest assured that in the business’ gross margin rate of over 45.0%, the compounding effects are sure to stick around.

This is part of the brand’s makeup, allowing it to pay you – the potential shareholder – a dividend yield of 2.6%, which has been steady since 2009. Chances are it isn’t going anywhere. A multi-decade track record of brand penetration and steadily rising demand gives you a clear projection of dependable growth in the next decade, making this one of those dividend stocks to buy.

As of this writing, Gabriel Osorio-Mazzilli did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.