These monthly dividend stocks average out to a 5.15% yield.

The underlying businesses are seeing tailwinds that can help them make a full recovery.

A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.

$500 per month may seem small, but it's not a trivial amount and can snowball your portfolio quickly. Monthly dividend stocks like Realty Income (NYSE:O), Healthpeak Properties (NYSE:DOC), and Northland Power (OTCMKTS:NPIFF) can make that happen with just $117,000 today.

That's if you equally split that money three ways and buy each of these stocks. You can allocate more to certain stocks to your liking if you want more income or more upside.

$6,000 per year is 300 hours of work at $20 per hour, and that's before the government takes its cut. Parking your money in these cash machines gives it to you for free if you can afford the starting capital and you have a long-term horizon. What's better is that passive income flow is only going to grow with time. And stocks are a great hedge against inflation, so it's far better than just sitting on that cash.

Read: Data Shows One Habit Doubles American’s Savings And Boosts Retirement

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who don’t.

The three stocks below have excellent dividend yields, growth, and upside potential. And unlike quarterly dividend stocks, the monthly payout frequency lets you budget comfortably.

Realty Income is a must-have stock today for any monthly dividend stock portfolio. This is the only Dividend Aristocrat that pays you monthly, a handsome and dependable amount you can build the rest of your income portfolio around.

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT), and that's a positive in the current environment. Real estate was a red flag in 2008, but that's no longer the case as the industry has evolved and gotten safer. Record interest hikes barely made a dent, and Realty Income kept paying rising dividends. O stock did tumble, but I'd attribute most of that to Treasuries yielding more and becoming more competitive.

Interest rates are now destined to come down over the coming years, and O stock should recover just fine. And on top of this, you get a 5.35% forward dividend yield.

The company has managed to keep these dividends rising and reliable since most of its tenants themselves are stable retail businesses.

Healthpeak Properties is another REIT. These companies must distribute at least 90% of their earnings as dividends, and when you pair that with an industry as inelastic as healthcare, you get an excellent monthly dividend stock. DOC stock is also down significantly from its peaks, for reasons similar to why Realty Income is down.

I believe the stock has bottomed out or is close to bottoming out due to the healthcare sector picking up speed. Financials are also bouncing back quickly, with future 3-year EPS growth rate at nearly 80% annually on average. The previous 3 years saw a decline of 65.5% annually, so you're looking at a very swift recovery, which I expect the stock to follow.

Along with all the potential upside, you get a very fat dividend yield of over 7%. EBITDA has climbed from $971 million in 2021 to $1.65 billion in 2025 despite the stock dropping by half, thus allowing the company to keep paying higher dividends. The cash flow spent on dividends rose from $650 million to $849 million.

The earnings recovery should allow for even higher dividends down the line, so I'm very optimistic on DOC stock.

Northland Power is a global power producer that operates clean energy infrastructure, plus efficient natural gas. Electricity is in very high demand, and power grids worldwide are being stressed by AI demand. The company saw a rapid slowdown after 2022 as the clean energy narrative lost steam. Likewise, Wall Street took out the growth premium from NPIFF stock, and it fell by nearly 54% from its highs in the past four years.

The stock has been treading water since 2023, but I expect a meaningful recovery in the coming years as the clean energy narrative is gaining steam once more.

The 1970s oil crisis was the primary trigger for clean energy, which kept gaining momentum through 2022. Momentum faded as Europe turned on its power plants again, with wind, solar, and natural gas no longer being able to meet all the demand. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and possibly the Bab al-Mandab Strait could once again rekindle the clean energy narrative.

Northland Power is well-positioned to reap the benefits of this, and even its natural gas operations are set to grow. Natural gas prices haven't seen a significant bump as the U.S. is aggressively boosting its supply. The U.S. is on track to account for more than half of all new LNG export capacity added globally through 2029. Hence, the supply is secure and unaffected by anything that happens in the Middle East.

The convergence of all this makes the stock worth buying despite the 3.11% forward dividend yield.

Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who don’t.

And no, it’s got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. It’s much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, it’s shocking more people don’t adopt the habit given how easy it is.