7 Top Monthly Dividend Stocks and Funds to Buy

The mortgage is due every month. So are utility bills, car payments and the membership to the gym that many of us don't actually use.

That's not a major problem for many people because they get regular paychecks. But when they eventually retire, it would be nice to at least partially match income to their expenses.

Enter monthly dividend stocks. While bonds generally pay twice per year and most American stocks pay quarterly, a few select few stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and closed-end funds (CEFs) pay monthly, making them ideally suited for retirees living off their investments.

Naturally, you should be skeptical of gimmicky stocks, and you should never buy a stock simply because it pays a monthly dividend. Any investment you buy should meet your basic smell test for quality and should be attractively priced.

Thankfully, plenty of monthly dividend stocks make the cut. Today, we're going to take a look at a diverse lot of seven monthly payers. Three are high-quality real estate investment trusts (REITs), two are conservative ETFs, one is a dirt-cheap CEF and one is a more speculative business development company (BDC) trading at a deep discount. But all have one thing in common: They pay their dividends