Realty Income: My Forever Stock

Okay, look. I deal with REITs all day. It’s basically my job to find places for money to sit and, ideally, grow. Passive income is the holy grail, right? Like, the financial equivalent of sweatpants. I own a bunch. But there’s one I’m seriously considering just… buying and forgetting about. It’s called Realty Income (O 0.18%), and honestly, it feels less like a stock and more like a really dependable cardigan.

I plan to add to my position in 2026. Not because there’s anything wrong with it now, but because, let’s be real, everything feels a little… precarious. I want something boringly solid. Something that won’t suddenly decide to pivot to NFTs. This is my “never sell” stock, and here’s why I’m treating it like a vintage wine – acquire and let it age.

Built to Outlast Us All

Realty Income started with a single restaurant in 1969. Which, honestly, probably served a lot of fondue. Now it’s this global behemoth with over 15,550 properties. They haven’t just gotten bigger; they’ve gotten smarter. They’ve diversified like a hedge fund manager trying to avoid awkward questions about performance. New geographies, different property types, even some weird investment platforms I haven’t fully deciphered. It’s like they’re actively trying to make it impossible for a single black swan event to take them down. Good for them.

And they’ve done it without turning into a financial house of cards. Seriously, their credit rating is in the top 10 in the sector. They’re not overleveraged, they’re not making crazy bets. They keep their dividend payout ratio under 75% – which, in this market, feels almost… responsible. It’s like they’re actively defying gravity. They’ve never cut their dividend in over 30 years as a public company. Never. They’ve increased it 133 times since 1994. That’s… commitment. It’s like they’re saying, “We’re here for the long haul, even if the long haul involves robot overlords.”

And that dividend growth should continue. They estimate a total addressable investment opportunity of $14 trillion. That’s a lot of strip malls and warehouses. They’re not putting all their eggs in one basket, either. They recently started a joint venture to develop logistics real estate, invested in Mexico (good for them, diversifying away from the chaos), and even dipped their toes into the gaming portfolio. It’s like they’re saying, “If one sector collapses, we’ve got twelve others to fall back on.”

Realty Income is building a business designed to deliver a durable, steadily rising monthly dividend. It’s not glamorous, it’s not going to make headlines, but it’s exactly what I want in a forever stock. So, yeah, I plan to hold it forever and collect a lifetime of passive income. It’s the financial equivalent of a really good pair of slippers. And honestly, in this market, I’ll take all the comfort I can get.

2026-01-25 17:43

Built to Outlast Us All

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