Just had a thought while scrolling through my watchlist. If you're looking at the best long term investment stocks right now and you've got a grand to deploy, dividend plays are actually looking pretty solid. The key thing most people get wrong is chasing yield without checking if the company can actually sustain it. That's where things fall apart.

I've been eyeing three names that actually have the track record to back up their payouts. Let me break them down.

Reality Income (O) is first on my radar. We're talking a 4.9% yield, which is solid, but here's what matters - they've increased their dividend every single year for 30 years. That's not luck, that's a business model that works. With a grand you're looking at around 15 shares. The company owns over 15,500 single-tenant properties, mostly retail, so you're getting both financial sector and consumer exposure. The payout ratio sits around 75% of adjusted funds from operations, which means there's breathing room. Growth will probably be measured, but if you want to sleep at night collecting checks, this REIT fits the bill.

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) is another one worth considering. 6% distribution yield and get this - they've raised distributions for 27 consecutive years. That's basically their entire public history. You could grab 27 units with a thousand bucks. They're a midstream business, moving oil and gas infrastructure around North America. The genius here is they're toll takers, not commodity speculators. They charge fees regardless of whether crude is up or down. That's why the distribution is so stable. Distributable cash flow covers the payout 1.7 times over, so there's real cushion. Slow growth, sure, but 6% yield on something this reliable is hard to argue with.

Then there's Texas Instruments (TXN). The yield is lower at 2.6%, but that's actually toward the higher end of their historical range. They've raised dividends for 22 years running. These guys make analog chips - the unsexy but essential stuff that turns physical signals into digital data. It's in everything. While everyone's obsessing over AI, TXN is quietly benefiting from a world that's getting more digital by the day. They just broke out data centers as its own customer segment and saw 70% year-over-year growth in Q4. The company's in a heavy capex cycle right now, which has some investors worried, but their track record suggests they know what they're doing. You get dividend income plus exposure to a growth story.

Here's my take: all three of these are the kind of stocks you buy and then forget about for years. Let the dividends compound, or use them to supplement your income down the road. If you're serious about building the best long term investment stocks portfolio and you've got money to put to work, the hardest part is just picking which one to start with. You could always hedge and grab a piece of each one too. That's what I'm thinking about doing.