Thinking about early retirement? If you do a little planning and have financial discipline, it’s possible.

If you want to retire early, it’s important to continually add a variety of stocks to your investments. Dividend stocks are a great source of passive income that can help you in retirement. Three of the best stocks to invest in include ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) and Lockheed Martin (LMT).

1. ExxonMobil (XOM; 109,49 USD)

An oil and gas exploration, production, lubricants and petrochemicals company that has increased its dividend every year for 40 consecutive years. It has achieved such success only because of its balanced business model, which provides it with stability without following energy price trends.

Thanks to higher oil prices, the oil-producing part of the company earned $36.5 billion, a 131% increase from 2022.

Last year, the company as a whole made a profit of $55.7 billion, and the cash it could have used to pay down debt, reward shareholders or reinvest in the business was $62.1 billion. It used the cash in part to reduce $66 billion of 2020 debt and returned $30 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.

It plans to invest $17 billion over 5 years to reduce carbon emissions. With its very balanced business model, long history of dividend growth, and 3.65% yield, it makes itself a solid dividend stock to buy now.

2. Chevron (CVX; 162,39 USD)

An oil and gas company that has much in common with ExxonMobil, including a balanced business model that includes upstream and downstream operations, but also an impressive streak of dividend increases for 37 consecutive years.

It made a profit of $35.5 billion last year, a 127% increase thanks to a big increase in mining activity. It used it to increase its dividend by 6%, pay out $11 billion and return another $11.25 billion to shareholders through share buybacks. With Bunge, an agricultural and food company, he set up a venture to develop raw materials and produce renewable fuels, in which he invested US$600 million.

With its 3.96% dividend yield, it becomes an attractive investment for an early retirement portfolio.

3. Lockheed Martin (LMT; 473,18 USD)

The company has become the world’s largest defence contractor by sales. Due to the fact that defence spending is not voluntary, the company has secured revenue through long-term contracts.

A stable earnings base has been one of the reasons Lockheed Martin has been able to increase its dividend payout every year for 20 consecutive years. Among other things, the company has passed a defense budget that spends $858 billion for this year.

Lockheed Martin is a global top supplier of defense equipment and geopolitical tension along with a 2.58% dividend yield, making it an attractive dividend stock to add to your portfolio.