Investing for income is difficult today and probably going to get a lot tougher over the next three years…

Wall Street will throw all kinds of crazy ideas at you that will allegedly raise your income level.

These products will raise someone's income level, but I suspect it will not be yours.

Millions of Americans will be looking for income as rates stay lower longer than anyone had thought possible.

In a recent press conference, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said that rates will remain low until at least 2023, if not longer.

Inevitably, income-producing assets will be become bid up to excessive valuations.

Income investing will be difficult and frustrating beyond belief for most investors.

But there is hope…

If you take the simple rules that I'll teach you today, you will not be among the frustrated.

Instead, you will be a successful, happy income investor who sees a steady flow of income into your account and your money increasing faster than inflation over time.

All you have to do is look for companies where insiders own 20% of the company and the dividend is at least 6%.

Own a diverse portfolio of high yielding companies with high levels of insider ownership, and your results will be just fine.

Sure, it may not be as exciting as the latest and greatest product shoved down your throat by Wall Street, but this approach has two significant advantages…

First of all, it just works. And second, it's cheap, if not free, to execute depending on which broker you use.

You will own boring stocks most of the time. But your dividends will arrive every quarter with a high probability of increasing over time.

The people running these companies have the same goals you do as an investor. They want to generate income that can grow over time and for their money to escape the ravages of inflation.

That's why they set the dividend high to start with and why they will keep the payout growing…

Best Dividend Stocks to Buy No. 3: Mercury General Insurance

Right now, Mercury General Insurance (NYSE: MCY) is yielding 6.06%.

Insiders own 49% of this top dividend stock. The founder of the firm has been with the company since 1961 and is the chair of the board. He owns 34% of this dividend aristocrat and is responsible for over 25 years of consecutive annual dividend increases.

Mercury General is in the property and casualty insurance business and primarily sells auto and homeowner insurance. It's not the most exciting stock in the world. It just plugs along, selling insurance and paying the dividend.

When Chair George Joseph passes away (he is 98 years old), we may see this company go on the auction block, and that could get very exciting very quickly.

In the meantime, we will cash dividend checks every quarter.

Best Dividend Stocks to Buy No. 2: B. Riley Financial Inc.

B. Riley Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: RILY) is a little more exciting.

This firm is in the brokerage and money management business. B. Riley offers investment banking, corporate finance, consulting, financial advisory, research, securities lending, wealth management, and sales and trading services to corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients.

It also has an auction and Liquidation Segment that offers retail store liquidation, and wholesale and industrial assets disposition services that have been pretty busy and are likely to get busier.

The top two executives have been with the firm since they founded a predecessor firm in 1997. Between the two of them, they own more than 20% of the company. The rest of the board and executive team are also shareholders and own an additional 6% of the firm.

Including the special dividends, the firm pays out more quarters than not, the shares are yielding well over 6%.

In addition to the shares they already own, insiders including the co-CEOs have been continuously buying more stock since the coronavirus hit the U.S. economy.

Best Dividend Stocks to Buy No. 1

Cohen & Steers Inc. (NYSE: CNS) is also in the investment business, but the company's product is not stocks and bonds but real estate.

Instead, this firm manages real estate-related hedge funds, mutual funds, and invests in real estate investment trusts, the infrastructure sector, and the natural energy resources sector for its equity and fixed-income investments.

The two men who founded the firm back in 1986, Martin Cohen and Robert Steers, are still with the company and own about 41% of the firm.

The other insiders are stockholders and own an additional 8% or so of the company.

Like the first two companies, owning shares of Cohen and Steers is not going to create chatter at the 19^th hole or around the coffee shop in the morning.

It is just going to pay you cash and protect your capital from inflation. The company yields 6% and is one of the most reliable dividend-paying stocks on the market today.