Many retirees and income-focused investors gravitate toward stable, dividend-paying stocks. After all, as we age, we look to de-risk our portfolios and seek consistent payouts to supplement Social Security, pensions, and other fixed payments.

In addition to fixed-income investments such as bonds, (NYSE: VZ) and AT (NYSE: T) have long been favorites among dividend investors. These huge companies operate in the telecom space, which is consolidated to just a few giants, making them "seem" safe. Furthermore, the importance of smartphones and the mobile internet makes one's phone subscription the last thing someone would cut, even in a recession.

Sounds easy, right? Well, not so fast. In the age of 5G, Verizon and AT's vaunted status isn't assured. In fact, each has fallen behind T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) in deploying 5G. While T-Mobile has handily outperformed Verizon and AT, even including dividends, T-Mobile doesn't pay a dividend, leaving income-focused investors who may prefer T-Mobile's business in a quandary.

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Source Fool.com