I love to buy dividend-paying stocks to generate passive income. My favorites are companies that pay high dividend yields that they've been able to grow steadily over time. That provides me with more income, putting me closer to my goal of financial independence, where my passive income covers my expenses.  

I still have a long way to go before I reach that goal, so I continue to buy dividend stocks when I have money to spare. Three ultra-high-yielders that I've been buying hand-over-fist this year are Blackstone (NYSE: BX), Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW), and Verizon (NYSE: VZ).

I added private equity behemoth Blackstone to my portfolio earlier this summer. I have already added to that position three times because the share price has continued to fall. That sell-off has driven up its dividend yield to 5.5%, which is several times more than the 1.7% dividend yield of the S&P 500. 

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Source Fool.com