A great way to boost your income is by investing in dividend stocks. Investing $10,000 in a stock yielding 10% would result in $1,000 in annual dividend income. But investing in high-yielding stocks is generally risky. Companies usually don't offer yields that high. If a company's stock is suddenly yielding that much over a short period of time, it'd mean the share price has been falling over that period (usually over 18 months or less). That could mean underlying problems or concerns with the business and the market is less confident about the company's outlook. 

For those reasons, it can sometimes be difficult to determine how much you should expect to earn in dividend income while keeping your portfolio safe. Below, I'll look at the types of dividend stocks you should target, and what a safe yield might be.

The S&P 500 has a dividend yield averaging 1.7%. If your primary objective is to collect a dividend, and you aren't looking to just invest in the S&P, you should target a rate higher than that, since investing individually in stocks is riskier than holding a broad index, and you should be compensated for that risk.

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Source Fool.com