One of the best things about being a long-term investor is the satisfaction you can feel when the market is plunging. Rather than stress and panic, the longer-term mindset allows you to see opportunity.

The rewards that can come from taking advantage of those opportunities are twofold: Buying when a stock is down can lead to appreciation of the invested capital, of course. But maybe an even bigger benefit is being able to create a lifelong income stream from a nice dividend yield on that investment. Now is one of those times when some high-quality dividend stocks are down, and investors can potentially lock in historically high returns for life.

Some people work to grow investments over years and decades and then hand over a lump sum to purchase an annuity. That ensures income for life, but why not spend those many years instead of building your own version of an annuity? With some quality dividend-paying stocks down this year, now's the time to create a plan that will end up supplying a meaningful stream of income in the future.

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Source Fool.com