Over the last century, Wall Street has been a virtually unstoppable wealth creator for patient investors. Although other asset classes have helped build nominal wealth, such as oil, gold, bonds, and housing, none comes close to the annualized average returns over the last 100 years that stocks have brought to the table.

With thousands of publicly traded companies and exchange-traded funds to choose from, there's an investment strategy that fits the goals and risk tolerance of just about every investor. But among these countless strategies, few can hold a candle to the juicy returns delivered from buying and holding high-quality dividend stocks over an extended period.

Last year, the investment researchers at Hartford Funds released a detailed report ("The Power of Dividends: Past, Present, and Future") that examined the many ways dividend-paying companies have outperformed non-payers over the long run.

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Source Fool.com