Dividend investors looking to live off of the income their portfolios generate should favor companies with long and reliable Dividend histories. Both Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) and Realty Income (NYSE: O) fit that bill. But right now they are also offering historically attractive dividend yields. That's why you might want to buy now and hold onto these high-yield dividend stocks forever.

The bad news is that Bank of Nova Scotia, or Scotiabank, is lagging its Canadian banking peers on key metrics like earnings growth, return on equity, and return on risk-weighted assets. A material part of the problem is that the bank has been working to grow in South America, which is filled with developing countries, while its peers are focused on growing in the United States, which is a developed market. Don't let that scare you away from the stock and its hefty 6.6% dividend yield.

For starters, Scotiabank is one of the largest banks in Canada. That country's banks are highly regulated, leaving them with entrenched industry positions and a conservative management ethos. The company is not throwing caution to the wind, though it is pulling back some from its more aggressive stance in South America. That's going to be a headwind in the near term, but focusing on more profitable markets like Mexico should be a long-term plus for the bank.

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Source Fool.com