The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that BCE is a national institution that has been paying a steady dividend for the past 25 years. Globe columnist Frederick Vettese writes, however, that with its shares in freefall, investors might be wondering if dividend stocks like BCE are safe enough. Should retirees who need a steady source of investment income hold dividend stocks instead of long-term government bonds? By buying the bonds in 1999, the yield at the time of purchase of more than 6 per cent could be locked in for the next 25 years, but the market value of a dividend stock portfolio was far greater than that of the bond portfolio. Mr. Vettese argues that if your investment horizon is very short and you cannot afford a capital loss, you might simply put all your money into bonds or GICs or maybe T-bills. That way, you don't lose sleep holding on to a stock like BCE. If your investment horizon is 10 to 20 years, consider a significant holding in the shares of major companies with a steady revenue stream and a proven dividend history. As for Gen X or Y investors, virtually all of the savings should go into stocks, but whether it should be dividend stocks or growth stocks is a question for another day.