I reckon these are the two best income stocks to buy in March

I am looking to buy the two above FTSE 100 income stocks and these two have been on my watchlist for quite a long time. If I had the money, I would buy two in March.

My first choice is insurance Legal & General Group (LSE: LGEN). This is a stock I would buy anytime. Every time I check out, L&G offers a generous income stream at a low price. So how do I take the plunge this month?

The highest dividend stocks

I like to buy FTSE 100 stocks when they look undervalued. There were plenty around last October, so I kept buying them. The index is up 20% since then, and stocks I thought were dirt cheap at the time, like Rolls-Royceit’s a rocket.

But L&G’s share price has gone nowhere. It is currently trading 4.66% lower than a year ago. Over five years, it decreased by 2.57%.

I wouldn’t buy L&G shares hoping for a recovery. The company has high ties to the British economy, which is struggling. Core operations – insurance, pension solutions and investment management – are solid sectors but not suddenly lights out.

However, L&G is expanding its operations in renewable energy, infrastructure and property development, which also offer diversification and stronger potential growth prospects.

Given the lack of stock price action, I want a low entry point. I have it today, with Legal & General stock trading at just 7.41 times earnings. The real attraction is the income, as it currently yields 7.16%. It is one of the best in the FTSE 100. It is a true Dividend Aristocrat.

I buy stocks with a long-term view. I hope to hold L&G for decades, reinvest the dividends for growth while I work, and take them as income when I quit. Because of the current results, I can double my money in 14 years, even if the stock price does not increase. I hope it will at some point, though.

A riskier alternative

The time has come. I have planned to buy shares in it BT Group (LSE: BT.A) for months, but never closed the deal.

It takes nerve to buy BT shares, to be honest. The troubled telecom giant has been a losing bet for years.

BT has been hit on several fronts. Regulator Ofcom is forcing companies to open up their infrastructure to allow competitors to build their own fiber networks. But it still has the burden of investing heavily in fiber broadband and 5G.

Revenues from traditional telephone and telephone services have been declining over time, while competition has intensified. In 2019, BT cut its dividend to finance capital expenditure and cut its net debt, which still stands at £19.2bn.

But BT shares still pay one of the most generous results in the index at 5.6% today, guaranteed 2.4 times by earnings.

L&G looks solid but dull. BT Group is risky but with potential returns. I will reinvest the dividends while I wait. The risk balances each other out very well and the dividend is too tempting for me to ignore anymore.