Forget Bitcoin! I’d much rather buy this FTSE 100 stock for its 8.5% dividend yield

Some people lose their minds about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But for me, you can’t beat a good dividend yield. Call me boring, call me old, but I think the long-term rewards of buying the top FTSE 100 Stocks offer far more sustainable shareholder payouts than gambling on alt-coins.

I had a text from a very excited friend this morning, who just read that Bitcoin has jumped 25% this year and is trading at around $21,000. This is the same friend who spent most of the last year complaining about how his crypto shares were shrinking and shrinking, as the price dropped from $68,000 in November 2021.

Give me good dividends

They are looking for ways to cut their losses, but I advise them to forget Bitcoin. Prices can go up further from here and they can make a lot of money. But it can be easy to crash again, and he will lose more.

Personally, I would not add holdings of approximately one Bitcoin. I think it serves no practical purpose other than fueling investor greed and destroying the planet.

I prefer to buy FTSE 100 insurance Aviva (LSE: AV), although it won’t make me rich overnight. I didn’t buy this dividend aristocrat to get rich quick, but to build my wealth steadily.

There is nothing new, shiny or exciting about Aviva, which sells insurance, investments and pensions. The stock price is not about to turn off the lights. In fact, it has been failing lately, down 23.65% over the past year, and 37.24% over the past five years.

It has even missed the FTSE 100 rebound this year. While the overall index is up 3.97% year-to-date, Aviva shares are down 1.61%. That doesn’t worry me. In fact, I find it a positive. The index is approaching all-time highs and there are fears that all the bargains have been lost.

But Aviva has missed the mark, which makes me think now might be a good time to buy. Its stock is still cheap, trading at just 7.9 times earnings. I accept that Aviva has looked cheap for years, but failed to put a spurt on the share price. I’m not in a hurry.

I will be buying Aviva soon

I wouldn’t buy Aviva expecting a sudden share price transformation. But I will buy – and I will buy, soon – to take advantage of that 8.6% good yield guaranteed 1.7 times by earnings.

Aviva now has a tighter business plan after chief executive Amanda Blanc shed a large number of international businesses to focus on its core markets of the UK, Ireland and Canada. Assets under management in its wealth business have remained stable despite a difficult year for the stock market, and could rise well if conditions improve in 2023.

But the main thing that attracted me to Aviva and the dividend yield is that it should give me a regular, large income measured in decades. Over the long term, I also have to like the stock price to grow at some point. I don’t know when, but I’m sure it will come. Whereas Bitcoin can go anywhere and never pay any income.