As many of my long-time readers know, I generally like to have my portfolio holdings equally split among three types of dividend stocks: High-Yield Opportunities, Fast Dividend Growers, and Steady Income Generators. (I talked in more detail about these three types in a recent issue of Dividend Opportunities.)

#-ad_banner-#​The critical discovery I’ve made over the past five years is that by using the right combination of dividend stocks, you can you create a retirement portfolio that maximizes income, maximizes growth and minimizes risk.

This is exactly what my Daily Paycheck Retirement Strategy is all about. It’s how I’ve been able to collect nearly $1,400 per month in dividends over the past year, and how my real-money portfolio has grown from $200,000 to over $310,000 in less than five years.

As I said, the strategy uses three types of dividend stocks. But to maximize income, my Daily Paycheck Strategy dedicates nearly a third of its portfolio to high-yield dividend stocks.

I doubt I need to tell you the primary benefit of this elite category. High-yielding securities are defined by their generous income payouts. This makes them particularly attractive for anyone looking for a large income stream in retirement.

But you need to be selective. When it comes to high yielders, the biggest isn’t necessarily the best. Instead, you want to find something in what I call the “high-yield sweet spot,” a segment of dividend-paying stocks that consistently performs well over the long haul.

Professor Kenneth French, world renowned for his financial research, painstakingly ranked the performance of all U.S. stocks from 1927 through 2013 according to yield.

He discovered that there’s a special group of high-yielders that outperformed all others, returning an average of 14% per year.

This “sweet spot” isn’t made up of the absolute highest yielders — for instance, those with 18% yields and up. According to Dr. French’s findings, some of the best high yielders are those that pay above-average yields — but not so high that they can’t afford to keep paying them.

That’s the “sweet spot”… and that’s the group I focus on.

So in the high-yield section of my Daily Paycheck portfolio, the yields start at 7% and go up from there. They average a 9.3% yield overall, but also include a couple of double-digit gems.

Let me show you an example from my portfolio that illustrates what I look for in a high-yielder.

The Gabelli Multimedia Trust (NYSE: GGT) is a closed-end fund that has traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol GGT since 1994.

The fund holds an unusual mix of very dependable cash cows and aggressive growth stocks — from rock-solid global telecommunications firms to fast-growing internet companies.

I first bought shares in August 2010, and I’ve already collected over $2,600 in dividend paychecks. My total return is over 60%.

The fund has an attractive yield of roughly 9%. So if you invested $10,000 in it tomorrow, you could immediately start collecting about $900 annually.

But I have others.

In fairness to my paid subscribers, I can’t show you the names of all my high-yielders. But as you can see in this snapshot of my portfolio, one of my current holdings yields 8% and has returned over 50% since 2011. Another yields 10% and has returned 70% since 2010.

And another has paid a dividend for 130 straight months.

They’re right in the “high-yield sweet spot,” and pay an average yield that’s more than four times greater than the S&P 500.

They have paid me thousands of dollars over the last few years — and they could do the same for you.

But beyond these high-yielders, I have two other groups of dividend stocks specifically designed to maximize growth and minimize risk. As I mentioned earlier, it’s how I’ve been able to create an income portfolio that’s paid me nearly $14,000 in dividend checks over the past year and has grown 57% in just under five years.

P.S. — I recently told investors about all three groups of dividend payers when I was invited to present my Daily Paycheck Strategy in front of a live audience at St. Edward’s University. To get you started on creating your own Daily Paycheck portfolio — and get a few of my favorite high-yield stocks — I invite you to watch the filmed presentation here.