2025 was a brilliant year for high income dividend shares. Legal & General, M&G and Phoenix all had solid track records of maintaining or growing dividends and strong Solvency II ratios, signalling capital strength. Even so, M&G’s forecast to yield 7.18% in 2026, Phoenix around 7.7%, and Legal & General an impressive 8.33%. However, M&G, Legal & General and Phoenix would all suffer in a stock market crash. If we do get another year of steady gains, those once-in-a-decade yields may be gone for good.

Source: The Times January 12, 2026 22:37 UTC