And with a history of steady cash flow, the strongest brand names in the industry and substantial emerging-market growth, Philip Morris International is an ideal safety-first income play.

This doesn't mean this investment is risk-free -- nothing short of a savings account is. However, I do think the stock ranks high among the safest dividend-payers in the world.

But Philip Morris is just one of the many income-paying prospects available from companies focused overseas. In fact, I think the abundance of international income investments is one of the market's best-kept secrets... there are literally thousands of high-yielders abroad.

To prove this, I recently had a member of StreetAuthority's research staff comprise a list of profitable companies with shares yielding 12% or more. What we found was pretty remarkable.

In total, my team found 430 common stocks paying dividends of 12% or higher. However, only 18 of these companies were located in the United States. The other 412 were located in international markets.

Action to take --> This means if you want high yielding stocks -- then 96% of your opportunities are located outside the United States. But don't worry, you can buy many of these without even leaving the U.S. markets.

I have more details -- including several names and ticker symbols -- in a presentation I recently put together. Visit this link to watch now. In the presentation, I've even included the full list of the 18 U.S. companies yielding above 12%.

Paul Tracy
Co-Founder
StreetAuthority

This article originally appeared on StreetAuthority
Author: Paul Tracy
The Safest International Dividend Payer on Earth