Over 50? Here are 2 dividend stocks to consider buying for income

Dividend stocks can be a good source of income. But if you are over 50, you need to be selective about your stocks to minimize risk.

Here, I'll highlight two dividend payers that I think would be a good fit for those over 50. Both offer attractive yields today but also have the potential to generate decent capital gains over time.

A London based property company

First we have it Workplace The group (LSE: WKP). A real estate investment trust (REIT) offering flexible office space solutions across London.

The benefits here are attractive. For the current financial year (ending 31 March), the REIT is expected to pay earnings of 29.5p. That equates to a yield of about 4.5%. Given that UK interest rates are falling, that could be much higher than the savings rates offered by savings accounts over a 12-month period.

Looking beyond the yield, there are a few things I like about this stock. Another is that it must benefit from low interest rates. In the coming years, lower rates should reduce the REIT's interest costs (it had total debt of £828m at the end of March) and boost profits.

Another thing is that it seems to be in a good position to benefit from returning to the office. Today, companies in all industries are making moves to bring employees back to the office and this may increase the demand for office space.

It's worth noting that management sounded more confident about the idea in July: “Looking ahead, our expanding operating platform positions us strongly to continue to deliver near- and long-term profitability and dividend growth, and we enter the second half of the year with positive momentum,” said CEO Graham Clemett.

Of course, economic weakness is a potential risk here. This can temporarily reduce the need for office space.

However, in the long run, I think this REIT should do well on the back of London's booming startup scene.

The second stock I want to highlight is Tesco (LSE: TSCO). It is the largest supermarket operator in the UK with a market share of around 30%.

The yield here is not very high today. Looking at the dividend forecast for the financial year ending 28 February (12.9p per share), it is around 3.5%.

But analysts expect a healthy rate of budget growth in the coming years. In the next financial year, the payout is expected to rise to 14p per share, pushing the yield to 3.8%. It is noted that Tesco's equity coverage (the ratio of earnings to equity) is high. So there is a lot of potential for future profit increases.

Now, Tesco operates in a competitive industry. In the coming years, he is likely to face a lot of competition from competitors such as IM&SAsda, and Aldi, so their market share could be at risk.

One thing that would give it an edge though, is its Clubcard system. Today, the company has more than 20m Clubcard members. This means that it is able to collect a ton of data from its customers. The more data it can collect, the better positioned it will be to succeed going forward.

Overall, I think the stock offers a good combination of growth and defensive potential. That's why I see it as a good stock for those over 50 to consider.