Are high dividend stocks a good investment ?

On top of what the others have mentioned, I can introduce 2 metrics that might be helpful, which is Dividend Payout Ratio and dividends as a percentage of free cashflow.

Dividend Payout Ratio

Dividend payout ratio is simply the percentage of net profits that are being paid out to shareholders. To find this simply take dividends paid out divided by net profit as shown. The lower the figure, the better, since this means that the company isn't taking out too much of its net profits for dividend payments, and the dividends can sustain.

Dividends as Percentage of Free Cashflow

FCF measures cashflow that is availible to lenders and shareholders after the cash needs of the business have all been settled. This is a powerful measure since it looks at what kind of cash remains for non-business operating activities.

The formula shows how to get FCF. To get the percentage yield, just take the dividends divided by the FCF. Again, the lower the percentage the better.

Yes. As part of a well diversified portfolio.. But in retirement should be alongside a broader market etf in drawdown.