As I mentioned here earlier, the latest Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) Weekly economic report reveals that the banking giant expects the Reserve Bank to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points in both August and November of this year.
If this happens then I suspect it could be many years until rates are at normal levels again.
As a result, I would suggest investors continue to skip savings accounts and term deposits in favour of the share market and its many dividend options.
Three top dividend shares that I would buy this week are as follows:
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ)
Although Australian bank shares have rallied strongly this year thanks largely to the conclusion of the Royal Commission, I don't believe it is too late to invest. In fact, ANZ's shares are still changing hands on lower than average multiples and offer a generous dividend yield. I think this makes it a great time to pick up shares, especially with the bank being well-positioned for growth this year due to its overweight exposure to a business lending market that is performing well. At present the banking giant's shares offer investors a trailing fully franked 5.7% dividend yield.
National Storage REIT (ASX: NSR)
One of my favourite REITs on the Australian share market would have to be National Storage. As its name implies, this REIT is focused on self-storage assets and currently has a network of 127 storage centres across Australia and New Zealand. This network is likely to grow at a decent rate over the coming years thanks to management's growth through acquisition strategy and its development pipeline. I expect the combination of this and organic growth to lead to solid distribution increases over the next few years, potentially making it a great option for income investors. At present National Storage's units offer a trailing 5% distribution yield.
Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is a real estate property trust which owns a diverse portfolio of Australian agricultural assets. Last week it announced its half year results and revealed a 7% increase in adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) to 6.4 cents. This allowed Rural Funds to increase its first half distribution by 4% to 5.22 cents. For the full year management provided distribution guidance of 10.85 cents per unit, meaning its units currently provide a forward distribution yield of 4.9%. Due to the quality of its assets and the rental indexation it has built into its tenancy agreements, I expect similar growth over the coming years.
