In good times and bad, dividend stocks act almost like rent checks, coming monthly or quarterly like clockwork. Many investors, whether you're a professional working on Wall Street or a regular Joe on Main Street, swear by them.

It's a big reason why assets in U.S. dividend exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have grown exponentially over the past decade. In 2009, U.S. dividend ETF assets were less than $20 billion. By the middle of 2018, they had increased to more than $170 billion.

The reason: Dividend ETFs provide investors with a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks that allows you to invest and collect income without having to do nearly the amount of research you'd need before buying a large number of the individual components.

If you're in this camp of hopeful set-it-and-forget-it investors, here are seven dividend ETFs to buy and hold for the long haul. Diversified by geography, style, size, sector, etc., this collection of ETFs can be held as a group or individually depending on your preferences, risk tolerance and investment horizon.

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF