Warren Buffett is 96 years old, noting in a letter to shareholders announcing his departure from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) that "Father Time always wins." After more than 60 years of leading the business, the transition to new leaders has happened fairly quickly. But it was planned well in advance, so investors probably don't need to be too concerned. Here's why.

Buffett can't be replaced

Warren Buffett is a cultural icon whose reach has extended far beyond Wall Street. That said, his investment success is legendary, with annualized returns of 19.7% during his tenure at Berkshire Hathaway. With no intention of slighting new CEO Greg Abel, he will never be Warren Buffett. But that's also a fairly reasonable statement, since Greg Abel is a different person. He will put his own imprint on the massive conglomerate that Warren Buffett basically created from the remains of a shirt manufacturer.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Still, investors need to remember that Buffett worked with Abel for decades. He helped mold Abel into the leader he is today, including a fairly long period during which Abel was the chosen successor-in-waiting. Abel is steeped in Buffett's approach and will likely operate similarly to his predecessor on many matters. And, Buffett didn't exactly cut and run, since he moved from the CEO post to the role of chairman of the board.

That meant that Buffett was there to help Abel through the transition. Now, about nine months later, Buffett has stepped down from his new role, too. But this was a planned transition as well, with his son, Howard Buffett, taking his place. Howard Buffett has served on Berkshire Hathaway's board for 33 years and on the board of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), among others, so he has plenty of experience.

However, Howard Buffett's primary goal at Berkshire Hathaway is to "guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet," according to Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett went on to explain that investors should "think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against." That was a cute tie-in to the company's insurance operations, but Warren Buffett has basically put in place both a hand-selected, personally trained CEO and a hand-selected safeguard for shareholders (in the role of chairman of the board).

Berkshire Hathaway will change, but probably not much

Just as Greg Abel is not Warren Buffett, Howard Buffett is not Warren Buffett either. So Berkshire Hathaway is going to change now that Warren Buffett has fully stepped away. But investors shouldn't be too concerned, because Warren Buffett has clearly worked thoughtfully and diligently to ensure as much continuity as possible during this transition period.

In fact, there's little more Warren Buffett could have done other than to stay on indefinitely. But, as he noted in his typical witty fashion, "Father Time always wins," and this transition was bound to happen sooner or later. Shareholders should feel lucky that he was around to orchestrate it as he did.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

With the 10-Year Treasury yield hovering near 5.3%, it might seem like a risky time to buy high-yielding dividend stocks in the financial sector. In this environment, many investors would rather buy a low-risk Treasury or CD instead of a dividend stock.

However, there are still plenty of high-yielding financial stocks that are well-insulated from higher interest rates and Treasury yields. Let's take a look at three of them -- Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC), Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM), and Strategy's (NASDAQ: MSTR) STRF shares (NASDAQ: STRF) -- and see why they're still worth buying.

Image source: Getty Images.

Ares Capital

Ares Capital, the world's largest business development corporation (BDC), finances smaller "middle market" companies that struggle to secure loans from conventional banks. In exchange for taking on that higher risk, it charges higher interest rates.

To reduce its risk, it spreads its $29.3 billion investment portfolio across 619 companies. It also allocates 59% of its portfolio to first-lien secured loans and 4% to second-lien secured loans.

Like banks, BDCs generally benefit from higher interest rates, which boost their net interest income. But those rates can't jump too high, or they'll adversely impact their portfolio companies. BDCs also must pay out at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends to maintain a lower tax rate. That's why Ares pays a high forward yield of 10%.

Analysts expect Ares' EPS to rise only 1% to $1.93 next year, which will cover its forward dividend rate of $1.92. At $19, its stock looks like a bargain at 10 times next year's earnings. So if you're looking for a simple, rate-resistant income play, Ares checks the right boxes.

Brookfield Asset Management

Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world's largest asset managers, was spun off from the financial conglomerate Brookfield Corporation (NYSE: BN) in 2022.

As a stand-alone company, Brookfield Asset Management operates as a "pure play" asset manager that raises the capital for Brookfield Corporation's investments and manages them. It doesn't actually buy or own Brookfield's assets -- it merely holds the rights to manage those properties and all the capital pooled together by its parent company and other investors. That business model also makes it more resistant to higher interest rates than its parent company.

Brookfield Asset Management is valued by its fee-related earnings (FRE) per share, or the recurring fees that fund its dividends. Its FRE per share rose 22% in 2025, and analysts expect that figure to rise 14%-17% to $2.10-$2.15 per share in 2026.

That should easily cover its forward dividend rate of $2.01 per share, which translates to a forward yield of 4.5%. At $44, it looks reasonably valued at 21 times this year's FRE per share.

Strategy's STRF shares

Strategy, the world's largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), issued four classes of preferred stock last year. All four of these stocks pay high dividends, but "Strife" (STRF) -- which was launched last March -- is arguably the safest.

Strife ranks first in seniority among Strategy's four classes of preferred shares, and it's junior only to its corporate debt. It pays a fixed 10% annual dividend every quarter, and it's cumulative -- which means that any missed payments will accrue and must be repaid with step-up penalties before Strategy can resume its other dividend payments.

Strategy initially issued these preferred shares to fund its Bitcoin purchases, but it also periodically sells its Bitcoin holdings to fund the dividends. So if you're bullish on Bitcoin but also want to earn some extra income from Strategy's Bitcoin hoarding strategy, Strategy's STRF stock -- which has risen 13% since its launch -- might be a hidden high-yield gem.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ares Capital, Bitcoin, Brookfield Asset Management, and Brookfield Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.