(Kiplinger.com) — Dividends are back, and their return couldn’t have come at a better time. Since the 1960s, cash payouts have accounted for 65% of the total return of Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index during sideways-moving markets. And though the rebound that followed the 2007-09 collapse remains in force, the stock market has mostly meandered since October. That could be the pattern over the next few years as well. And even if stocks fall apart (make that when stocks fall apart, as they will at some point), those that pay dividends will, as a group, almost certainly hold up better than those that don’t. So investing in committed dividend payers is a timely strategy if you want to own stocks for their growth potential but worry about another punishing market decline. (For more about the allure of dividends, read 5 Reasons That Dividends Matter.)
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