From Marshall Hargrave: Investors, often hungry for yield, tend overlook the track record of dividends. In particular, it’s important to ferret out stock dividend increases.
Dividends can make a huge difference. Consider that the S&P 500 stocks have gained 71% in the last five years. Add in the dividends of those stocks and the total return for the S&P 500 over those same five years is an impressive 91%.