Beware The False God Of The Dividend

With interest rates at historical lows (well, let's face it…interest rates are at zero) a lot of investor focus is turning to dividend paying stocks to provide cash. Whereas money market funds used to provide at least a little bit of return, these funds are now nothing more than giant mattresses where billions of dollars get stuffed. Whether these mattresses are really as safe as your pillow-top Serta at home is a question for another time. Any return that your money market might give you is quickly swallowed up by inflation, so many investors look to companies that return cash to investors in the form of a dividend. Warning: I may ruffle some feathers with what you're about to read. Please just keep an open mind. I'm not going to say that dividends are bad, but that they're just not what many people believe them to be. Too many investors... Read more