Contrarian Investor: The power of dependable dividends

Dividends can count for 90% of returns

Growing up, some of my most vivid memories relate to my parents' 'disagreements' about mum's clapped out old Volvo, writes David Stevenson.

Mum always maintained this was one of those reliable, boring cars that would just run and run. And she was right. The rust heap lasted 13 years. Dividends are a bit like our Volvo, in that they seem to survive endless disasters. We all know the basic message from long-term studies of total shareholder returns: dividends and their subsequent reinvestment can in some decades account for as much as 90% of investor returns. If all that sounds a tad boring, consider some more recent stats from the beginning of September by Capita. Apparently the value of total dividends paid has breache...