Show me the money. It is good that a company takes their profits and uses them for research and development and to grow their business. But the company owners, the stockholders, should also see tangible results. Therefore, I like to invest in stocks and ETFs that pay dividends, especially if the company (or ETF) has a history of paying increasing dividends. The payout ratio matters, but it can be confusing because not all sectors are the same or should be the same. I am willing to accept a higher payout ratio for a utility than I am for a technology or banking stock. I do some of my research using the data you can download from this DIVCON web site.

http://www.realitysharesadvisors.com/divcon/

Consider this web site if you are looking at dividend-paying ETF’s. You can compare ETFs like VYM and DVY to get started. Look at the data and you will learn if there is growth in the dividend.

https://www.etfreplay.com/yield.aspx

Finally, you would be doing yourself a big favor to look at the Dividend Champion data you can download from David Fish’s site:

http://www.dripinvesting.org/tools/tools.asp