That ought to be a chant coming from low paid workers (both in the US and abroad), but before we get bogged down in the economic dilemma of too much capital wealth and not enough consumer spending power, let’s think about income seeking investors.

As a recent Barron’s article by Darrin Strauss points out, dividend yields on S&P 500 stocks have declined markedly in recent decades, to the point where it seems like an average payout rate of 2% is normal. In fact, it’s well below historical averages.

Strauss notes that companies have devoted more funds to buybacks than dividends lately, perhaps because they don’t want investors to get accustomed to higher rates of dividend income.

I’m with author Daniel Peris, who advocates that companies pay more of their income out to shareholders in the form of dividends. Peris, a fund manager, has authored a couple of books on dividend investing. Peris is quoted in the Barron’s article saying this:

“Too many corporate managers have simply looked at the interest rate structure and come to the conclusion that their low payout and low yield were sufficient, regardless of how unattractive such a yield might be in absolute terms.”

In other words:

What do we want? More Money! When do we want it? Now!

 

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