PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Charles P Jones AU - Jack W Wilson TI - Implications of Low Dividend Yields for Investor AID - 10.3905/jwm.2002.320434 DP - 2002 Apr 30 TA - The Journal of Wealth Management PG - 52--58 VI - 5 IP - 1 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/5/1/52.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/5/1/52.full AB - The authors document the extent of the dividend decline in the major indexes and consider its significance in the context of historical stock returns. The dividend component of total returns has been a major part of the average total return of approximately 11% on the S&P 500 index that investors have enjoyed in the past. With dividend yields now averaging slightly above 1%, investors need to reexamine their expectations about the level of future market return consistent with that. The authors demonstrate that the probability of achieving average historical rates or return is low, given the entire history of S&P returns since 1971. The role of dividends in returns from value versus growth strategies is also considered, and it is suggested that investors may need to revise their expectations in this regard also.