by Alexander
(Latvia)
Over time, I learned to look more for dividends than capital repayment.
My theory is that firms that are strong enough to pay good dividends are strong businesses. In my early investing days, I would buy into smaller firms and this made me take on far larger risks than I realised or fully understood. Understandably, my results were patchy.
These days, I invest in huge businesses which pay 5% or more as an annual yield. If nothing else, I certainly worry much less!
As a result, I get to bank nice dividends every year which helps to smooth out the results of the stock performance.
This certainly is not foolproof, but it does appear to have made a difference to me and my annual results.