Dividends are the backbone of the Retirement Compounders.

Now Michael Wursthorn reports in The Wall Street Journal that dividends are on the rise.

Dividends are on the rise when investors have fewer reasons to buy the stocks that pay them out.

More than a fifth of the companies in the S&P 500 have boosted their dividends to shareholders so far this year, while none have slashed their payouts, a first since 2011, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The increases are getting bigger too, with companies on average raising their payouts by 14%, the biggest jump since 2014.

The dividend boosts—from an array of companies including cable-giant Comcast Corp. , asset-management firm T. Rowe Price Groupand consumer-products company Kimberly-Clark Corp.—come as firms report some of their best earnings and sales in years, offering further support for the nearly nine-year bull run in stocks.

Companies also have been spurred to put hundreds of billions of dollars to work since the tax overhaul law was enacted last year. February is typically the busiest month for dividends as companies roll out their annual results and reward shareholders ahead of their annual meetings. Historically, more than half of the companies in the S&P 500 increase their dividends each year, and in recent years, 60% or more of the index boosted their payouts, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Read more here.

Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com.