One benefit of the stock market downturn is stock prices for companies that pay consistent dividends are down and the dividend yields are up.

A dividend is a payment the company makes to its owners (stock holders)—allowing them to participate in the profits of the company.

In a time before the Tech Bubble of the late 1990s, investors used to determine the value of a stock primarily on the dividend the company was paying and the dividend investors expected the company to pay in the future. The higher the dividend the company paid, the more the stock was worth. The lower the dividend the company paid, the less the stock was worth.

Although valuing a stock based on its dividend may have fallen out of style for a while, let's take a look at some of the benefits of investing in stocks with high dividend yields versus investing in high growth stocks.

Growth vs. Dividends

Growth stocks are the sexy stocks in the stock market.

You never see the stodgy utility companies that pay great dividends on the covers of magazines or as the topic of conversation on the trendy blogs. Nope, instead you see high-flying stocks like Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM).

After all, stocks that can appreciate a few hundred percent in a year are the stocks we all want to be in on, right?

Growth stocks are great investments when the market is growing. Everyone is bullish on the market, and growth stocks keep rising higher and higher. Unfortunately…

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