Dividend payments offer many benefits to investors. In fact, 75% of the returns in the S&P 500 between 1980 and 2019 came from dividends, according to market data. Dividend payments are currently at an all-time high. The Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index just released data showing that dividend payments from publicly traded U.S. companies hit a record $164.3 billion in this year’s first quarter, up 7% from a year earlier.Blue-chip companies such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Cos ...