Dividend Detective

QHow can I tell whether a company pays a dividend, and how big it is? — C.B., Muskegon, Michigan A You can always just call it and ask — start with the Investor Relations department. It’s also easy to look it up online or in newspaper stock listings. Instead of the dividend itself, many stock listings include the dividend yield, which is the percentage of the current stock price being paid out annually in dividends. If there’s a yield, it means there’s a dividend. To figure out the dividend from the yield, multiply the yield by the stock price. Imagine that Whoa Nellie Brake Co. (ticker: HALTT) is trading at $80 per share with a yield of 2 percent (which is 0.02). Multiply 0.02 by 80, and you’ll get 1.60, meaning that the company is currently paying out $1.60 each year in dividends per share. (Companies often pay dividends quarterly, so this would be $0.40 per quarter.) If you’re looking for promising stocks that pay significant dividends, grab a free trial of our “Motley Fool Income Investor” newsletter at fool.com/shop/newsletters. *** QI know that spending money can spur the economy. Does saving hurt it? — R.D., Saratoga, New York A Spending does boost the economy, as the demand for products and services increases, helping businesses grow and prosper. The economy can also benefit from increased national savings, though, because more money in banks means more money is available to be loaned out to buy homes, cars and educations. Companies can borrow, too, to grow their businesses. So go ahead and save — for retirement and other financial goals. Be sure you have three to 12 months’ worth of living expenses saved in an emergency fund, too.