In this edition of The Motley Fool's "Ask a Fool" series, Motley Fool One analyst Jason Moser takes a question from a Fool reader who asks: "How much do you take dividends into account when investing? I've found the older I get, the more I appreciate them." Jason looks at the historical returns of dividend-paying stocks as well as some of the qualities investors can look for as they consider dividend stocks for their portfolio. Finally, he advises that, as with all Foolish investing, diversity is important for long-term investing success.