How Dividends Work--Dividends Explained Most of us have heard about dividend investing and have a general idea of how dividends work. Companies pay shareholders money on a regular basis and everyone's happy. The businesses are generating a profit and the shareholders are making some of that money, too. In addition to the dividends, the share price increases and you get the best of both worlds. Ideally, that's how it works. However, there are some negative parts of investing for dividends that could actually cause you to lose money. Understand how dividends work and why companies pay them to avoid losing money.