If the global financial crisis has taught investors one thing, it’s that now is not the time to gamble with your money or your prosperity.

More companies have been bought, bailed out or bankrupted since this financial crisis began than most of us have seen in our lifetimes. And even as Wall Street’s dominoes keep falling, no one can be sure if the worst is over.

From here on – recession or not – targeting dividend stocks is one of the few strategies that will deliver income safely and efficiently.

In theory, dividends should prop up an investor’s portfolio during uncertain periods, or in market downturns. That’s because even if a company’s stock price falls, executives do all they can to maintain the firm’s dividend payout. That’s part of the reason that, over time, dividends have accounted for a major portion of investors’ total returns.

"Dividends are a nice anchor in a turbulent market," said Judith Saryan, manager of Eaton Vance Dividend Builder Fund (EVTMX), FoxBusiness last year.

Or anytime. In fact, over the last 100 years, 40% of a stock’s total return is from dividends. That’s not surprising. According to a study by Ned Davis Research Inc.,  dividend-paying Standard & Poor’s 500 stocks rose by an average of 9.4% a year between 1972 and June of last year, well ahead of non-dividend-paying stocks, which rose by only 1.8% annually during the same period.

“Dividends are a sign of quality," said Todd Ahlsten, manager of Parnassus Equity Income (PRBLX), said in an interview last year. “They force management to look at cash flow and how it invests in its business."

But not all dividends are created equal. As losses mount, Standard & Poor’s 500 heavyweights have been putting their dividends on the chopping block, cutting or outright eliminating them for an indefinite time period.

And these aren’t fringe companies and chump change we’re talking about…  

General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Corp. (F), Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), MBIA Inc. (MBI) – their dividends are gone.

And Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) reduced their dividends to a mere penny. Fannie Mae (FNM) lowered its to 5 cents in August and hasn’t paid one since.

Nor does the list end there.

Just yesterday (Thursday), in fact, motorcycle icon Harley Davidson Inc. (HOG) slashed its dividend 70%, the first such reduction since 1993. The move was aimed at conserving cash, but sent Harley’s shares down 8%. in a move that was aimed at conserving cash. And the Dow Chemical Co.