Passive Dividend Investing

momoeagle

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http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1703863/passive_dividend_investing.html?cat=3

Cashflow is important, as I have mentioned in an earlier article on the Importance of Cashflow here.

One of the ways to improve your cashflow is through dividend investing. Passive dividend investing can help build a form of passive income. Not only does it improve your cashflow, it also puts money into your pocket, and you do not need to do much to maintain it.

Some of my friends asked me, why invest so passively for dividends when one can do short term guerilla trading, entering and exiting the market in a short period of time and earn a lot.

To me, whether a market goes up and down is mostly due to traders. Some will lose, some will gain. But mathematically, logically and theoretically, the overall gain of traders is equal to the overall gain of passive investors.

Why is it so? It is because trading is a zero sum game, so on average, some the traders would have gains more than the passive investors, and some would have gains less than the passive investors. The total gains of all winning trades minus the sum of all losing trades would be equal to the total gains (or loss) of the market. In addition, the gains of an average trader would be the same as that of the market.

The gains of passive investors, however, follow the market, excluding brokerage fees, and minus the effort and energy used to identify stocks in which to execute trades.

So, if we think we are average, or below average, isn't it simpler to just invest passively? Isn't it simpler to buy and keep stocks for the long term?

Why dividend investing?

Dividend investing works well for many investors. Dividend investing in defensive sectors will continue to provide a steady stream of income - income that can be counted on whether the market moves up or down. This stream of passive income provides cash which can be used or reinvested. Reinvesting the dividends will help the overall investment grow at a compounded rate (excluding brokerage fees). Adding to the fact that stock values traditionally increase over time, the new shares that are continually bought with received dividends will also increase, and at the same time, increasing the amount of dividends received.

Most dividend stocks (bank stocks are an exception) are also usually not as volatile. And because for defensive sectors, where dividends-payable are usually stable, investors face lesser risks. This is especially important and useful in a bear or sideways market, where investors will find it hard to count on capital gains to give them the returns they need. Dividend paying stocks also work well in both bear and bull market cycles. During a bear market, dividends provide a return on investment when gains from price appreciation are almost non-existent. During a bull market, dividends provide additional returns on top of capital gains.

Finally, for the Straits Times Index, it traditionally gains 7% compounded per annum. Yet in a bear market as of now, there are many a defensive dividend stock that yield 10% per annum. With dividend reinvestments, that will yield 10% compounded per annum. And all these are excluding possible capital appreciation!

Sadly, in a bull market with fast and furious price increases to seduce investors, many forget about the consistent returns and safety of the such stocks. History has proven the benefits of dividend stocks in almost any market condition. And with dividend reinvestments, one can generally expect increasingly greater dividend income.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1703863/passive_dividend_investing_pg2.html?cat=3
 

Taengoo

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hi, according to the source, theres a process call reinvesting dividends, may i know how does this works? lets say the payout is only $50, how is it suppose to reinvest it and buy x lot of a stock that coast few hundred to a few Ks.

any enlightenment.:s11:
 

momoeagle

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hi, according to the source, theres a process call reinvesting dividends, may i know how does this works? lets say the payout is only $50, how is it suppose to reinvest it and buy x lot of a stock that coast few hundred to a few Ks.

any enlightenment.:s11:

The article was written by me =:p
You are right that I didn't mention it =:p


You can reinvest in a few methods

1) Reinvesting it yourself. However, as you say, if the payout is low, it's does not seem very feasible. Of course, the beauty of this is that you can choose which other dividend stock you want to reinvest instead of into the same stock.

2) Scrip dividends scheme. Some companies offer this scheme, where they issue you new units instead of cash.

3) Sharebuilder's Plan from Philips security. All dividends are automatically reinvested there. The same goes for Unit Trusts.
 

stevetan2010

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nice posting! We need this kind of postings. More posting to act as a guiding lamp. But the ultimate effort still needs to be completed by the individual himself. Nice nice..... ^_^
 

Yellowfin

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Thread closed. Do not advertise your own blog. First warning.....2nd warning lead to ban.
 

bluesurfer

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lol! This is really funny. Close then open up again. So will ts still be ard his thread? Let continue to discuss on the above topic!
 

notanakin

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The article fails to point out that dividends are entirely at the discretion of the company. In a credit crunch many companies will stop or cut dividends in order to save cash. And while some companies do have a publicly stated dividend policy, that can be changed at any time.

The article gives the impression that dividend income is a reliable source of cash when it is far from that.
 

stevetan2010

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The article fails to point out that dividends are entirely at the discretion of the company. In a credit crunch many companies will stop or cut dividends in order to save cash. And while some companies do have a publicly stated dividend policy, that can be changed at any time.

The article gives the impression that dividend income is a reliable source of cash when it is far from that.

Decisions made by a greenhorn and a veteran is vastly different.........
 

momoeagle

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The article fails to point out that dividends are entirely at the discretion of the company. In a credit crunch many companies will stop or cut dividends in order to save cash. And while some companies do have a publicly stated dividend policy, that can be changed at any time.

The article gives the impression that dividend income is a reliable source of cash when it is far from that.

Noted with many thanks. Really appreciate your advice, plus it trigger multiple other thoughts.


But fact is, anything can happen in a credit crunch, not just dividend income. In fact, even your job (if you are an employee) or your business (if you are a business owner) becomes unreliable in a credit crunch. Or if you are in the states at that time, even the bank you put your money in becomes unreliable. Even the house you stay, if paid by mortgage, will be taken by the bank if you do not have the money to pay up when they need it in the credit crunch, depending on the contract signed.

Reliability is indeed not a safe word in today's market. But then again, prudent homework is required before putting the cash in. As Warren Buffett mentions in his 2009 letter, "we tend to let our many subsidiaries operate on their own, without our supervising and monitoring them to any degree". Of course there are certain drawbacks as he mentioned, but overall, when your homework is done well, the risks are much much lower.
 

notanakin

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It's ridiculous to talk about all the other consequences of a credit crunch as if this somehow makes ignoring the risk of dividend fluctuation a sound decision. As I'm sure you know, a credit crunch is far from the only time when dividends might be cut.

And the quote from Warren Buffet has no relevance whatsoever. He's talking about how he manages his subsidiaries - what does that have to do with dividends?

Doing your homework doesn't change the risk at all. It only makes you understand the risks better.
 

momoeagle

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That's where homework is important. 1 example would be Abott laboratories, which has been raising their dividends for eons. SPH and SingPost has been giving rather consistent dividends, and Starhub has been raising its dividends since its IPO. These are the more 'famous' ones. There are others which are not as well known, but giving quite good dividends consistently even in both the 2003 and 2009 recessions, I don't think I will share them here.

Dividends in these defensive traditional sectors would perhaps fluctuate or substantially reduce one day, but for the forseeable future in my opinion and analysis, I don't think so. Such things as postal service do not change overnight. By the time it fluctuates in a major way, the dividends I would have received would cover me by quite a fair bit.

Doing your homework makes you understand your risks, yes, but it's precisely because of understanding that you will choose those with the lowest risks. Thus, it will 'change' the risk of your portfolio as you will not be buying any funny weird stocks that will substantially increase your overall risk exposure. Of course, who would be that stupid to say that you can change the risk of investing in a risky company by doing homework? That's extremely ridiculous. It's the risk of your portfolio that you can change by doing homework.

As for Warren Buffett's quote, it has perfect relevance to me. Investing for dividends, or investing for capital growth in his case, is a case of investing in the business. To let them operate on their own is a case where you can sleep very well without worrying too much about the day to day (or night to night) running of the businesses. And my main point in quoting him is, he can manage his subsidiaries the way he does because he has done prudent homework. And he sleeps well because of that. This was said by him in his letter as well.
 
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ivanftp

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Important to look at the track record of companies. Whether they are able to pay their dividends consistently and are able to keep growing their dividends.
 

leo921

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Currently I got reit etf, sti etf, 1lot of singtel and 1lot of cmt. With current market all dropping in price,should I buy more or wait for market recovery?

Also any difference between COI and CFA as COI is giving out dividends on 3 Nov.

Still v news to investing for dividends,any good advices?
Thanks
 

reddevil0728

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Currently I got reit etf, sti etf, 1lot of singtel and 1lot of cmt. With current market all dropping in price,should I buy more or wait for market recovery?

Also any difference between COI and CFA as COI is giving out dividends on 3 Nov.

Still v news to investing for dividends,any good advices?
Thanks

What you planning to buy?

COI in USD. U want that?
 
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