Dividend Investing: 3 Things You Probably Didn't Know
Dividend investing has become one of the most popular investment strategies for millions of investors, as it gives you the potential both to get substantial income from your portfolio and to reap the long-term growth that stocks offer. But many investors still don't have all the facts about dividend investing.
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, discusses three things many people don't know about dividend investing. Dan opens by noting that it's important to understand that dividends don't always track a stock's earnings potential. For instance, real estate investment trust Annaly Capital and master limited partnership Kinder Morgan Energy Partners are both required to distribute nearly all of their income as dividend distributions to keep their favorable tax status. By contrast, ConocoPhillips and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold also pay relatively healthy dividends, but they pay only a small fraction of their overall earnings to investors.
The second thing Dan discusses is that in many cases, looking for dividend growth rather than high current yields can pay off in the long run. High-yield stocks often end up cutting their dividends, causing loss of income and often a subsequent share-price drop. Finally, Dan concludes by discussing the behavior of stocks that declare special distributions and why you should think twice about buying a stock that has just announced a special dividend.
Learn more about the myths of dividend stocks
You'll find a lot of confusion about dividend investing, but we're here to set the facts straight. Read The Motley Fool's new free report "5 Dividend Myths ... Busted!" and get more answers to the questions you need to ask to find the best dividend stocks in the market. Click here to keep reading.
The article Dividend Investing: 3 Things You Probably Didn't Know originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Dan Caplinger and The Motley Fool own shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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