If you've been hesitant to invest in dividend stocks because you thought they weren't right for you, think again. In his new book, author Lawrence Carrel busts through the ten most common misconceptions about dividend stocks and tells why they are the right investment choice for you.
If you were to ask a stock market investor or analyst about dividend stocks, it may surprise you to find that you are encroaching on a touchy subject. Much like politics and religion, dividend stocks tend to illicit a heated debate among investors about who is right and who is wrong. On one side are the cheerleaders who believe dividend stocks are the next best thing to free money. On the other are the naysayers who believe that dividend stocks are the next worst thing to a government takeover.
As is usually the case when people start taking sides, their radical beliefs are based on myths or misconceptions implanted in them by misinformation or someone else's misdirected advice. "The truth tends to lie somewhere in between," says Lawrence Carrel, author of Dividend Stocks For Dummies(r) (Wiley Publishing, Inc., April 2010, ISBN: 978-0-470-46601-8, $24.99). "Only by stripping away some of the most common and influential myths is the truth revealed." His book is a hands-on guide that takes those misconceptions to task and tells the real story about what dividend stocks are (and are not!). Full of expert information and advice, it can help you to take the first steps toward adding dividend stocks to your investment portfolio - no matter what the market looks like.
For a more balanced view, read on for ten common myths about investing in dividend stocks:
Myth: Dividend investing is reserved for retirees.
Truth: Dividend investing is admittedly attractive for seniors, whose goals are typically capital preservation and income. Younger investors, however, can also benefit from a dividend investing model, even if it comprises only a portion of their portfolios.
Dividend investing isn't a get-rich-quick strategy. It's a great way to build wealth over the long term (which means you want to start when you're young) to secure a steady cash flow for your retirement years. All affluent older investors were young once, and many of them followed a relatively conservative dividend investment strategy even then to build their wealth.
Myth: You can get better returns with growth stocks.
Truth: Although growth stocks may offer more in terms of share price appreciation, dividend stocks often make up the difference in dividend payments. Dividend stocks can see returns grow in three ways:
- Share prices can rise.
- Dividend payments can increase.
- Reinvested dividends can purchase more stock. More shares pay out more dollars in dividends, which you can then reinvest again, and increase the profits from capital appreciation.
When comparing growth and dividend stocks, compare their potential in terms of total return on investment. For the dividend stock, this means share price appreciation plus dividends. Sometimes, slow and steady really does win the race. Growth stocks may carry a higher potential for bigger returns, but they also carry a higher risk for bigger losses. If you do experience a loss, your other holdings need to perform that much better to make up the difference.
Myth: Dividend stocks are safe investments.
Truth: Investing is risky no matter how you slice it; the risk of losing money is always present. However, some investments, including dividend stocks, tend to be safer than others. (Carrel uses the phrasing "tend to be" because even traditionally safe investment vehicles can take a hit.) In 2009, for example, financials and real estate, which had paid reliable dividends for some time, went into a tailspin.
Don't put all your investment eggs in one basket. Even when investing in safer options, diversify to spread the risk among several sectors and among companies in the various industries you choose to invest in.
Myth: Companies that pay dividends will limit their growth.
Truth: Growth investors often argue that companies paying dividends would be better off reinvesting that money to fuel their growth. Although the suggestion may be the case with some companies in certain situations, the reasoning is valid only if that money is well spent.
Companies that don't pay dividends give managers unrestricted use of the profits. Corporate executives often make acquisitions or start projects more to boost their personal worth (through bonuses and reputation) than to boost shareholder value. Risky acquisitions outside the company's main business often promise big results and just as often turn into money pits. Meanwhile, a commitment to paying dividends keeps management honest. Knowing the company must generate a certain amount of cash flow per quarter to pay the dividends shareholders expect tends to motivate management to manage effectively. In addition, paying dividends leaves management with less capital to squander on risky business ventures. As a result, management must evaluate prospective business ventures more carefully.
Some of the largest companies in the world pay dividends, and they didn't start out big. They began from scratch and grew; many continue to post significant growth despite paying dividends.
Myth: Companies should always pay down debt before cutting dividend checks.
Truth: Debt isn't necessarily a bad thing, although excessive debt certainly is. Whether a company should pay down debt before cutting dividend checks depends on the circumstances. If the company is buried in debt and struggling in a tough economy, paying down debt before paying dividends is not only a good idea but also an essential move to protect the company's survival. If, on the other hand, the company carries a reasonable debt load and its other fundamentals are solid, continuing or even raising dividend payments sends a positive message to the market.
Before purchasing a dividend stock, carefully inspect the company's quarterly reports and take a close look at the quick ratio. The quick ratio indicates whether the company's current assets are sufficient to cover its liabilities. The break-even point is a quick ratio of one, which usually means the company can afford to cover its liabilities, including its declared dividend payout. Anything less than one may mean that the company needs to borrow money to pay dividends, which is a bad sign.
Myth: Companies must maintain a stable dividend payout.
Truth: Companies are not obliged to pay dividends or to keep the payment stable after they start. However, dividend cuts tend to reflect poorly on a company and its share price, so companies tend to be conservative in establishing a dividend policy. Companies protect themselves by choosing a dividend payment method that allows them to manage shareholder expectations:
- Residual: With the residual approach, the company funds any new projects out of equity it generates internally and pays dividends only after meeting the capital requirements of these projects. In other words, investors receive a cut of the profits only if money is left over at the end of the quarter. Knowing this, investors are less likely to sell their shares if they don't receive a dividend payment for a particular quarter because they know the next quarter may still bring a dividend.
- Stability: A stability approach sets the dividend at a fixed number, typically a fraction of quarterly or annual earnings, called a payout ratio. This gives investors a greater level of certainty that they'll receive a dividend payment and how much it's likely to be. Companies that implement a stable dividend payment approach tend to make conservative projections so that they don't disappoint shareholders.
- Hybrid: The hybrid approach is a combination of the residual and stability approaches. Companies that follow this approach tend to set a low, fixed dividend that they feel is easy to sustain and then distribute additional dividends when they can afford to do so.
Myth: My dividend increases won't even keep up with inflation.
Truth: Some companies' dividend increases do in fact fail to keep pace with inflation. Your goal as a dividend investor is to ensure that the dividend payments from companies you invest in at least keep up with inflation and hopefully exceed the inflation rate. If you're a growth investor looking for income, don't dump a stock just because dividend payments aren't keeping pace with inflation. Look at the stock's total return, including share price appreciation, and continue to monitor the company's fundamentals and the market at large. If the company is doing well, especially in a tough market, it may have the potential to raise dividend payments sometime in the future and perform well for you.
Myth: All dividends are taxed at the same rate.
Truth: Dividend investing fell out of favor in the 20th century because of unfavorable dividend taxation. A major reason for the resurgence of dividend investing was the lowering of the tax rate on dividends (15 percent or less at the time the book was published). The catch is that not all stocks qualify for the lower tax rate. To qualify, you have to hold the stock in your portfolio for at least 61 consecutive days during the 121-day period that begins 60 days before the ex-dividend date. Dividends that fail to qualify get taxed at the investor's regular tax rate. (One exception is master limited partnerships, which pass all their tax liabilities back to investors.) The day on which you buy the stock doesn't count toward the 60-day holding requirement.
Myth: You should always invest in high-yield stocks.
Truth: Don't judge a stock by yield alone. Yield is a valuable measure of how much bang you're getting for each of your investment bucks, but it alone doesn't determine a stock's true value; you also need to look at the share price. You can use a minimum yield to screen out stocks that don't meet your income requirements, but carefully evaluate a company's fundamentals before investing in it.
A high yield can mean many things - some positive, some negative. High yield may be a sign that the company's share price is sinking and that the company may be in trouble. If the high yield is out of whack with its sector, that may be a sign of an impending dividend cut. By the same token, don't immediately write off low-yield stocks.
Myth: REITs and bank stocks are no longer good for dividends.
Truth: Two major factors that contributed to the fiscal crisis of 2008-2009 were a housing bubble that pushed the prices of real estate properties to astronomical heights and banks that approved mortgage loans for borrowers who couldn't afford the payments. Not surprisingly, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and bank stocks, traditionally big dividend payers, were some of the hardest hit in the stock market crash of 2008-2009. With little cash to pay their obligations, many REITs and banks were forced to cut or eliminate their dividends. However, a few strong companies continued to pay out dividends and even raise payments because they took less risk and managed their debt well. As many investors write off all of these companies in one fell swoop, now is the time to look for bargains among the healthy survivors.
"Investing in dividend stocks is one of the top strategies to survive market instability," Carrel concludes, "and you shouldn't let misconceptions and myths hold you back from getting in on the action. Once you know the truth, you'll be well on your way to adding dividend stocks to your own investing portfolio and making the most of your investments - in any market."
About the Author: Lawrence Carrel is a financial journalist and served as a staff writer at TheWallStreetJournal.com, SmartMoney.com, and TheStreet.com. He is the author of ETFs for the Long Run: What They Are, How They Work, and Simple Strategies for Successful Long-Term Investing (Wiley).
About the Book: Dividend Stocks For Dummies(r) (Wiley Publishing, Inc., April 2010, ISBN: 978-0-470-46601-8, $24.99) is available at bookstores nationwide, major online booksellers, or directly from the publisher by calling (877) 762-2974.
