Money and Finance
Having too much expectations on your Dividends
So just today, I've received an email from a reader i shall refer to as Reader A.
He asked and I quote:
Hi TI! Good blog! I enjoy reading it. However I have one question, I have also been investing in the ABF SG Bond and am looking forward to the dividends for October 2014. However, if I calculate based on the rate of $0.023/ share that would mean for the year of 2013 I would have received $23. Is that correct?
I replied in the affirmative and he was very agitated to realise he would have earned just $23 or so for the entire year. He asked why is this so, when other financial bloggers are posting dividends of a few hundreds to thousand per month.
I gave a lengthy reply and would also like to share this common misconception I feel many young investors have.
When they invest, naturally they want a substantial amount of dividends. I fear that they also have the misconception that by investing $1000 - $2000, they expect a monthly return of a few hundreds/thousand.
If that was true, there would be many many rich Singaporeans all over the world. No one will be complaining of rising costs.
Investing is a good thing, but should not be assumed as a way of receiving "passive income" and thus no need to work etc etc as mentioned in my previous blogpost.
Reader A has invested $1k++ in ABF SG Bond. And only that.
1. Firstly, this is a bond ETF. Bonds are low risk and also low payout. Stocks carry a higher risk with a slightly higher payout. Therefore $23 for a $1000+ investment is a decent payout if you understand this.
2. Investors that post dividends of $200++ to $2000++ per month has invested at least a few hundred thousand at the minimum over the years to receive a substantial payout. I highly doubt you'll find any investor who invested $1k only and are receiving dividends of $200. Highly unlikely.
Reader A had too much expectations without understanding how his investments were working. And I fear, is this a common misconception amongst others as well?
It takes time to build up a decent amount of dividends per month, with a wide range of stocks necessary. Why? Because different stocks, bonds and REITs pay out at different month. Therefore you cannot buy just 1 stock, invest hundreds of thousands into that 1 stock and expect a stream of dividends every month.
I hope this post helps to clear some queries.
Signing off,
Teenage Investor
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