Why do companies pay dividends instead of reinvesting?
Typically, companies that have consistently paid dividends are some of the most stable companies over the past several decades. As a result, a company that pays out a dividend attracts investors and creates demand for their stock. Dividends are also attractive for investors looking to generate income.
Many financial experts recommend that you reinvest dividends most of the time – and I'm inclined to agree. The process is typically automated, doesn't incur any fees and gives your holdings a little (or a lot) of extra oomph.
Dividend reinvestment has some drawbacks. One downside is that investors have no control over the price at which they buy shares. If the stock gains significant value, they'd still buy shares at what could be a high price.
Since the size of a dividend payout is smaller, compared to a buyback, it allows the company to maintain a conservative capitalization structure every quarter rather than just hold large piles of cash.
Companies pay dividends for a variety of reasons, most often to show their financial stability and to keep or attract investors. Not all stocks pay dividends — in fact, most do not. Some major S&P 500 companies, including Amazon and Alphabet, have never issued dividends.
The IRS considers any dividends you receive as taxable income, whether you reinvest them or not. When you reinvest dividends, for tax purposes you are essentially receiving the dividend and then using it to purchase more shares.
When you are 5-10 years from retirement, stop automatic dividend reinvestment. This is when you transition from an accumulation asset allocation to a de-risked asset allocation. In Summary: When in accumulation, reinvest dividends. When in transition or drawdown, don't!
Dividends can be classified either as ordinary or qualified. Whereas ordinary dividends are taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividends that meet certain requirements are taxed at lower capital gain rates.
One of the ways investors can see growth in their portfolios is through compounding returns. By reinvesting dividends earned from their investments, over time, investors can potentially experience portfolio growth through this compounding effect.
Even though investors do not receive a cash dividend from DRIPs, they are nevertheless subject to taxes, due to the fact that there was an actual cash dividend--albeit one that was reinvested. Consequently, it's considered to be income and is therefore taxable.
Why are stock buybacks worse than dividends?
If your company pays out a dividend, shareholders retain their shares and receive cash. If your company repurchases shares, the selling shareholders receive cash, and the remaining shareholders have shares with higher value (but they don't receive any cash).
So if a stock is really only worth $100 but a management team is buying it for $150, that destroys value. Buybacks can starve the business of money needed in other areas, such as research and development or investment into new products and facilities.
Buybacks, in particular, are thought to enrich executives and shareholders at the expense of regular employees. In fact, there is little reason to believe that these payouts have much effect on overall income inequality, although it is true that executives sometimes use repurchases to improperly benefit themselves.
There's no limit, and no set amount – you might even pay your shareholders different dividend amounts. Dividends are paid from a company's profits, so payments might fluctuate depending on how much profit is available. If the company doesn't have any retained profit, it can't make dividend payments.
The average dividend yield on S&P 500 index companies that pay a dividend historically fluctuates somewhere between 2% and 5%, depending on market conditions. 7 In general, it pays to do your homework on stocks yielding more than 8% to find out what is truly going on with the company.
| Stock | Trailing annual dividend yield* |
|---|---|
| Crown Castle Inc. (CCI) | 5.9% |
| Pfizer Inc. (PFE) | 5.9% |
| Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) | 6.2% |
| Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) | 6.2% |
The double taxation of dividends is a reference to how corporate earnings and dividends are taxed by the U.S. government. Corporations pay taxes on their earnings and then pay shareholders dividends out of the after-tax earnings.
Your “qualified” dividends may be taxed at 0% if your taxable income falls below $44,625 (if single or Married Filing Separately), $59,750 (if Head of Household), or $89,250 (if (Married Filing Jointly or qualifying widow/widower) (tax year 2023). Above those thresholds, the qualified dividend tax rate is 15%.
Up to $3,000 in net losses can be used to offset your ordinary income (including income from dividends or interest). Note that you can also "carry forward" losses to future tax years.
The 4% rule says people should withdraw 4% of their retirement funds in the first year after retiring and remove that dollar amount, adjusted for inflation, every year after. The rule seeks to establish a steady and safe income stream that will meet a retiree's current and future financial needs.
What is the 90 day rule for dividends?
Mutual funds
For certain preferred stock, the security must be held for 91 days out of the 181-day period, beginning 90 days before the ex-dividend date. The amount received by the fund from that dividend-generating security must have been subsequently distributed to you.
All the financial news outlets and resources say the same thing: Start investing young — and the younger you are, the better. But what happens if you're closer to 60 than you are to 20? While starting to invest when you're younger does give you the advantage of time, it's never too late to start investing.
Contributions to these accounts may be tax-deductible, so your dividend reinvestments escape taxation at the time you make them. After that, your money grows tax-free over time. You do pay taxes on the reinvested dividends and earnings later when you withdraw funds in retirement.
Pension payments, annuities, and the interest or dividends from your savings and investments are not earnings for Social Security purposes. You may need to pay income tax, but you do not pay Social Security taxes.
Unearned Income. Unearned income includes investment-type income such as taxable interest, ordinary dividends, and capital gain distributions. It also includes unemployment compensation, taxable social security benefits, pensions, annuities, cancellation of debt, and distributions of unearned income from a trust.
