equity income and dividends
Educational articles in this subcategory.
Evaluating Payout Ratios and Coverage: The Numbers That Predict Dividend Cuts
Payout ratio analysis—calculating what percentage of earnings a company pays as dividends—shows up in portfolio decisions as **avoiding dividend cuts ...
Yield on Cost vs. Current Yield: The Debate
Dividend investors argue endlessly about which yield metric matters more. Some celebrate their **57% yield on cost** from stocks bought decades ago. O...
Free Cash Flow Tests for Dividend Safety: The Metric That Catches Problems First
Free cash flow analysis—testing whether dividends are funded by actual cash rather than accounting profits—shows up in portfolios as **early warning o...
BDC Dividends and Pass-Through Status: High Yields, High Stakes
Business Development Companies routinely yield **8-14%**—four to seven times the S&P 500's dividend yield. That's not a typo. These pass-through entit...
Using ETFs and CEFs for Dividend Exposure
Building a dividend portfolio stock-by-stock exposes you to concentration risk that fund structures can solve. One dividend cut (Walgreens with its **...
Monthly vs. Quarterly Dividend Programs: Does Payment Frequency Matter?
New income investors obsess over monthly dividend stocks. The appeal is obvious: **cash hitting your account 12 times a year feels like a paycheck**. ...
Impact of Buybacks on Income Investors
Share buybacks have quietly become the dominant form of shareholder return, yet most income investors ignore them entirely. S&P 500 companies are on t...
Handling Foreign Dividend Withholding as a US Investor
You buy shares of a quality European dividend payer, expecting a 4% yield. Then the dividend arrives and **only 3.4% shows up**—the rest vanished to f...
Tracking Ex-Dividend Dates and Capture Strategies
Dividend capture—buying before the ex-date, selling after—looks like easy money until you run the math. The stock price drops by approximately the div...
High-Yield Stocks: Separating Opportunity from Trap
High-yield stocks—those offering yields significantly above the S&P 500's **1.3-1.5%**—show up in portfolios as either **sustainable income exceeding ...
Glossary of Dividend Investing Terms
Dividend investing has its own vocabulary. This glossary defines the 28 terms you'll encounter most frequently, organized alphabetically for quick ref...
Qualified vs. Ordinary Dividend Tax Rules: The Difference That Costs You 17%
Two investors receive identical $10,000 dividend payments. One pays $1,500 in taxes. The other pays $3,200. The difference isn't tax fraud—it's unders...
Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs): Automate Your Compounding
Dividend reinvestment plans—automatic programs that use dividend payments to buy more shares—show up in portfolios as **accelerated share accumulation...
Ex-Dividend Date, Record Date, Payment Date
## Why It Matters Ex-Dividend Date, Record Date, Payment Date provides a systematic framework for interpreting market information and identifying opp...
Tax Treatment of Qualified vs. Ordinary Dividends
## Why It Matters Tax Treatment of Qualified vs. Ordinary Dividends provides a systematic framework for interpreting market information and identifyi...
Dividend Cuts, Suspensions, and Warning Signs
## Why It Matters Dividend Cuts, Suspensions, and Warning Signs provides a systematic framework for interpreting market information and identifying o...
Sector-Specific Dividend Practices (Utilities, Financials, Tech)
## Why It Matters Sector-Specific Dividend Practices (Utilities, Financials, Tech) provides a systematic framework for allocating capital across mark...
Covered Call Strategies for Income Enhancement
## Why It Matters Covered Call Strategies for Income Enhancement provides a systematic framework for interpreting market information and identifying ...
Impact of Buybacks on Dividend Policy
## Why It Matters Impact of Buybacks on Dividend Policy provides a systematic framework for interpreting market information and identifying opportuni...