The Brain Dump

It might be misleading to hold a stock for a long time and then check the stock profile to see the current dividend yield to get an idea of what a current holding is paying out.  The power of compounded interest has been hashed and re-hashed over the years but it's worth looking at compounded interest on dividend reinvestment  in terms of the growth of effective dividend yield. Let's take for example one of the stocks in my dividend portfolio. Universal Health Realty Income Trust (UHT).  I've held this stock since 2015 in my retirement account when I purchased 700 shares for about $49 per share. At the time, they paid a fairly juicy 5+% dividend yield but as the stock price has risen over the last 4 years the dividend yield has fallen to about 2.69% (still nothing to sneeze at with the rates banks are paying these days). Just for clarity, dividend reinvestment (DRIP) is when you own shares in a company that pays a dividend and when the dividends are paid out, the mo

My daughter recently graduated and started her first job out of school and I thought some of the things we helped her figure out during her first week of work would be helpful for other young professionals who are venturing out into their first step into adulting. Most kids coming out of college have grown used to living on the bare minimum and should leverage that minimalist life style to great advantage.  My daughter once mused to herself that if she could live on less than $500 per month while going to school, what was she going to do with $2,500 a month? Save! was my simple answer.  Your future self will thank your younger self, even if you don't see or understand why today. Life Rule #1: The earlier you start saving and investing, the more money you'll have when you are ready to retire. If you started saving your summer job money and didn't use any of it for college, it's a great head start, but you're not done yet! It's important to get enrol