Investing made simple: The Motley Fool's essential guide to investing is now available to the public, free of cost, at http://bit.ly/1atRpHZ. This resource is truly all you need to get started today. To claim your free copy, simply click the link above -- no credit card required! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dividend investing has become one of the most popular investment strategies for millions of investors, as it gives you the potential both to get substantial income from your portfolio and to reap the long-term growth that stocks offer. But many investors still don't have all the facts about dividend investing. In this video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, discusses three things that many people don't know about dividend investing. Dan opens by noting that it's important to understand that dividends don't always track a stock's earnings potential. For instance, real estate investment trust Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) and master limited partnership Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) are both required to distribute nearly all of their income as dividend distributions in order to keep their favorable tax status. By contrast, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) also pay relatively healthy dividends, but they pay only a small fraction of their overall earnings to investors. The second thing Dan discusses is that in many cases, looking for dividend growth rather than high current yields can pay off in the long run. High-yield stocks often end up cutting their dividends, causing loss of income and often a subsequent share-price drop. Finally, Dan concludes by discussing the behavior of stocks that declare special distributions and why you should think twice about buying a stock that has just announced a special dividend. Visit us on the web at http://www.fool.com, home to the world's greatest investing community. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to The Motley Fool's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/TheMotleyFool Or, follow our Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/+MotleyFool/posts Inside The Motley Fool: Check out our Culture Blog! http://culture.fool.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/themotleyfool Follow The Motley Fool on Twitter: https://twitter.com/themotleyfool
Visibility: 19796
Duration: 3m 3s
Rating: 49