There are four important dates that a dividend investor must keep in mind when investing in dividend paying stocks such as Bank of America or Pfizer. These dates tell the investor such things as when dividends will be declared and when the dividends will actually show up in your account. Knowing when the cash will be in your account is very valuable, especially for those people who are living off of their dividend income.
The four dates to consider are:
1. Declaration date: The date on which the board of directors announces to shareholders and the market as a whole that the company will pay a dividend.
2. Date of record: The date on which the company looks at its records to see who the shareholders of the company are. An investor must be listed as a shareholder to receive the dividend.
3. Date of payment: The date the company mails out the dividends.
4. Ex-dividend date: An investor must own the stock before the ex-dividend date to be eligible for the dividend payout.
You will notice that I put the Ex-Dividend date as the one that is most important. This is date that you need to be on the list by in order to receive the dividend. I know this all may seem very confusing – but Investopedia has created a good little explanation. Click the image below to see it.
Hope this helps in determining when you will receive your next dividend payments!
I would suggest that you discuss these 4 dates in the chronology order that they appear. I use the neumonic D.E.R.P. to remember the order.
D – declaration
E – ex dividend
R – record
P – payment
That’s the chronological order / timing of how the dates work as it relates to dividend. Often the timeframe between ex-dividend and record is 3 days, the same amount of time for most stock sale settlements.
That’s very helpful, thanks!