Lootman wrote:Same here. I look annually to see how they have changed, and to the extent I need to to prepare my tax return, but that's about it. I suppose if someone were literally living month-to-month off only their dividends then the issue might be more critical.
Agreed, but if someone were literally living month-to-month off only their dividends then they would have a lot more issues than just that one! No ability to cope with a dividend cut and no ability to cope with a significant unexpected item of expenditure, for example. And the standard ways of dealing with those issues - i.e. having a safety margin on the dividend income and an 'emergency fund' cash reserve - also deal with the irregular arrival of dividends.
Gengulphus