The best way for most people to invest the stock portion of their portfolio is to stuff it in an SP500 index and forget about it. When you include transaction costs, it’s very hard to beat this strategy consistently, especially with comparable risk. Jumping in and out when you think it’s going to go up or down only works with extreme luck. What money you do make over staying in the market is almost always siphoned away by transaction costs.
The vast majority of companies in the SP500 pay dividends. The whole strategy of putting money in it and holding depends on dividends and long term growth.
even if you own stock, you either don’t do it for the money (votes) or you need it to go up and down occasionally to buy low and sell high.
nobody enjoys spending >$200 per share, as it ties your gambling money, gets you less votes per buck and has so much more room to go down than up.
Stocks also pay dividends.
The best way for most people to invest the stock portion of their portfolio is to stuff it in an SP500 index and forget about it. When you include transaction costs, it’s very hard to beat this strategy consistently, especially with comparable risk. Jumping in and out when you think it’s going to go up or down only works with extreme luck. What money you do make over staying in the market is almost always siphoned away by transaction costs.
Dividends aren’t much though.
Also a lot of companies don’t pay dividends at all. They are meant just for gambling and voting. I think Twitter was like that, for example.
The vast majority of companies in the SP500 pay dividends. The whole strategy of putting money in it and holding depends on dividends and long term growth.