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6 Reasons You Should Start Investing In Your 20’s

So, you’ve hit your 20s and all of a sudden, the time seems to be flying by. But before you know it, your twenties will be over and you’ll be looking back at all the opportunities you missed out on. Here are six reasons you should start investing in your 20s.

#1. You Have Time

You’ve plenty of time to make money back. Investing doesn’t need to be a major priority in your twenties, but if you want to make the most of your money, it’s Important to start investing early. The longer you wait the harder it will be to make a return of your investment.

#2. You have control Over Your Finances

You’ve a lot of control over your finances. When you invest you have power to choose which investments to make and when wanting to invest can be like giving that power away; you might make choices that aren’t in your best interest.

#3. You have more control over your future

Investing can give a leg upon your competition. By starting early you can put yourself in a better position to achieve your financial goals.

Read: 5 Key Dividend Things You Need to Know About Dividend

#4. You can afford to take risks.

When you’ve less to lose you can afford to take bigger risks in the hope of gaining bigger returns. You can afford to be more aggressive and comfortable investing in risky assets like stocks, cryptocurrency, digital assets, etc

#5. You can compound your money

The longer you delay investing the harder it will be to make money you’ve work for you . but if you stat investing in your twenties , you can see the returns grow over time.

#6. You can diversify your portfolio

By investing in a variety of assets, you minimize your risks and maximize your potential for growth.

Finally,

Investing in your twenties can be a great way to set up yourself for a more secure future. I’ve always been a great believer in starting early and putting my money to work. And think that investing is especially important for people in their twenties. These some of the reasons why I belive that investors in their 20s should consider investing as part of their overall financial plans.

Most twenty something today haven’t experienced many major financial changes in life yet. And they may not really understand the importance of investing early. That is why is up to us to show them the benefits of investing early in their lives

Most people who buy company shares do so to earn dividend. Ofcourse, it is common reward for investing. But there’re certain facts about dividend you probably didn’t know. Here 5 key things to know about dividend payment.

#1. Dividend is a share of profit

Dividend is the proportion of the year’s profit that a company pays to ordinary shareholders. Ordinary shareholders are generally part owners of the company. They are the risk takers in that they stand the risk of losing their entire investment should the company go under.

In contrast preference shareholders receive their dividend whether the company makes profit or not. Preference shareholders are paid fixed amount of return and it is payable whether or not the company makes a profit. And in the event of the company going under, preferred shareholders’ investment must be paid in accordance prevailing legal provisions.

#2. Companies Can Only Pay Dividend Out of Profit

Dividend is a proportion of the profit a company pays its owners. Thus, it follows that if profit is not made, shareholders should not expect to receive dividend.

That’s why it is important that when considering a stock to buy, a potential investor should look at the past dividend history. ‘How often does this company pay dividend?’ and in what proportion, are questions your research must provide answers to before you decide to invest in a company shares.

#3. Not all companies pay dividend

As we have identified in previous paragraphs, companies pay dividend out of profits. This means that companies that are not making profits are not likely to pay dividend.

Stocks of companies that consistently pay dividend are often described as dividend stocks. Thus, if you are one who is interested in earning regular dividend income, consider investing in dividend stocks.

#4. Dividend Yield

Dividend yield is an important calculation. It’s the value of dividend that a company pays relative to the market price of the shares. Savvy investors use this ratio to evaluate returns on their investment when compared to other alternatives.

#5. Not all Investors May Qualify to Earn Dividend

If you buy a company shares within the ex-div date, you will not receive the dividend because, the registrars must have closed the register of shareholder by this date.

So when you are buying a stock, pay attention to the dates. There are four important dates when it comes to dividend payment. These are:

Declaration Date – That’s the date the company announces that it will pay dividend to shareholders. Such announcement will state the amount of dividend payable, the payment date, and the closure of register date.

Payment date – This is the date the actual dividend will be paid or distributed to qualifying shareholders

Qualification date – This is the date or interval within which the registrars will keep the shareholder register open. This is done to allow the register be updated with the movement of shares amongst buyers and sellers.

Closure Date – This is the date the Registrars of the company will close the register of shareholders for the payment of dividend.

Only shareholders whose names are on the register on the date the records is closed are qualified to receive the dividend.

Thus, if you bought a stock and expects to receive the dividend, don’t sell till after the closure of the register. If you did, you will be selling ex-div (i.e without the dividend). The person who bought the shares from you will receive the dividend.

Other Important Things to Know About Dividend Payment

How Companies Pay Dividend to Their Shareholders

The Registrars of a company is responsible for the management of shareholders information. The keep the register of shareholders, update the records, and distribute dividend.

Dividend is usually a cash distribution paid directly to shareholders bank account. At a time, payment used to be in the form of dividend warrants which functions like a cheque.

The warrants were sent to shareholders via their postal addresses. On receipt, the shareholder lodges the warrant into his bank account for clearing.

However, due to increasing incidence of unclaimed dividend, Registrars now adopt direct credit of dividend into shareholders bank account.

Read: 6 Reasons to Start Investing In Your 20’s

In Nigeria, where direct distribution of dividend is somewhat a recent distribution, registrars still send dividend warrants. However, the regulators are working towards achieving a total direct distribution of dividends to shareholders bank account.

E-Dividend Mandate

In this regards, the market is currently implementing the e-dividend mandate policy which requires all shareholders to update their bank records with their respective registrars.

Implementing the e-dividend mandate program ensure you receive your dividend each time your company pays it.

How to go about it? Collect the forms from the registrars or download same from their website. Complete the form and supply the necessary information such as your name, account number, etc and return to the registrar with a copy of your passport photographs.

The Registrars will thereafter update your records and you will begin to have your dividend directly credited to your bank account. You can also return the completed form to your Bank. Your bank will upload same to the EDD platform from where the relevant registrars will pick the form and do the needful.

We Can Help

These are some of the things you should know about dividend payment

Part of our investment support service is to help investors liaise with stockbrokers and registrars to open cscs account and resolves dividend issues.