How dividend reinvestment plans work
When an investor enrolls in a dividend reinvestment plan, he will no longer receive dividends in the mail or directly deposited into his brokerage account. Instead, those dividends will be used to purchase additional shares of stock in the company that paid the dividend. There are several advantages to investing in DRIPs; they are:Benefits of enrolling in a dividend reinvestment plan
- Enrolling in a DRIP is easy. The paperwork (both online and in print) can normally be filled out in under one minute.
- Dividends are automatically reinvested. Once the investor has enrolled in a DRIP, the process becomes entirely automated and requires no more attention or monitoring.
- Many dividend reinvestment plans are often part of a direct stock purchase plan. If the investor holds at least one of his shares directly, he can have his checking or savings account automatically debited on a regular basis to purchase additional shares of stock.
- Purchases through dividend reinvestment programs are normally subject to little or no commission.
- Dividend reinvestment plans allow the investor to purchase fractional shares. Over decades, this can result in significantly more wealth in the investor's hands.
- An investor can enroll only a limited number of shares in the dividend reinvestment plan and continue to receive cash dividends on the remaining shares.
