Hello would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m looking to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
I have only used Word Press, currently £7.20 a month, although there was a discount for the first six months. GL
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thank you!|
Sorry as I am unable to help, maybe u could use the spam filter on your server ?
The UK investment trusts yielding more than 4.5% (and growing dividends)
Tom Sieber Thursday, August 22
The Bank of England has made its first cut to interest rates for more than four years, which has a direct impact on the income savers will receive on cash. And the lower-than-expected jump in UK inflation reported on 14 August only boosted market expectations that the Bank of England could deliver another rate cut next month.
As the rate environment turns, those who want to grow the income their money generates may want to shift out of cash and money market funds and into the financial markets and, in particular, stocks and shares which offer the potential for both yield and capital appreciation. Dividend paying shares offer a generous income today, but with the added kicker of potential growth in that income stream into the future, although of course dividends are not guaranteed.
But investment trusts can be a good option for those wanting a steady income stream and some potential capital growth. Thanks to their structure, which allows them to hold back income during good years to help sustain payments in more fallow periods, investment trusts often have enviable track records of dividend growth going back years or even decades.
Because they are invested in a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying shares, they also reduce the risks of an individual company cutting or cancelling its dividend.
The yields available from trusts in the AIC (Association of Investment Companies) Global Equity Income sector are appreciably lower than those from the UK Equity Income category. This reflects the relatively depressed valuations in the UK market, particularly compared with the US, and a stronger dividend-paying tradition and higher payout ratios (i.e. the proportion of a company’s earnings paid out in dividends) than in other geographies.
Looking at the list (below) we have included everything with an historic dividend yield of 4.5% or more and have only included trusts that have delivered growth in their dividend over the past five years. This does exclude one of the trusts with the best five-year dividend growth (of more than 11%) in Law Debenture. While the starting yield is a relatively modest 3.7%, the company benefits from a unique combination of a traditional investment trust holding income stocks alongside a cash-generative professional services operating business.
Trust
Discount/premium (%)
10-year share price total return (%)
Ongoing charges (%)
Five-year dividend growth (%)
Dividend yield (%)
Chelverton UK Dividend Trust
1.7
88.3
2.4
7.0
7.5
Abrdn Equity Income Trust
−4.63
41.8
0.9
3.5
7.0
CT UK High Income Trust
−6.79
73.3
1.1
2.2
6.1
Shires Income
−10.20
71.1
1.1
1.8
6.0
Dunedin Income Growth
−11.40
70.0
0.6
2.0
4.9
JPMorgan Claverhouse
−5.05
93.5
0.7
4.6
4.8
Merchants Trust
0.8
105.8
0.6
1.8
4.8
Lowland Investment Company
−11.70
44.5
0.6
3.0
4.8
Schroder Income Growth Fund
−11.00
70.8
0.8
3.2
4.7
City of London
−0.58
84.5
0.4
2.1
4.7
Diverse Income Trust
−8.21
69.4
1.1
3.6
4.5
Source: AIC, data to 15 August
Of the names in the table, Chelverton UK Dividend has the highest yield at 7.5%. Two points to note: it invests in UK small caps – which can be more prone to cutting or cancelling dividends, and it also has very high ongoing charges – 2.44%, according to the AIC.
Another two names are worth highlighting for the income they offer today and income growth potential. The first is Dunedin Income Growth, which focuses on quality companies that meet its sustainability criteria as well as offering ‘real’ income growth over the long term. The trust focuses on names that can sustain dividends, even during tougher times. The portfolio includes UK-listed names like consumer goods giant Unilever and electricity network operator National Grid, supplemented by a couple of overseas selections in Novo Nordisk and ASML. The trust trades at a discount to net asset value (NAV) of 11%, has ongoing charges of 0.64% and yields 4.9%.
The other name in the list to highlight is JPMorgan Claverhouse, where a balanced approach, mixing growth and value, has helped deliver a measure of consistency in returns and where the company has pledged to increase dividends at a rate close to or above inflation. Steered by William Meadon and Callum Abbot, research firm Kepler notes the trust has outperformed in two-thirds of the quarterly periods since the former took over management of the trust in 2012. Like Dunedin there is a focus on quality as well as high yields, with top holdings including the likes of Shell and private equity outfit 3i Group. Ongoing charges are 0.7% and the historic yield is 4.8%.
Here’s how I’d invest my first £500 today for a future filled with passive income.
by John Fieldsend The Motley Fool
One of the less talked about aspects of making your money work for you is the psychological aspect. We are, after all, only human and come with a range of biases and whims we can’t control. And when it comes to our hard-earned money, it’s quite difficult to let go of them, especially when trying to build passive income through the short term erratic behaviour of the stock market.
Imagine investing for the first time in early 2020. I remember quite vividly what it felt like to watch my portfolio crash as the pandemic gripped the world. For a short time, it seemed like lockdowns would last a decade, the stock market would flounder and everything I’d worked towards in my life was going down the toilet. If that was my first time investing I might have wondered why on earth I would subject myself to such a feeling and would have thought: “This is definitely not for me.”
On the other hand, if I’d invested after the recession in 2009 it would have been quite the opposite. The recovery was swift for the FTSE 100. Investing in the index in March 2009 would have given me a 46% return in just a year.
I might have put in £1,000 and quickly seen it shot up to £1,460 or thereabouts and thought: “This is definitely for me.”
Sending us some cash While we can’t remove the element of timing entirely, we can limit its effect on our brains. One way to do that, and I think a great place to start for newer entrants to the world of investing, is dividends. This is where a company shares a portion of the profits directly. They literally send us the cash.
Therefore, even in a down year, we’d expect to see a tangible pile of cash in our accounts. And the FTSE 100 shines with many such big-paying companies that investors prize for reliable and large dividend payments.
Big fry One company like this, and one I hold myself, is Legal & General (LSE: LGEN). It operates in London’s large financial sector and earned revenue of £9bn last year against a market cap of £13bn. The company isn’t small fry, and neither is its dividend.
The forward dividend yield has been rising and now sits at 9.05%. That much cashback would make a pretty sight for a first £500 investment.
L&G has a strong balance sheet and earnings that are growing. These are signs that this isn’t just a stock to buy for a single year of payments, but that it can provide a good place to grow money over the longer term too.
Dividends aren’t guaranteed, of course. Lowered interest rates, if and when they come, will eat into margins a little. The looming threat of a possible global recession was brought more sharply into focus in recent weeks and that’s another point to be cautious of.
But for a first foray into stocks, I think targeting a big dividend payment can do a lot on the psychological side of things. It’s nice to see your money working for you and that’s what a chunky dividend provides in the form of a very real bundle of cash sitting in a brokerage account.
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The emotional benefits of dividend re-investment. In fact, with this investment strategy you can actually welcome falling share prices.
Dividend-paying stocks are companies that offer a regular payment to investors in the form of cash. The payments are measured as a percentage of the current stock price, usually paying out 1% to 3% APY.
But dividend stocks aren’t necessarily the best form of passive income. Here are a few downsides:
Dividends reduce the stock price
Dividends are taxed as income (unless in a tax-advantaged account)
You need a large investment to earn much per month
Dividend stocks can be great investments when you are looking for extra income, but to earn even $100 per month you usually would need thousands of dollars up front.
Bottom Line
Passive income isn’t the Holy Grail that everything says it is. It requires hard work and up-front investment.
Don’t expect to retire next year from passive income if you’re just getting started; it takes a while to build a meaningful income on the side. While you might need to take some action to build your passive income streams, it is worth it in the long run. Passive income can help you do more of what you enjoy and eventually quit your job once your passive income covers your monthly expenses. Until then, keep working hard to build more passive income into your life.
If the Snowball earns £9.5k in income this year and then u compound the earned dividends at 7%, the following will be your plan to follow.
After Ten years
income 19k pa
Twenty years
income 38k pa
Thirty years
income 76k pa
U will have to allow for inflation and in some years u may not be able to re-invest the earned dividends at 7% but the totals are not in doubt just the number of years.
Remember with compound growth, u make more income in the final years than in most of the early years.
Plant a twig
U may not have a pot of money for investment but investing monthly on a regular basis the following could be achieved.
Remember inflation, so £250 in 20 years would be a much lesser commitment than £250 today.
