Dividend & Income Investing
Learn how to judge whether a dividend is safe, compare growth and high-yield strategies with real maths, understand income instruments such as REITs, preferred shares and option-income ETFs, and build a written income plan with sensible rules.
Self-study course Self-study course: written lessons, videos and downloadable materials for independent learning. There is no supervision, assessment, individual feedback or tutoring. Self-check quizzes are evaluated automatically in your browser — we do not see your results.
All 13 lessons free
Before you start
- Basic knowledge of shares, dividends and payout ratios (course Stocks & Fundamental Analysis)
- Familiarity with ETFs and the difference between distributing and accumulating units
- Comfort with percentages, compound growth and a simple spreadsheet
What you will be able to do
- Compare a dividend-growth and a high-yield strategy with yield-on-cost and total-return calculations over twenty years
- Calculate earnings, free-cash-flow and FFO payout ratios and normalise cyclical earnings before judging dividend safety
- Recognise the warning signals of a dividend cut and apply them to a company's published numbers
- Explain how dividend aristocrat, REIT, BDC, MLP, preferred-share and covered-call products generate income and what risks each carries
- Calculate net yield after foreign withholding tax and understand why ETF domicile changes your income
- Build a diversified income watchlist and portfolio with position caps, a cash-flow calendar and a written dividend-cut response rule
Lessons in this course
Dividend growth versus high yield: yield on cost and the twenty-year maths
Compare a low-yield, fast-growing dividend with a high, slow-growing one using yield on cost, cumulative income and total return over twenty years.
Payout ratios in depth: earnings, free cash flow, dividend cover and normalised earnings
Calculate earnings and free-cash-flow payout ratios, apply dividend cover to utilities and REITs, and normalise cyclical earnings before judging a dividend.
Yield traps: the five signals that a dividend is about to be cut
Learn five measurable warning signs of a dividend cut and see how they appeared before several well-known cuts.
Dividend aristocrats and quality-dividend ETFs: index rules, concentration and survivorship
Understand how dividend aristocrat and quality-dividend indices select and weight shares, where they concentrate, and what their back-tested records do not show.
REITs, BDCs and MLPs as income instruments: coverage, leverage and risks for a euro investor
Compare the three main US-style high-distribution structures on distribution coverage and leverage, and understand the tax, access and currency risks for an investor in Germany.
Preferred shares and hybrid bonds: fixed dividends, calls, deferral and ranking
Learn how preferred shares, corporate hybrids and bank AT1 bonds pay, when the issuer can call or defer, and where each ranks if the issuer fails.
Covered-call and option-income ETFs: how the distribution is made and what you give up
See how option-income ETFs turn call premiums into monthly distributions, why their total return lags in rising markets, and how to judge them honestly.
Withholding Tax and Net Yield: Treaty Rates, W-8BEN and Why ETF Domicile Changes Your Income
Calculate the net yield a German investor keeps from US, Swiss, French and Irish payers, understand the W-8BEN and credit mechanics, and see why an ETF's domicile changes your income.
Ex-Dividend Price Mechanics and Why Dividend Capture Does Not Work
Follow the dividend timeline step by step, understand why the price drops on the ex-date, and calculate with numbers why buying before and selling after the dividend loses money after tax and costs.
Dividends versus Buybacks versus Accumulating: Total Shareholder Yield and Tax Efficiency
Measure total shareholder yield, see how a buyback changes earnings per share, and calculate why selling shares or holding an accumulating fund is often taxed more lightly in Germany than receiving the same cash as a dividend.
Building a Dividend-Growth Watchlist: Screening Criteria, Safety Scores and Dividend History Checks
Set numeric screening thresholds, build a ten-point dividend safety score, verify a company's dividend history properly and keep the watchlist balanced across sectors.
Income Portfolio Construction: Yield Targets, Position and Sector Caps, a Cash-Flow Calendar and Reinvestment Rules
Translate a net income need into a gross yield target, set position, sector and income-concentration caps, build a monthly dividend calendar and write reinvestment rules you can follow.
A Written Income Plan: Twelve-Month Cash-Flow Projection and a Dividend-Cut Response Rule
Write a one-page income plan with a twelve-month gross and net projection, a reserve rule, a stress case and a pre-committed response to a dividend cut, then test it against a hypothetical cut.
Factor Investing: Value, Momentum, Quality and the Evidence
After this course, continue with Factor Investing: Value, Momentum, Quality and the Evidence to see how dividend strategies fit into the wider research on systematic equity factors.
View course outline