New: Question about Dividends

BenHouston said: "Hi, I am new to investing and I had a question about dividends, do common shareholders get paid dividends? A friend of mine said only preferred shareholders are paid dividends, if so how can I purchase preferred stock? Sorry if my questions seem basic or just plain dumb, I am new, just been reading investopedia and a few other sites for the last few weeks and very interested in learning to become active in the stock market Thanks Ben"

AlfredSokol said: "Your friend was mistaken. Common shareholders receive dividends."

alhamid said: "you usually can't purchase preferred stock without some sort of special deal with the company"

thezster said: "Dividends are fun...... kind of like "manna from heaven"..... and, as mentioned above, anyone owning shares get their fair share...."

AlfredSokol said: "Dividends can really make a big difference to long term investors."

xAnDienx said: "do dividends come as a transfer to your bank account? What I mean is, how are you paid the dividend?"

thezster said: "My dividends are deposited directly into the brokerage account where I hold/held the stocks that paid them. Your stocks are held in an account "somewhere"... When a dividend is paid, that account increases in value by the amount of the dividend. However, if you are enrolled in a DRIP (dividend reinvestment program) the amount of the dividend shows up as more stock in your account."

poldo said: "[QUOTE=xAnDienx]do dividends come as a transfer to your bank account? What I mean is, how are you paid the dividend?[/QUOTE] it varies by brokerage, you can reinvest them not all companies pay dividends some pay alot some pay almost nothing start investing with buyandhold.com or similar brokers, divident reinvestment is free and their monthly fees are low"