Now kittykats eat a lot of kittyfood, and go through an amazing amount of kittylitter, and they’ll never leave home and embark on careers of their own. This has forced us to seriously begin to put away money so we can keep them up to the ‘standard to which they’ve become accustomed’ in their golden years
Without a lottery win, so far this life anyway, dan has started to invest a little bit each month in a number of companies. With amounts that brokers would denigrate as ‘piddling’ he has had to begin investing in DRIPS or dividend reinvestment plans that allow investments of as little as $25. This is a great way to build up a portfolio of stocks over the long haul. Some companies allow you to simply send them money, along with an enrollment form - direct purchase. Others need you to own one share of stock before you can sign up - for these companies you'll need the help of a broker, or, use the services of NAIC or The MoneyPaper.
NAIC, the National Association of Investment Clubs, helps you get into the DRIPs of a number of companies for an easy to swallow $10 commission. You simply send off enough cash to cover the purchase of one share, an additional $15 to cover price fluctuation, and the commission. They get you set up in the plan and you’re on your way - it may take up to three months before you’re registered in the plan, but, that’s OK, this method of investing is for the long haul anyway.
From this humble beginning you start to build your investment by having dividends automatically reinvested, and, sending in more cash to purchase shares. Most companies invest cash contributions once a month, some once a quarter . In twenty years dan figures the portfolio he’s building may be able to spin off enough cash to go along on one of the investment cruises that NAIC sponsors. To take advantage of this program you’ll need to be a member. With a monthly newsletter chock full of information and instruction of selecting companies its well worth the money.
The MoneyPaper is a newsletter aimed at the DRIP investor. It has even created its own ‘index’ of stocks, made up of DRIP companies, which it reports on in each issue so you can compare your own DRIP portfolio against something other that the Dow Jones or S & P indices. Each month they pick a theme, look for the best DRIP companies fitting that theme, and offer to get you started in their DRIPs. They charge a little more than NAIC ( dan thinks the commission was $15 last time he bought) but give access to a larger number of companies.
One of the things dan likes best about the MoneyPaper is something called %Invest™. A simple percentage number (between %50 and %150) is assigned to each DRIP stock based on the current price in relation to its yearly high and low. The idea is to start with $100, or some such amount that you want to invest monthly, and send the company more or less as determined by multiplying the %Invest number by the amount. In this way you will end up sending more money (buying more shares) when the stock is depressed, less money (buying fewer shares) when it is near its high. Now that’s all fine and dandy if you’re rich but dan isn’t, and has opened DRIPs with 80 or so companies. So, he uses the %Invest™ percentages to determine which company to send money to each month (of course there are some companies like Intel, Motorola, McDonalds & Coke that always seem worthy of a contribution!) So far it’s worked out pretty well - check back here in 20 years!
There is also a Canadian source to help you get invested:
Canadian Shareowners AssociationThe kittykats are actually getting quite a bit of fun out of this DRIP investing - they just don’t know it. Some of the companies send out quarterly reports, or investment statements, in those strange envelope/paper combinations that you have to tear 3 side strips off to open. That long strip along the wide side is a favorite toy! Bent, just a little, and thrown across a linoleum floor, it’s a cat magnet! They chase it, bat at it, slam into walls as they run after it, and, Nicky will actually fetch it back to be thrown again (if she’s in the mood, and you aren’t standing there with company who you have just told about this cute trick!). So, while dan waits to reap the benefits of DRIP investing, the kittykats enjoy it now.
For more information on DRIPs try these pages:
American Association of Individual Investors
Charles Carlson's DRIP Newsletter