Dividend Payment Dates

What this video covers

• The four dividend dates in order: declaration, ex-dividend, record, and payable, and the D-E-R-P memory aid for common stock
• Who sets each date: the company's board sets declaration, record, and payable; the listing exchange or FINRA sets the stock's ex-dividend date
• Why the ex-dividend date and record date fall on the same business day under T+1 settlement, and how that settlement timing determines dividend eligibility
• The golden rule for dividend eligibility: buy before the ex-date to receive the dividend, buy on or after and you get nothing
• How mutual funds break from stock rules: the fund's board sets its own ex-date, which falls one business day after the record date (D-R-E-P sequence)
• The automatic price drop on the ex-date and why it represents a market adjustment, not a capital loss or decline in company value
• The interplay between trade date, settlement date, and record date when calculating the last eligible day to purchase a dividend-paying stock