cashflo2u2
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2007
- Messages
- 332
Or both?
In other words, does one just use actual cash receipts of dividend and interest income received, or do a more lengthy exercise of looking up each individual security in the portfolio and ascertain what the payout has been using a third party, (e.g., go to Yahoo Finance click on historical prices and then click on dividends only) and apply that to the shares in your portfolio and come up with a proforma investment income profile?
Using the lengthy method has the benefit of putting everything in the portfolio on a spread sheet and seeing what it generated for the previous year (or whatever period) and then estimate for the coming year.
I did it both ways for 2008 and found it very enlightening and it had the side benefit of double checking the investment income receipts that were credited to me. In the long run the two should equal, but I am starting out this year (year one) and want to be consistent. Comparing each method it can have rather large timing differences especially year end special distributions declared in one year and received the next.
In other words, does one just use actual cash receipts of dividend and interest income received, or do a more lengthy exercise of looking up each individual security in the portfolio and ascertain what the payout has been using a third party, (e.g., go to Yahoo Finance click on historical prices and then click on dividends only) and apply that to the shares in your portfolio and come up with a proforma investment income profile?
Using the lengthy method has the benefit of putting everything in the portfolio on a spread sheet and seeing what it generated for the previous year (or whatever period) and then estimate for the coming year.
I did it both ways for 2008 and found it very enlightening and it had the side benefit of double checking the investment income receipts that were credited to me. In the long run the two should equal, but I am starting out this year (year one) and want to be consistent. Comparing each method it can have rather large timing differences especially year end special distributions declared in one year and received the next.