Shares or Dividend

Anyone who knows that for sure is sitting on their own private tropical island and not reading this newsgroup. In the great scheme of things though, its small beer, isnt it? Shares are 16 each or so? so they might give you (say) 10 shares or perhaps `150 or something around that, a year? Thats isnt going to make a major impact on most mortgages is it?Probably better to take the shares , on the grounds that 150/year will dissappear anyway, whereas after 7 years at least you'd havea grand or so......well it would dissappear if you gave it to me (feel free to:-).

Tricia, your best plan is to take the dividends as shares, as the dealing costs are minimal and you get the benefit of compounding.

With current dividends of 10.8p interim and 22.15p final, your yield is about 4% tax paid for a standard rate payer, at the current price of 815p..

Presumably you were a BoS mortgagor, and not a beneficiary of the Halifax demutualisation.

Over 7 years it is probable that both share price and dividends will have risen to some extent. Your compounding will be enhanced by both events. You may not have a shortfall on your endowment by then, depending on the life company involved and its investment policy.

I was and still am a Halifax mortgagor and got 200 shares because of it. Now I have 209 So as I asked before what is considered the best deal? A dividend or shares? If I go for a dividend, in 7 years I will still have 209 shares. Or if I take the share option I might have 220 shares in 7 years, or not! As was stated, 209 shares is not a lot in the great scheme of life Nor is 220. That is the dillema, take the money or the shares? According to moneyextra they are worth 1703.35. What were they worth when I got them? What will they be worth when my partner retires in 7 years. Do you know how many shares I will get this year? So many variables for 209 shares. I think I will keep getting the shares as what will I get in dividends? 77 approx this year which will just be frittered away on another hard drive and memory for my computer Thanks Tricia

In message , Tricia writes

Take the shares. You get as many shares as the dividend can buy. So you are in the same position, BUT you will get a bigger divi in shares next time because you will have more shares. In other words, you get compound interest on the shares.

You ask what the shares were worth when you got them? Well you got them for free so everything you get is profit.

Tricia, you must have had some cash back when they did a share consolidation, back in 1999. You should have got a new share certificate, unless you held your shares in a Halifax account.

What has probably happened is that you worked your way up to some figure, maybe 220 shares, then dropped 50 due to the restructuring, and have since worked your way back up to 209.

The shares cost you ZERO in the eyes of the Inland Revenue. Somewhere you have about £130 from that capital reorganisation. You could always reinvest that in HBOS shares.