First, congratulations for recognizing at such an early age the importance of starting your investment for retirement. I certainly didn't even consider investing at such an early age.
Secondly, I believe you've hit on the right strategy, dividend growth investing.
What I would suggest is consider your investment options:
1. Can you take advantage of a company plan where they would match or contribute to your savings.
2. Can you buy stocks in a registered plan?
3. Have you considered Company DRIP's and those which will allow you to invest additional funds at no cost?
As for how to calculate the value of a stock, I've given up on many of the standard methods and prefer to stick to Dividend Yield (after I've selected a list of stocks I want to follow). I look at the company's long term average yield (say 10 yrs) and try to only buy when the current yield is higher than the average.
From your readings (and those mentioned on this site) you can easily identify 10 to 20 stocks which will be great DG stocks to buy. Check the dividend history (min 10 yrs, prefer longer than 25) and dividend growth history. Avoid cyclical stocks.
I also maintain a buy price for each stock on my list which usually is less than my current average cost of the stock and offers a higher yield than the long term average.
At your age I would re-invest the dividends and add to my positions regularly. Don't look to sell to take profits. If you have limited funds than don't spread yourself over a large number of stocks, find 10 to 15 good DG stocks and ignore all the rest. Buying and selling will cost you in the long run.
Secondly, I believe you've hit on the right strategy, dividend growth investing.
What I would suggest is consider your investment options:
1. Can you take advantage of a company plan where they would match or contribute to your savings.
2. Can you buy stocks in a registered plan?
3. Have you considered Company DRIP's and those which will allow you to invest additional funds at no cost?
As for how to calculate the value of a stock, I've given up on many of the standard methods and prefer to stick to Dividend Yield (after I've selected a list of stocks I want to follow). I look at the company's long term average yield (say 10 yrs) and try to only buy when the current yield is higher than the average.
From your readings (and those mentioned on this site) you can easily identify 10 to 20 stocks which will be great DG stocks to buy. Check the dividend history (min 10 yrs, prefer longer than 25) and dividend growth history. Avoid cyclical stocks.
I also maintain a buy price for each stock on my list which usually is less than my current average cost of the stock and offers a higher yield than the long term average.
At your age I would re-invest the dividends and add to my positions regularly. Don't look to sell to take profits. If you have limited funds than don't spread yourself over a large number of stocks, find 10 to 15 good DG stocks and ignore all the rest. Buying and selling will cost you in the long run.