(07-09-2015, 03:43 PM)Kerim Wrote: I tend to agree with the general sentiment here -- if the incoming dividends are small, it makes sense to just reinvest and let the positions grow without the drag of fees. As the dividends grow over the years, the argument for accumulating the dividends and investing them in the best available opportunities starts to make more sense.
If you do accumulate and manually reinvest, you can choose from the whole universe of stocks though, and are not limited to just those in your portfolio that are "underperformers," which is I think what you are proposing?
I would agree if one is in the accumulation mode and are adding money to the pot as well. Then you would be buying regardless and could add the dividends to your selection.
As we are retired and hold all of our positions, re-investing in the same stocks is what I would do, even if I added more funds. We have several stocks that pay us up to $3,000 per Qtr in dividends and like being able to reinvest at no cost.