wandle wrote:RobertT wrote:
Plus, we will have 6 months to decide whether to buy or not, starting on 1st December.
If you are correct, it would be good, because by the time we reach 1st June 2018, the pension issue WILL have been resolved, one way or another, because the current scheme IS closing, and there has to be something in place on April 1st to replace it. So the uncertainty weighing the share price down will have lifted.
In my opinion, if you truly believe the share price will be higher then than it is now, you really should convert your savings into shares on or around 1st December, not wait until late-May before deciding. Why? Well, the 'record date' to be eligible for the interim dividend (following the half-year results announcement) will follow within a week or so of 1st December, so if you convert to shares early, you'll get a dividend payment of 590 x 7.5p* [£44.25] that you
won't get if you delay converting into shares.
Sell the shares you converted into in early July 2018, and you'll have been a shareholder on the 'record date' for eligibility / entitlement to the full-year dividend too, likely to be at least 15.7p*
That's a total of 23.2p in a little over 7 months on shares acquired for 360p
Show me where you can get a 6.44% tax-free return on the high street, and I'll happily withdraw my savings to park them there !
The share price would have to be below 342p for you to have 'lost out' compared to just taking your savings as cash, when you consider the 2 dividend payments, and a dealing cost of say £25.
*assumes maximum amount paid-in (£14.75/week) and only a modest increase from this financial year's dividend payments
