INCORPORATING DIVIDEND CAPTURE STRATEGY INTO MY INVESTMENT PLAN

I don't really have the kind of money it takes to make money with the dividend capture strategy, where you buy in to a stock before the ex-dividend date, hold until the record date (so you collect the dividend), then hopefully sell for the same price or a little higher to make a quick profit.  To make this approach profitable, you'd have to have a great deal to invest in each stock, otherwise it just wouldn't pan out.

However, I've modified the plan to fit my investment style.  Instead of trying to capture dividends and sell for a quick gain, before I make a cash purchase of additional shares in current holdings, I review the ex-dividend dates of the stocks I want to invest in and pick the one that will get me the next dividend.  I wanted to buy a stake in CSX, but before I made the purchase I checked the ex-dividend date, placed my order and qualified for a quarterly dividend less than a month after purchasing my shares.  Today I wanted to put some extra cash to work, so I checked the ex dates on two of the monthly dividend payers I want to increase stakes in.  As a result, instead of having to wait a month or two for the extra dividends to kick in, I placed an order for AOD shares and will collect dividends for the new shares this month!  This will boost monthly dividends from AOD by 8% and increase overall monthly dividends by 1% beginning this month.  

So even though some investment strategies may not be right for you, it's a good idea to look them over and see if there are any positive aspects you can incorporate into your own investment plan.  I'm expecting the dividend capture strategy to boost monthly cash flows significantly in 2016.