Da5id wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:18 amClearly somebody can't grasp something.
I guess this is directed at me.
I'm not sure what I'm not grasping. In the idealized world of academic finance, I can understand the argument that capital gains are superior to dividends. In theory, it should work well in practice. In practice, it doesn't always work like theory says it should.
We live in an imperfect world. People are flawed. A lot of people, especially politicians, suffer from OPM Syndrome. That's Other People's Money Syndrome. It's characterized by people being careless spending Other People's Money.
Real life business owners who have structured their businesses as C Corps want to get cash out of a corporation. A return of equity through a dividend is how it's done.
I think people forget that when they buy a share of stock, they are becoming a partner in a business. When you buy a share of a mutual fund, you are becoming a partial owner in many businesses. You must accept that the large voting blocks in any business are always going to make decisions that fit their interests, not the interests of some minute fractional owner in an index fund. The large blocks of ownership are not going to sell shares to get cash and lose control of their voting rights. This is fantasy. When you buy shares in a public company, you're giving up control. You're essentially a silent partner.
If you don't like the return of equity in your business, I don't know what to say.