Frugal Trader – why I’m living off dividends and distributions + MORE Oct 22nd

EBay’s third-quarter profit and sales topped estimates as more people used the online marketplace to buy and sell goods, putting the company on solid ground after its recent split from PayPal

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A short while ago on My Own Advisor I wrote a controversial post about the intent to live off dividends and distributions form our portfolio.  I know some investors don’t agree with my approach. That’s fine. For me, it’s something we’re striving for, for a few reasons:

There are simply too many unknowns about the future.  Having ample capital for our financial future will give us many options, including the option to retire early and convert to a total return approach if we really want to.
If we are able to keep our capital intact we don’t need to worry as much about when to sell shares or ETF units, there are less decisions to make, and consequently there will be less transaction costs and portfolio manipulation.
Saving and investing this way is my form of forced savings – there is motivation.

I recently caught up with a few dividend investors to ask them some questions about their financial freedom journey, including any plans to “live off dividends and distributions”…

SEOUL, South Korea – Hyundai Motor Co. says its quarterly earnings slumped 25 per cent over a year earlier to the lowest level in more than five years.
South Korea’s largest automaker said Thursday its third-quarter net income was 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) for July-September quarter.
The result, its worst since the first quarter of 2010, was below the lowest estimate by analysts. The maker of Sonata and Tucson vehicles was expected to post 1.5 trillion won in quarterly profit, according to FactSet, a financial data provider.
Hyundai has suffered from weakening sales in China like some other foreign brands while its lack of new SUV models until recently led to lower market share in key markets. The company has focused on sedans rather than SUVs, misreading consumer demand.
The post Hyundai Motor reports lowest earnings in more than 5 years after misjudging demand for SUVs appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

Ferrari stock whizzed out of the starting gate on the New York Stock Exchange with a 16 per cent increase over its issue price, and by day’s end was still up 5.7 per cent.

FRANKFURT – German automaker Daimler AG says net profit fell 14 per cent to 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in the third quarter, due to a large one-time gain a year ago from selling a stake in Rolls-Royce Power Systems Holding.
Otherwise the Stuttgart-based company saw record sales for its Mercedes-Benz brand of luxury cars and increasing profits from its ongoing businesses.
The company said Thursday it saw a strong sales contribution from its new C-Class sedan and its SUV models. Sales of Mercedes-Benz cars rose strongly in China, Britain, Italy and Spain.
Revenues rose 13 per cent to 37.3 billion euros. Profits rose 31 per cent to 3.6 billion euros, measured before financial items and excluding the 1.0 billion sales of the Rolls-Royce stake a year ago.
Chief financial officer Bodo Uebber credited a renewed and broadened model line and the increased profits and sales figures show that “we have the right products in the market.”
The company’s net profit figure beat estimates for 2…