RE:RE:Paid "TODAY" SEPT 20th :>))I wouldn't base a DRIP decision on whether or not a discount was in place, unless it was a tiebreaker between two stocks. A discount, even if as high as 3%, does not accelerate the DRIP as much as you might guess. You'd need to be quite young for the extra compunding to amount to much over a long time, and it assumes the DRIP will be there 'forever'.
Try running historical numbers for a 2% DRIP on the banks and insurance companies and see what the overall compounded effect is after five years (remember to use discrete share counts because you can't receive fractional shares from your broker). Unless you hold vast numbers of shares, there is little discount-related gain in DRIP share counts because the share prices in this sector are too large compared to the divided received. For example, at current share price, if RY had a 2% discount, you'd have to be receiving at least 25 shares per quarter to have at least a 50% chance of the discount gaining you a single extra share in any single quarter.
A discount can make a meaningful difference when share price is not large compared to the divided received, but this is usually associated with higher-risk stocks and unsteady shareholder return.
Generally, if you're looking for the most DRIP bang for the buck: (1) DRIP the stocks in your portfolio that are undervalued but not high-risk, and (2) turn the DRIPs off for stocks that are overvalued.
Don't DRIP high-risk stocks; get some cash back quickly from them in case their dividends are reduced or halted (in which case you may find you've been DRIPing something that's worth nothing).
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JohnSP wrote: Also paid and just phoned direct investing provider and turned off DRIP (as no discount) and will spend the money !!