What are the best option to earn dividend for steady income?

Totally agree with Elijah that dividend payouts are by no means guaranteed in any way.

While some may say that DBS (one of the strongest blue chip on SGX) is still paying out the same Q1 dividend as it did last year despite all the headwinds, it must be noted that the business environment is really shaky and hence dividends may be cut with less than ideal business performance.

Many are also turning to Reits as a form of dividend machine. This could be true in better days, but as a result of this circuit breaker in Singapore, many Reits from retail to office are widely affected. Case in point, Mapletree Commertial Trust and Capitaland Commercial Trust have just announced reduce dividend payout in light of the situation. Hence dividends could be cut or removed in totality in the near term, especially in light of the government's extension of permissable period for distribution of taxable income from 3 months to 12 month.

Do also be mindful of the inflated dividend yield calculation that you may see at present. Due to a lower share price, dividend yields are inflated and gives the impression of a high dividend payout relative to the price you are buying in. Do take the figures with a pinch of salt.

Hi anon,

By your use of the word 'dividends' I will take it to imply that you are referring to those paid by stocks of such companies. You'll want to find a decent company with strong fundamentals, strong balance sheet and good cashflow. An entire book could be written on how to evaluate such companies, and there are many similar questions already asked on this platform, so I recommnd that you spend some time to read through the information and form your own investment thesis and methods.

The ideal behind dividend investing is that the income just keeps coming in on a regular basis. By extension, companies that meet the criteria I mentioned above will be able to pay you dividends. However, take note that this is by no means guaranteed. We must be prepared for dividends to be cut, or even stopped, especially in times of crisis. Thus I suggest that you broaden your income streams beyond just stock dividends to other forms of income, such as those from bonds, etc. Ultimately, reliabiltiy and predictability of your income is key and you will want to ensure a good mix of guaranteed and non-guaranteed income sources in your portfolio.​​​