[gijoe9]

Dividend re-investment Plan I have not seen this discussed here and that surprises me a little. A lot of the people on this site are from the US and that is the home of the DRIP IMO. A drip is a tool that can get you into the market for less than you might think and is far less exciting then other methods of investing. Some companies will sell you as little as 1 share of their stock and will accept as little as $10 for each additional investment and the fees for this are nothing in some cases. There are services that will list these companies and if there are fees and what they are. Some companies will even give you a bonus on your dividends re-invested. Some but not all companies that have drips that will allow you to purchase and register directly through the transfer agent. There are some books out there on the subject.
The advantages for a drip are the reduction in fees the initial set up of a drip may be costly but each additional investment will be fee free or a modest fee depending on the plan. The big thing here is that you get to take advantage of dollar cost averaging and over a long period of time it will allow you to accumulate shares of good companies at an average share price price that will be below market price without incurring the fees associated with brokerage companies. If this kind of thing were more available where I live I would still be into it. One of the more recent plans I looked into was for a REIT they were offering a 5% bonus to investors who were inrolled in the DRIP.
The main risk of a DRIP is that it could take time to sell out of it. This risk should not be ignored due to recent developments IE: enron it can take a few days to execute a sale of your stock or it could be a phone call away but the process fees for geting out can be costly if it is a sudden move on your part. You really need to be careful of the plan and any restrictions the company may have on buying and selling the shares.
Plaese post your Pro's and Con's for this type of investment.
Thanks Joe