What is a dividend calendar?

A dividend calendar shows when the investments in a portfolio pay their dividends — by month or by date — and how much each payment is expected to be. It turns a list of yearly dividends into a timeline of cash income, which matters for anyone who wants to plan with that income, or to understand why it arrives so unevenly.

How it is built

For each holding, the calendar lists the expected payment dates and amounts, based on the company's announced or past schedule. The income expected in a given month $m$ is:

I_m = \sum_i q_i \times d_{i,m}

where $q_i$ is the number of shares of holding $i$ and $d_{i,m}$ its dividend per share paid in month $m$ — zero in months without a payment.

Why income is uneven

Payment schedules differ widely by country:

US companies usually pay quarterly.
German companies usually pay once a year, shortly after their annual general meeting, which for most falls between April and June.
Many other European companies pay once or twice a year; some pay quarterly.
Distributing ETFs pay monthly, quarterly, twice a year or yearly, depending on the fund.

A portfolio heavy in German and other European stocks therefore receives a large part of its yearly income in spring, and very little in autumn.

A simple illustration

Holding	Shares	Dividend	Schedule	Paid in
German insurer	50	€15.00 a year	yearly	May
US consumer company	40	€0.90 a quarter	quarterly	Feb, May, Aug, Nov
World ETF	200	€0.35 a quarter	quarterly	Mar, Jun, Sep, Dec

I_{\text{May}} = 50 \times 15.00 + 40 \times 0.90 = 786

The portfolio receives €36 in February, €70 in March and €786 in May — about two thirds of its yearly income of €1,174 in a single month.

How to read it

Plan around the uneven months. Investors living on dividends need a cash buffer to bridge the gaps.
Spread the payment dates by mixing regions and payment frequencies, if a steady monthly income matters.
Mind the ex-dividend dates too. They decide who receives each payment; the calendar shows when it arrives.
A calendar is an estimate. Future payments depend on the companies' decisions: cuts, increases and changed schedules move the timeline.

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