Getting Started with Dividend Investing: What I Wish I'd Known Earlier

I spent way too long overthinking my first dividend portfolio. Analysis paralysis is real—there are thousands of stocks, dozens of strategies, and everyone online seems to have a different opinion on yield vs growth.

A few things that helped me actually get started:

Start with what you understand. My first picks were companies I already used—banks, supermarkets, utilities. Not glamorous, but I understood their business models and felt comfortable holding them.

Don't chase yield. A 10% yield looks amazing until the company cuts the dividend and the share price tanks. I learned to look at payout ratios and dividend history before getting excited about big numbers.

Reinvest early, spend later. Compounding is genuinely powerful but it needs time. I set everything to DRIP while I'm still building, with the plan to switch to cash payments down the line.

Track everything. Seeing the income grow month by month keeps me motivated. Even when it's small, watching it tick up makes the strategy feel real.

If you're just getting started or want to explore what's out there, I've found Dividend Direct useful for researching dividend-paying stocks and understanding yields across different sectors.

What helped you when you were starting out? And for the experienced investors—what do you wish you'd done differently in year one?