Declaration date.
In plain English
The declaration date is when the board of directors votes to approve a dividend and publicly states the per-share amount, the record date, and the payment date. From that moment the dividend becomes a legal liability on the company's books. The ex-dividend date follows, and it is the cutoff that determines whether a buyer of the shares receives this payment or the seller keeps it. The record date is when the company checks its books for who owns shares. The payment date is when cash actually lands in accounts.
01Why it matters
If you buy shares before the ex-dividend date you are in line for the payment, and if you buy after, you are not, so the calendar decides who receives the cash.
02The math, step by step
A board declares a $0.50 quarterly dividend on the 1st, sets the ex-dividend date at the 15th, the record date at the 16th, and pays on the 30th. Owning 200 shares before the 15th means 200 times $0.50, or $100, arrives on the 30th.
Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.
03What this is NOT
They are different days. The declaration date is when the dividend is announced. The payment date is when money moves. Weeks usually separate them, and the ex-dividend date sitting between the two is what actually settles who gets paid.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
Educational tool. Answers come only from ClearMoneySchool's published glossary and are not advice. Why we never give advice