HC,

When you read the rebuttals that by not paying a dividend now one will receive far more $ at some future date (hopefully the case as I am a stockholder) keep in mind that what is not being mentioned is "present value." If I give you a $1 today it is probably going to be worth far more than the $1 I give you 20 years from now. That future amount of $ needs to be discounted back to the present by the discount rate that one feels is appropriate and/or comfortable with.

Also as has been mentioned there are number of shareholders who are very fortunate to be in a financial situation where it really doesn't matter if they receive the dividend...I'm grateful every day that I am among them but I also think that the interests of stockholders who are not in that position should at least be considered. I don't believe that telling someone to "just sell your shares and create your own dividend" is a good strategy (especially in a depressed market) and the common reply here that "one should not allow themselves to be in that position" is hard for me to swallow.

Lastly if one did receive the dividend $ today they have the option of investing it in something else. If one were to use that $ to invest in something that were to outperform BRK it's very possible they would end up with far more $. Even if the $ were placed in a money market fund there would be an additional amount of income that would need to be factored into the comparison.

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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