Need help understanding how dividends are calculated.

[xander]

I am a shareholder of VTSAX and I am wondering how the dividends are calculated.

Looking on Vanguard's website on the "Distributions" tab on VTSAX, I see this listed.

    Realized/unrealized gains as of  07/31/2017   
    Realized capital gain/loss                                   –$0.08
    Realized capital gain/loss as a % of NAV                   –0.13%

    Unrealized appreciation/depreciation                   $20.99
    Unrealized appreciation/depreciation as a % of NAV   34.02%

Since the capital gain/loss is of negative value, that constitutes a loss I assume. So does that mean there are no dividends being paid this quarter due to that Realized capital loss? Or perhaps the appreciation/depreciation is the factor?

Sorry for the trivial questions I am still learning. Thanks!

[Aggie1999]

Watching as I never have completely understood how dividend payout works either.

[dandarc]

What you've posted has very little to do with dividends or distributions of any kind.  For what that means, see the link right below it:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/content/Funds/FundsVGFundsAboutGainsLossesJSP.jsp

In a nutshell, low realized gains and high unrealized gains is a sign of tax efficiency, which you would expect from a good index fund like VTSAX.

According to this:
https://investornews.vanguard/find-out-if-your-fund-is-declaring-a-quarterly-dividend-this-month/

VTSAX is declaring a dividend on 9/20/2017.  This is a little later than it was last year, but rest assured, your quarterly dividend is coming.

[xander]

What you've posted has very little to do with dividends or distributions of any kind.  For what that means, see the link right below it:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/content/Funds/FundsVGFundsAboutGainsLossesJSP.jsp

In a nutshell, low realized gains and high unrealized gains is a sign of tax efficiency, which you would expect from a good index fund like VTSAX.

According to this:
https://investornews.vanguard/find-out-if-your-fund-is-declaring-a-quarterly-dividend-this-month/

VTSAX is declaring a dividend on 9/20/2017.  This is a little later than it was last year, but rest assured, your quarterly dividend is coming.

Thanks for shedding some light Dan. I couldn't find info on whether they were declaring one or not.