With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicating interest rates will stay at near-zero level until 2024 this week, the importance of ASX dividend shares has rarely been more obvious.
The RBA's announcement strongly signals that savings accounts, term deposits, and government bonds will be offered next to nothing in real returns for the foreseeable future.
That means if you're looking for something to give you a decent return on your money every year, ASX dividend shares are one of the only options left. Of course, some dividend shares offer yields even greater than this, especially if you include the beautiful benefits of franking.
So here are 2 ASX dividend shares in this vein to consider today.
2 ASX dividend shares offering decent yields today
Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW)
Brickworks is an ASX company that, well, makes bricks (as well as other construction materials). It's one of the oldest companies on the ASX, having been founded way back in 1934.
Construction materials is normally a highly cyclical business. Everyone wants to build buildings when the economy is going well, and no one does when the economy is struggling. Fortunately, Brickworks seems to have figured out how to nullify this inherent cyclicality in its business.
It has built out a sturdy earnings base from leasing properties and land that it owns for various purposes. This gives it a source of revenue that is far more reliable. Brickworks also owns a large stake of Washington Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL). Washington Soul Pattinson & Co have one of the most stable track records of delivering dividend growth.
As such, Brickworks has managed to hold steady or increase its own dividend payments every year since 1976. On current pricing, this dividend is worth a yield of 3% and comes fully franked as well.
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
Altium has built itself a name of being one of the ASX's most sought after growth shares of the past few years (although its share price growth has stalled of late). It's even a member of the WAAAX club.
This company operates a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model by selling its Altium Design software on a subscription basis. Altium Design helps electrical engineers design printed circuit boards, which are unique and essential components of almost every electronic device.
What many investors don't realise is that Altium also pays a substantial dividend. That dividend is worth 1.25% on current prices. That might not sound like much, but consider this: in 2016, Altium paid investors dividends worth 20 cents a share.
Last year, Altium paid out 39 cents per share in dividends. If Altium's pay out continues to more or less double every 4 years, it will prove to be a very substantial income investment very quickly.
