Cryptocurrencies are a popular investment right now. But whilst cryptos like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) have offered up some mind-blowing capital gains recently, they certainly don't do well in the dividend department. And that makes them pretty useless for investors who are aiming to maximise income.
ASX shares, on the other hand, have always been a fertile hunting ground for income-producing investments. Dividends, along with franking credits, can be a great way of boosting your passive income. It can also be used to turbocharge your investing returns by reinvesting dividend income for more dividends down the road. But some ASX shares are better than others in this respect. So here are two ASX shares to consider for dividend income today.
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Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
The first ASX dividend share to consider today is Washington H. Soul Pattinson. Soul Patts is a rather special dividend share, as it happens to hold the ASX record for the longest streak of dividend increases. Yep, Soul Patts has raised its dividend every year since the year 2000. Thus, if an investor has held shares that whole time, then it would be a very useful company to own from an income perspective. Not too many ASX shares out there give you an annual pay rise.
Soul Patts is an industrial conglomerate. It actually functions more like an investment fund itself, rather than a traditional ASX company. It holds large chunks of other ASX shares, such as TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW). On current pricing, Soul Patts offers a trailing dividend yield of 2.06%, or 2.94% grossed-up with full franking.
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)
Telstra might still conjure up some bad feelings from investors who have owned this ASX telco for more than a few years. And fair enough. Telstra has not had a kind decade thrust upon it. The NBN rollout and changing dynamics in the telco space have changed the playing field for Telstra since its privatisation in the 1990s. And Telstra's share price depreciation over the past decade, as well as cuts to its raw dividend, have been painful for long-term owners.
However, saying that, things seemed to have turned a corner at Telstra. It has managed to keep its dividend steady at 16 cents per share for a while now, even through the tumultuous year we had last year. Its 5G rollout is going well, which may even open up a lucrative new earnings stream over the next few years. And the Telstra share price has put on close to 30% since late October last year. On current pricing, Telstra's dividend is worth a healthy yield of 4.65%, or 6.64% grossed-up with full franking.
