If you're looking to invest in dividend-paying stocks for that sweet passive income, good for you! Dividends are a great way to collect cash without having to sell any stocks -- and that cash can help support you or can be deployed to buy more shares of stock. If you're considering investing in Apple ( AAPL -2.51% ) , that also seems like a good thing to do.
But what if you're hoping to get $12,000 in annual dividend income from Apple? How many shares would you need to buy -- and what would they cost you? Let's see.
It's just a matter of some simple math. Apple was recently paying a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, amounting to $1.08 annually. So divide the $12,000 you're hoping for by $1.08, and you'll arrive at 11,111 -- the number of shares you'll need to own. Now multiply that by the stock's price per share -- recently $325 -- and you'll see how much those 11,111 shares will cost. You might want to sit down now. The answer is: $3,611,111.
Here are some things to consider: