Comments on: What Are Stock Certificates Still Good For?

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:19:47 +0000

Yes, companies still issue stock certificates. It’s not an outdated technology. An individual certificate might cease to be valid, though – if the company changes ownership or restructures or is bought by another – in that case, you need to fill out the requisite paperwork to make sure you get the value back (they’ll send you the paperwork).

By: G Kilbee Stuart

G Kilbee Stuart — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:40:28 +0000

Thr company (private) will not send me the certs

By: Shaun McGowan

Shaun McGowan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:17:19 +0000

That something could be a stock certificate that is still valid for ownership in a company. If you were to find one, it should be researched (just in case). But unfortunately, that seldom happens. However, it still might be worth …

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:41:45 +0000

@Kevin – interesting point – having an active account with a broker does generate a lot of mail… yes, the certificates wouldn’t make sense at all for active/ quick trades. (I happen to be a long-term investor anyway and my new rule is only dividend-paying stocks unless there’s a very, very compelling reason to break away from that rule).

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:40:43 +0000

This post brought back memories! There was something special, something real about having those certs to hold in your hand, probably in much the same way cash in hand feels better than numbers on a bank statement.

Holding the certs might make sense for stocks you hold for a long time, like steady dividend paying stocks that you plan to keep as core holdings. If it’s just the typical non-dividend, 100 P/E “growth stock” where you’re waiting for it to pop before dumping, you’re better off not having the certs. Too much speed will be left out of your disposal options by having the certs in hand.

One thing you didn’t mention as an advantage to holding the certs might be privacy. Since there won’t be an account with a broker, there’s no chance of identity theft, and it could also be a way of keeping family and friends from knowing exactly what you have. That’s harder to do when monthly broker statements are arriving in your mailbox or on your email.

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:50:07 +0000

@Paul – Definitely sounds like it is worth more as a memento of the “good old days” if they can be called that:) Yeah, certainly not worth the commission to bother selling it, either! Might be an interesting thing to auction off on eBay;)

By: Paul @ FiscalGeek

Paul @ FiscalGeek — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:20:10 +0000

You are an absolute wealth of investing information. Great post, I have a stock certificate for one of my previous employers in the dot com era unfortunately it’s not worth the paper it was printed on, it currently trades in the Over the Counter market at about 4 cents. So much for the Dot.com gravy train.

By: MoneyEnergy

MoneyEnergy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:49:49 +0000

Sounds like what I do. As long as the stocks are current and no change is on the horizon, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to redeposit them later.

By: Financial Cents

Financial Cents — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:23:48 +0000

Hey ME,

Good post!

Yeah, I have a few stock certificates (I needed them, as you say) for my DRIP programs. I’ll likely keep them for a few years, until I stop or suspend some of my DRIPs and then use the certificates and hopefully put a few hundred bank shares back into my brokerage account to run my synthetic DRIP.