IT'S THAT TIME: Mutual Fund divs/distns are going to make your account balance look funky

My first dividend distribution hit today, and it was a FAT one: 8.5%, so at 6pm Eastern time, my account is down **tens of thousands of dollars -- OhMyGawd WHAT HAPPENED!!**

It's the same every year.

* Your Mutual Fund pays out its dividend on some date in December.
* This drops the NAV price -- which appears shortly after 6pm EST.
* At this point, it looks like your account has taken a serious hit.
* LATER, usually 9pm EST or thereabouts, the actual transaction**s** hit your account.
* This is both the divs appearing in your account, AND the reinvestment into new shares.
* **Depending on** how your brokerage reports "daily changes", this still may **appear** "poorly" in your account.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't Panic. Be Patient. Tomorrow morning, everything will be fine.

And yes: It's the same every year.