Account Help
Track Earnings Distributions

Mutual funds are required to pass through to their shareholders substantially all of the interest income and capital gains earned by the fund during the year. These distributions are paid on a regular schedule as shown in the table below.

Shareholders may elect to have their share of fund distributions paid in cash or reinvested in their account. For any IRA accounts you own, Homestead Funds requires that you be at least age 59 ½ in order to receive distributions in cash.

For investors in regular, taxable accounts, these amounts are generally taxable to you in the year they are declared, whether paid in cash or reinvested. We issue IRS Form 1099 at the end of January. This form reports your share of any income or capital gains earned by the fund during the prior tax year.

Distribution Schedule INCOME CAPITAL GAINS Daily Income Fund Declared daily and paid monthly For all funds, declared and paid annually at year end or more frequently, if necessary.  Short-Term Gov. Securities Fund Declared daily and paid monthly Short-Term Bond Fund Declared daily and paid monthly Stock Index Fund Declared and paid annually Value Fund Declared and paid semi-annually Growth Fund Declared and paid annually Small-Company Stock Fund Declared and paid annually International Value Fund Declared and paid annually

Accounting treatment for mutual fund distributions: On the day the distribution is declared, the amount of the distribution is deducted from fund assets and calculated as a per share amount to be passed through to shareholders. On this day, the fund’s share price will decline by the amount of the distribution (plus or minus any share price change related to market activity). The following business day, shareholders will see their portion of the distribution posted to their account as either a cash dividend or dividend reinvestment. The record date is the date on which you must be a shareholder in order to receive a portion of the fund's distribution.

Year-to-Date Distributions

Shareholders can log-in to their account to view recent distributions. From the Portfolio Overview page, select a fund/account position and click “Last Dividend” from the left-hand list.

This information can be a help for investors in regular, taxable accounts who want to keep tabs on the amount of income or capital gains distributed so they can better prepare for tax time.

Year-End Distributions

For all Homestead Funds, the distribution of capital gains—any profit the fund earned on the sale of underlying portfolio securities—is typically made once a year at year-end. For some funds, trading activity is such that the amount of any capital gain or loss cannot always be determined precisely by year end. These funds may make an additional distribution in the following year to reconcile the amount of gain/loss distributed in the prior year. Also at year-end, the funds pass through their final distributions of dividend or interest income.

Since fund managers are actively trading portfolio securities and fund shares are being bought and sold through year-end, final year-end distribution amounts cannot be determined until the last day. We calculate an estimate of year-end distributions, and make this information available a few days ahead of year-end.

Having an estimate of the year-end distribution is useful for those considering purchasing fund shares late in the year. If a significant income or capital gains distribution is anticipated, investors in regular, taxable accounts may want to delay their purchase until after the record date to avoid having to pay income tax on the distribution. It can also be a help for current shareholders with regular, taxable accounts who want to get a jump on their tax-planning.