Playbook 01 — Start from the number, not the stock.

Most people build a dividend portfolio backwards. They hunt for the highest yield, buy whatever pays most, then discover the payout doesn’t cover their life. The stock was never the problem. The order of operations was.

The correct sequence:

1. Decide the annual income you want the portfolio to pay you. Call it T.
2. Assume a realistic long-term dividend yield. Call it y.
3. Required capital = T ÷ y.

Target Rp100 million a year at a 10% yield means Rp1 billion of capital. That is the whole formula. Everything else — stock screens, payout ratios, sector picks — is step four, not step one.

This playbook exists because “which stock?” is a comfortable question and “how much do I actually need?” is an uncomfortable one. Comfortable questions get asked first. Uncomfortable ones decide whether the plan works.

No instrument is evaluated until the number is written down.