Joe’s suggestion of not paying any dividend so as to provide the firm with the cash it needs for a planned project have some good points. However, dividends do have a cost, which is typically higher than the after-tax cost of debt. It is considered the opportunity cost to stockholders. Since New Wave Corporation has had a long history of not paying dividends, and shareholders are expecting some dividends given the good performance, it may not be wise to retain 100% of the earnings unless the firm can convince the shareholders that it would be in their best interests for the firm to reinvest the earnings.