In March this year, prime minister Tony Abbott said people will find the budget "pretty dull, pretty routine."
On budget eve, that statement seems to be lost on the media, and the public. Not me. This budget is all about repairing political capital, not about economic reform. It will be dull, routine and boring.
There will be budget deficits for as far as the eye can see. Until such time as both major political parties change their tune and look ahead further than the next election, budgets will do no more than tinker around the edges. An extra benefit here, an adjusted tax there. Genuine reform takes more than that. Much more.
With that said, here are the only three things you need to know about Joe Hockey's 2015 federal budget…
1) There will be a few winners.
2) There will be some losers.
3) For most of people, you'll hardly notice any change to your own monthly take home pay.
Here's one more thing you need to know…
4) The RBA's low interest rates are here, and here to stay. Get used to it.
That's great news for the mortgage belt.
It's great news for property investors, given this bunch of home-owning politicians are far too scared and self-interested to think about touching negative gearing. Or capital gains tax.
Low interest rates are awful news for savers and retirees. No longer can they sit in the safety of term deposits and earn a decent income.
The good news is that ASX dividend paying stocks are an attractive alternative. Given the tax breaks on offer from fully franked dividends, I'd argue they are a better bet than term deposits.
Take Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). With the shares trading at $6.05, the stock trades on a fully franked dividend yield of 4.8%. When you gross it up for franking credits, the yield is 6.8%. Not too shabby.
Like many ASX investors, I already own Telstra shares, content to hold on for the dividends alone. Any capital gains are icing on the cake.
These days I'm looking outside the usual suspects for my dividend-paying ASX stocks.
Like the tech stock The Motley Fool's own Andrew Page has recently recommended to members of his Motley Fool Dividend Investor subscription-only stock picking service. The company is forecast to grow earnings a whopping 40%, and also trading on a forecast gross dividend yield of 5%.
Whatever comes of Joe Hockey's 2015 budget, in this low interest rate environment, dividend stocks will continue to pay their way.
They are a much better bet than getting all worked up about how much you won or lost from what is certain to be a "pretty dull, pretty routine" federal budget.
