APAD: Pennies from heaven

Meaning:

   Money acquired without effort or risk. The phrase is applied to any

   unexpected benefits, but especially financial ones.

 

Background:

   The first time that the expression "Pennies from heaven" came into the public

   consciousness was on the release of the 1936 film, starring Bing Crosby.

 

   It wasn't coined by the film's writers though, having been used in print a

   few years earlier, in Abraham Burstein's book Ghetto Messenger, 1928.

   

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   

My friend Monica was a dividend-hound and invested in a few old-as-the-hills

telecom, energy, and fastfood companies. She called their quarterly payouts

pennies from heaven, not because they were unexpected but she was thankful. She

always plowed them back into the same stocks. This was the dot-com bubble era and

I laughed at her 2% to 6% return but she insisted that dividends do not lie and

great profit is made by waiting.