What is the downside of dividend ETF?
Cons. No guarantee of future dividends. Stock price declines may offset yield. Dividends are taxed in the year they are distributed to shareholders.
Dividend-paying ETFs can be a great tool for those looking to increase cash flow and diversify their investments. They offer a simple solution to getting exposure to a specific investing niche — in this case, stocks that pay a regular dividend. You can use those dividends to pad your income as many retirees do.
ETFs that focus on income, such as dividend or bond ETFs, can be sensitive to changes in interest rates. Rising interest rates can lead to lower bond prices, affecting the value of bond ETFs. Keep in mind that the ETF may hold bonds with different lengths, each experiencing different rate risk.
One downside to investing in stocks for the dividend is an eventual cap on returns. The dividend stock may pay out a sizable rate of return, but even the highest yielding stocks with any sort of stability don't pay out more than ~10% annually in today's low interest rate environment, except in rare circ*mstances.
Since ETFs are more diversified, they tend to have a lower risk level than stocks. Similar to stocks, ETFs can be bought and traded at any time and they are also taxed at short-term or long-term capital gains rates.
Dividend ETFs are ultra-cheap, they can reduce overall portfolio risk and they account for a surprisingly large percentage of total returns. Dividend ETFs are ultra-cheap, they can reduce overall portfolio risk and they account for a surprisingly large percentage of total returns.
How Do Dividends Work in an ETF? ETF issuers collect any dividends paid by the companies whose stocks are held in the fund, and they then pay those dividends to their shareholders. They may pay the money directly to the shareholders, or reinvest it in the fund.
| Dividend ETFs | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|
| Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI) | 4.39% |
| Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD) | 4.55% |
| WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund (DES) | 2.92% |
| FCF International Quality ETF (TTAI) | 10.38% |
For most personal investors, an optimal number of ETFs to hold would be 5 to 10 across asset classes, geographies, and other characteristics.
| Symbol | Name | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|
| TILL | Teucrium Agricultural Strategy No K-1 ETF | 53.87% |
| OARK | YieldMax Innovation Option Income Strategy ETF | 40.15% |
| CONY | YieldMax COIN Option Income Strategy ETF | 36.90% |
| RATE | Global X Interest Rate Hedge ETF | 32.36% |
How to make $5,000 a month in dividends?
To generate $5,000 per month in dividends, you would need a portfolio value of approximately $1 million invested in stocks with an average dividend yield of 5%. For example, Johnson & Johnson stock currently yields 2.7% annually. $1 million invested would generate about $27,000 per year or $2,250 per month.
If you want $100 in monthly dividend income put $15,853 to work in a combination of Realty Income (NYSE: O) and SL Green Realty (NYSE: SLG). Both real estate investment trusts, or REITs, have seen their share prices beat up in a high-interest-rate environment, but now may be a great time to buy shares.
| Portfolio Dividend Yield | Dividend Payments With $100K |
|---|---|
| 1% | $1,000 |
| 2% | $2,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 |
| 4% | $4,000 |
The single biggest risk in ETFs is market risk. Like a mutual fund or a closed-end fund, ETFs are only an investment vehicle—a wrapper for their underlying investment. So if you buy an S&P 500 ETF and the S&P 500 goes down 50%, nothing about how cheap, tax efficient, or transparent an ETF is will help you.
Not all ETF dividends are taxed the same; they are broken down into qualified and unqualified dividends. Qualified dividends are taxed between 0% and 20%. Unqualified dividends are taxed from 10% to 37%. High earners pay additional tax on dividends, but only if they make a substantial income.
SCHD's long-term track record of double-digit annualized returns over many years also inspires confidence that this is still a good place to be in the long term. Lastly, SCHD's expense ratio of just 0.06% is extremely favorable for investors, making this a compelling ETF to own in 2024 and beyond.
In fact, an ETF called the Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF (NASDAQ:QYLD), launched in 2013, currently boasts an eye-catching yield of 12%. While the ETF holds appeal for income investors, there are also several things that investors should be aware of before jumping in right after seeing that eye-popping yield.
- SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF EDIV – Up 37.7%; Yield 4.39% annually.
- First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund TDIV – Up 36.2%; Yield 1.68% annually.
- Nationwide Nasdaq-100 Risk-Managed Income ETF NUSI – Up 30.4%; Yield 7.05% annually.
| Symbol Symbol | ETF Name ETF Name | % In Top 10 % In Top 10 |
|---|---|---|
| VIG | Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF | 32.18% |
| VYM | Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index ETF | 25.50% |
| VYMI | Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF | 14.60% |
| VIGI | Vanguard International Dividend Appreciation ETF | 35.23% |
Types of dividends
Moreover, the investor must own the shares in the ETF paying the dividend for more than 60 days during the 121-day period that begins 60 days before the ex-dividend date. This means if you actively trade ETFs, you probably can't meet this holding requirement.
What is a good dividend yield?
The average dividend yield on S&P 500 index companies that pay a dividend historically fluctuates somewhere between 2% and 5%, depending on market conditions. 7 In general, it pays to do your homework on stocks yielding more than 8% to find out what is truly going on with the company.
- Exxon Mobil XOM.
- Verizon Communications VZ.
- Philip Morris International PM.
- PepsiCo PEP.
- Altria Group MO.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY.
- Medtronic MDT.
- Gilead Sciences GILD.
- Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM).
- iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV).
- Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD).
- SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (SPYD).
- Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI).
- Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD).
| Dividend ETFs | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|
| Vanguard International High Dividend Yield ETF (VYMI) | 4.39% |
| Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD) | 4.55% |
| WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund (DES) | 2.92% |
| FCF International Quality ETF (TTAI) | 10.38% |
| Symbol | Name | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|
| EWT | iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 11.95% |
| MSFO | YieldMax MSFT Option Income Strategy ETF | 11.84% |
| BITS | Global X Blockchain & Bitcoin Strategy ETF | 11.65% |
| SPYI | NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF | 11.65% |
