How much do you need to invest to make $100 a month in dividends?
If you want to bring home an average of $100 per month ($1,200/year) in super safe dividend income, simply invest $13,800 (split equally, three ways) into the following ultra-high-yield stocks, which sport an average yield of 8.71%!
If you want to generate $100 in super safe monthly dividend income in the new year, simply invest $11,925 (split equally, three ways) into the following three high-yield stocks, which are averaging a 10.07% yield!
In a market that generates a 2% annual yield, you would need to invest $600,000 up front in order to reliably generate $12,000 per year (or $1,000 per month) in dividend payments.
If, for example, your portfolio gets to a value of $1.5 million, you could invest in a fund or multiple investments that yield an average of 3.3%. At that rate, you could generate $50,000 in annual dividends. With a lower portfolio balance of $1 million, you would need to target an average yield of 5%.
| Portfolio Dividend Yield | Dividend Payments With $100K |
|---|---|
| 1% | $1,000 |
| 2% | $2,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 |
| 4% | $4,000 |
However, the investment amount required to produce the desired income is considerable. To make $2,000 in dividend income, the investment amount and rate of return must be $400,000 and 6%, respectively. If the rate is lower, say 4%, the upfront investment is $600,000.
Dividend-paying Stocks
Shares of public companies that split profits with shareholders by paying cash dividends yield between 2% and 6% a year. With that in mind, putting $250,000 into low-yielding dividend stocks or $83,333 into high-yielding shares will get your $500 a month.
- Coca-Cola (KO) Source: Coca-Cola. ...
- Chevron (CVX) Source: LesPalenik / Shutterstock.com. ...
- Schwab US Dividend Equity (SCHD) Source: iQoncept/shutterstock.com.
A well-constructed dividend portfolio could potentially yield anywhere from 2% to 8% per year. This means, to earn $3,000 monthly from dividend stocks, the required initial investment could range from $450,000 to $1.8 million, depending on the yield. Furthermore, potential capital gains can add to your total returns.
If you invested in the company 10 years ago, that decision could have paid off. According to CNBC calculations, a $1,000 investment in Coca-Cola in 2009 would be worth more than $2,800 as of Feb. 15, 2019.
How much to invest to get $4,000 a month in dividends?
But the truth is you can get a 9.5% yield today--and even more. But even at 9.5%, we're talking about a middle-class income of $4,000 per month on an investment of just a touch over $500K. Below, I'll reveal how to start building a portfolio that could get you an even bigger income stream than this today.
How Much Money You Need to Retire on Dividends. As a rough rule of thumb, you can multiply the annual dividend income you wish to generate by 22 and by 28 to establish a reasonable range for how much you need to invest to live off dividends.
Can You Live off of 2 Million in Investments? Whether or not you can live off of 2 million in investments depends on your lifestyle, spending habits, and other financial factors. Assuming a 4% withdrawal rate, a 2 million dollar investment portfolio could potentially provide an annual income of $80,000.
And yes, some may even argue that $1 million alone would be enough to sustain a decent retirement (though inflation and rising cost of living would beg to differ). But the benefit of living off of dividends is that you don't have to touch your principal investment to pay the bills.
Historically, the stock market has an average annual rate of return between 10–12%. So if your $1 million is invested in good growth stock mutual funds, that means you could potentially live off of $100,000 to $120,000 each year without ever touching your one-million-dollar goose.
It is possible to achieve financial freedom by living off dividends forever. That isn't to say it's easy, but it's possible. Those starting from nothing admittedly have a hard road to retirement-enabling passive income.
| Stock | Market Capitalization | 12-month Trailing Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|
| Gladstone Investment Corp. (GAIN) | $500 million | 6.9% |
| Modiv Industrial Inc. (MDV) | $112 million | 7.7% |
| LTC Properties Inc. (LTC) | $1.3 billion | 7.2% |
| Realty Income Corp. (O) | $44 billion | 6.4% |
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.
A $1.4 million portfolio of dividend stocks can reliably generate roughly $3,000 per month, based on today's yields. If you want monthly dividend income, make sure that you don't load up on stocks that all pay dividends at the same time.
| Company | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|
| Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (BGFV) | 21.60% |
| Ready Capital Corp (RC) | 13.81% |
| Arbor Realty Trust Inc. (ABR) | 13.68% |
| Medifast Inc (MED) | 12.89% |
How much will I have if I invest $500 a month for 10 years?
If you invested $500 a month for 10 years and earned a 6% rate of return, you'd have $81,940 today. If you invested $500 a month for 10 years and earned an 8% rate of return, you'd have $91,473 today.
To generate $500 a month, you might need to build your investments to $150,000. Taking out 4% each year would amount to $6,000, which comes to $500 a month.
Rock-solid dividend stocks
Kinder Morgan, Equinix, and Lockheed Martin pay safe dividends and earn contractually secured revenue, enabling them to produce predictable cash flow. On top of that, they have very strong balance sheets. Those features make them some of the most bankable dividends for 2024 and beyond.
| Ticker | Name | Dividend Safety |
|---|---|---|
| ENB | Enbridge | Safe |
| EPD | Enterprise Products Partners | Safe |
| WHR | Whirlpool | Borderline Safe |
| VZ | Verizon | Safe |
| Stock | Forward dividend yield |
|---|---|
| Banco Santander SA (ticker: SAN) | 3.7% |
| Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) | 6% |
| Banco Bradesco SA (BBD) | 4.4% |
| Barclays PLC (BCS) | 5.2% |
