How much money to make $500 a month in dividends?
Dividend-paying Stocks
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 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%!
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.
Buy Into a 'Goldilocks' Dividend Stock Fund
According to Forbes, they typically pay measly yields of around 1.5%, which means you would need about $4 million to earn $50,000 a year in dividend payouts. On the other end of the spectrum are the enticing but dangerous stocks that offer gargantuan yields of 14% or 15%.
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.
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.
- Coca-Cola (KO) Source: Coca-Cola. ...
- Chevron (CVX) Source: LesPalenik / Shutterstock.com. ...
- Schwab US Dividend Equity (SCHD) Source: iQoncept/shutterstock.com.
$3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year. $36,000 / 6% dividend yield = $600,000. On the other hand, if you're more risk-averse and prefer a portfolio yielding 2%, you'd need to invest $1.8 million to reach the $3,000 per month target: $3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year.
If you can invest $200 each and every month and achieve a 10% annual return, in 20 years you'll have more than $150,000 and, after another 20 years, more than $1.2 million. Your actual rate of return may vary, and you'll also be affected by taxes, fees and other influences.
Can you live off dividends?
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.
And at a 6% yield, the portfolio size needed to live off dividends reduces to $989,733.33.
There are a couple of reasons that make dividend-paying stocks particularly useful. First, the income they provide can help investors meet liquidity needs. And second, dividend-focused investing has historically demonstrated the ability to help to lower volatility and buffer losses during market drawdowns.
| Portfolio Dividend Yield | Dividend Payments With $100K |
|---|---|
| 1% | $1,000 |
| 2% | $2,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 |
| 4% | $4,000 |
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.
- Real Estate Investing via Arrived: My favorite way to turn $50k into $100k is through real estate investing with Arrived. ...
- Index Funds through Acorns: ...
- Passive Income Generation with ETFs: ...
- Direct Real Estate Investments: ...
- Investing in REITs: ...
- Mutual Funds Investments: ...
- Blogging for Profit: ...
- House Flipping Ventures:
| 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% |
If you want to make $4,000 per month from a passive investment, you could do it by investing $100,000 once and getting a steady 4% monthly return.
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.
However, dividends do have a cost. A company cannot pay out dividends to shareholders without affecting its market value. Think of your own finances.
How much should I invest to get 5000 a month?
To get the desired income level of R5 000 per month for the rest of your life, you would need to invest around R523 000 as a lump sum.
| 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% |
Stanley Black & Decker: 146 years of consecutive payouts
Among publicly traded industrial stocks, none has a longer streak of paying consecutive dividends, with Stanley Black & Decker doling out payouts to investors since 1876.
| Monthly contribution | Time to reach $1 million with an 8% annual return |
|---|---|
| $500 | 33.3 years |
| $1,000 | 25.5 years |
| $2,500 | 16.3 years |
| $5,000 | 10.6 years |
