Notes on living off your dividends.
Clear, unhurried writing on dividend investing, ETFs, diversification and tax, from the team building Cadances, the portfolio tracker.
24 results for “Income”
Clear search ×
Reinvest Dividends or Take Cash? A Decision by Life Stage
Reinvest while you are building the portfolio, take the cash once the income is what you live on, and use the years in between to reinvest only where you are underweight. Twenty years of numbers show why, and three signals tell you when to stop.
How to Track Dividend Income: Spreadsheet, Broker or Tracker
Dividend income arrives in small payments, across several accounts, in more than one currency, with tax taken before it lands. Here are the eight numbers worth tracking, the three ways to track them, and where each one breaks down as the portfolio grows.
How Many Dividend Stocks Should You Own? 20 to 30, and Why
Twenty to thirty dividend stocks across at least eight sectors, or fewer on top of a broad ETF core, is the rule of thumb. Here is the reasoning behind it, what one dividend cut costs at each portfolio size, why to weight by income rather than by value, and three shapes that work.
The Irish-Domiciled ETF Tax Advantage, Explained With Numbers
Most ETFs sold in Europe are domiciled in Ireland for one reason: the Ireland-US tax treaty halves the withholding on US dividends inside the fund, and Ireland takes nothing on the way out. On 100,000 in the S&P 500 that is 225 a year kept, and the gap compounds for as long as you hold.
How to Rebalance a Dividend Portfolio Without Paying for It
In an income portfolio, drift shows up in your dividends before it shows up in your portfolio value. Here is how to spot it with a worked example, the three triggers that tell you when to act, and the four ways to rebalance, from the one that costs nothing to the one that costs capital gains tax.
How Often Do ETFs Pay Dividends? Schedules by Fund Type and Domicile
Most US-listed equity ETFs pay dividends quarterly, many European UCITS ETFs pay twice a year or once a year, bond and covered-call ETFs usually pay monthly, and accumulating ETFs never pay at all. Here is why the schedule works that way, why the amount changes every time, and how to read a fund's distribution calendar.
Are Dividend Aristocrats Worth It? A Filter, Not a Buy Signal
The Dividend Aristocrats label proves that a company has raised its dividend through at least two recessions, and nothing else. It says nothing about today's price, the payout ratio, or the size of the raises. Use the list to shorten your search, then run the safety checks and wait for the yield.
Dividend Yield vs Dividend Growth: Which Wins, and When
High yield pays the most for the first decade, dividend growth pays the most after it, and a balanced payer sits between the two. Here is the ten-year arithmetic across three profiles, the risk each one carries, and a rule for choosing by when you need the income.
What Happens to Dividends in a Recession?
Dividends fall in a recession, but far less than share prices, and the damage is concentrated in a few sectors. Here is what 2008 and 2020 did to dividend income in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, which sectors cut, how long recovery took, and how to build a portfolio that keeps paying.
What Is Dividend Withholding Tax and How Do You Get It Back?
Dividend withholding tax is the slice a company's home country keeps before a foreign dividend reaches you. Here is how the statutory and treaty rates work, what the W-8BEN does, the rates for the countries you are most likely to hold, and the two routes to recover the money: a credit at home and a reclaim at source.
A Dividend Income Portfolio Example: 100,000 Across Ten Sleeves
A worked model portfolio of 100,000 split across ten sleeves, with the weight, yield and income of each, the share of income that two sectors quietly carry, what the calendar and the tax bill look like, and what the income becomes after ten years of growth and reinvestment.
Accumulating vs Distributing ETF: Which Share Class to Buy
The accumulating and distributing classes of the same index fund own the same stocks and earn the same return before tax. The difference is what happens to the dividends, and what your country does about it. Here is how each class works, where tax splits them, and a 20-year example with numbers.
Dividend Growth Investing for Beginners
Dividend growth investing means buying companies that raise their dividend every year and holding them for decades. Here is how it works, why a 2.5 percent yield can out-earn a 5 percent one, how to pick the companies, and the four mistakes that undo most beginners.
How to Tell If a Dividend Is Safe: A Six-Point Checklist
A dividend cut costs you the income and a chunk of the share price on the same day. Six numbers, most of them free to find, tell you months in advance whether a payout is covered, growing and funded by cash, or a trap dressed up as a high yield.
Ex-Dividend Date Explained: The Four Dates Behind Every Dividend
Every dividend runs on four dates: declaration, ex-dividend, record and payment. The ex-dividend date is the one that decides whether you get paid. Here is what each date means, why the share price drops on the ex-date, and why buying the day before does not make you money.
How Much Do You Need to Invest to Live Off Dividends?
Living off dividends comes down to one division: your annual spending divided by the yield your portfolio can safely pay. Here is the arithmetic, the tax and inflation corrections most people skip, and how long it takes to build the number from a monthly contribution.
Nvidia Trades at 15 Times Earnings and Is Still Expensive
The same forecast makes Nvidia look cheap on a P/E and 23% overvalued on a cash flow model. The gap is not an opinion. It comes from three inputs, and one of them is a number most models still get wrong.
The 20 Best Dividend Companies Are Not the 20 Highest Yields
We ranked the dividend aristocrats on five tests instead of yield alone. Four famous income names failed outright, and the number that did the most work was not the one most investors look at.
Is PepsiCo's Dividend Safe? What the Payout Ratio Hides
PepsiCo has raised its dividend for 54 straight years, and its earnings payout ratio looks comfortable. Its cash tells a tighter story. Here is the five-part check that separates a dividend a company can afford from one it is borrowing to protect.
Cadances vs Sharesight: Which Portfolio Tracker Fits a Dividend Investor?
Sharesight is the best-known portfolio tracker on the market. Cadances is built around dividend income and the tax that comes with it. Here is an honest look at where each one wins, so you can pick the right tool for the way you invest.
How a Dividend Income Simulator Turns Reinvestment Into a Plan
Reinvested dividends compound quietly for years before the numbers turn dramatic. A dividend income simulator lets you see that curve in advance, and work out how much to contribute to hit your target.
ETFs vs. Index Funds: A Beginner's Comparison
ETFs and index mutual funds can track the same market and charge similar fees, yet they differ in how you buy them, how they trade, and a few tax details. Here is how to tell them apart.
Why Diversification Reduces Portfolio Risk
Spreading money across many investments does not just feel safer: there is a structural reason it lowers risk without necessarily lowering expected return. Here is the intuition.
Understanding Dividend Yield: What It Measures and What It Misses
Dividend yield is one of the first numbers income investors look at, but on its own it can mislead. Here is what it actually measures, and the context you need around it.
Income ideas, every two weeks.
One short email every other week: a new piece from the Journal and one number worth knowing. No noise, no selling.