The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 index of 500 of America’s biggest companies, is down 5.4% so far this year, as of March 24. When the S&P 500 is down, it means that more than a few companies’ stocks are also down. And with dividend-paying stocks, a lower stock price means a boosted dividend yield.
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So, which dividend payer might you consider for your long-term portfolio, whether you have $10,000 or $100 or $100,000 to invest? Well, I suggest buying a bunch of solid dividend payers via a single exchange-traded fund (ETF): the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD). (Remember that an ETF is a fund that trades like a stock.)
Why the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF? Well, because it offers the best of two worlds — price appreciation and dividend income. The S&P 500 recently sported a dividend yield of merely 1.1%. But the Schwab ETF’s yield was recently 3.3% — 3 times bigger! Check out its performance, too:
|
Period |
Average Annual Gain |
|---|---|
|
Past 3 years |
12.90% |
|
Past 5 years |
8.92% |
|
Past 10 years |
12.36% |
Data source: Morningstar.com, as of March 24, 2026.
The ETF tracks an index of healthy dividend payers, holding around 100 of them. Here are the recent top 10 holdings:
|
Stock |
Weight in ETF |
Recent Yield |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Chevron |
4.58% |
5.31% |
|
2. ConocoPhillips |
4.20% |
2.60% |
|
3. Verizon Communications |
4.10% |
5.56% |
|
4. Merck |
3.99% |
2.92% |
|
5. Texas Instruments |
3.96% |
2.92% |
|
6. Coca-Cola |
3.94% |
2.76% |
|
7. UnitedHealth Group |
3.84% |
3.25% |
|
8. Abbott Laboratories |
3.79% |
2.42% |
|
9. PepsiCo |
3.79% |
3.78% |
|
10. Amgen |
3.79% |
2.89% |
Data source: Yahoo! Finance and Morningstar.com, as of March 25, 2026.
This single investment will quickly have you indirectly holding shares in about 100 solid dividend payers that are likely to grow over time while delivering plenty of passive income that should also grow over time. Should the stock market stall or slump, most of the fund’s components will likely keep paying out their dividends, too, making this a sturdy holding in troublesome times. Overall, it’s a tough proposition to beat.
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