How much dividends to make $2,000 a month?
Earning $2,000 in monthly passive income sounds unbelievable but is achievable through dividend investing. 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.
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.
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.
| Portfolio Dividend Yield | Dividend Payments With $100K |
|---|---|
| 1% | $1,000 |
| 2% | $2,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 |
| 4% | $4,000 |
Invest in Dividend Stocks
The average dividend yield for stocks in the S&P 500 index is around 2%. To generate $3,000 per month in dividends at a 2% yield, you would need a portfolio of dividend stocks worth $1.8 million. While this may seem out of reach for many, you can start small and build your portfolio over time.
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.
If you're investing for income you can pick companies that pay relatively high dividends. If you have other income or if you don't mind selling shares (even in bear markets) you can disregard the dividend yield. For a $1m portfolio you can expect any number between $5k and $80k per year.
$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.
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.
How much do I need to invest to make 4000 a month in dividends?
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.
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.
| Ticker | Company | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|
| BGFV | Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp | 19.30% |
| CRCT | Cricut Inc | 14.84% |
| REFI | Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc | 12.85% |
| DX | Dynex Capital, Inc. | 12.48% |
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.
For example, if the average yield is 3%, that's what we'll use for our calculations. Keep in mind, yields vary based on the investment. Calculate the Investment Needed: To earn $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year, at a 3% yield, you'd need to invest a total of about $400,000.
If you want $2,000 in annual dividend income, all you'd need to do is invest $17,650 (split equally, three ways -- just under $5,900 for each) in the following ultra-high-yield financial stocks, which sport a scorching-hot average yield of 11.34%.
If you want to generate $300 in super-safe monthly dividend income, all you'd need to do is invest $37,800 (split equally, three ways) into the following three ultra-high-yield stocks, which sport an average yield of 9.52%!
| Stock | Market capitalization | Dividend yield |
|---|---|---|
| Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT) | $104 million | 11.1% |
| Dynex Capital Inc. (DX) | $726 million | 12.2% |
| Horizon Technology Finance Corp. (HRZN) | $454 million | 9.7% |
| Permian Basin Royalty Trust (PBT) | $660 million | 4.2% |
If you want to start earning $300 as soon as possible, you need to invest $60,000 in stocks that can give you a 6% dividend yield. Now is a ripe time, as many dividend stocks are trading at their lows as interest rate hikes have made their balance sheet debt expensive.
| Years Invested | Balance At the End of the Period |
|---|---|
| 10 | $102,422 |
| 20 | $379,684 |
| 30 | $1,130,244 |
| 40 | $3,162,040 |
Do I have to pay taxes on stock dividends?
Since the IRS considers dividends to be income, you usually need to pay taxes on them. Even if you reinvest all of your dividends directly back into the same company or fund that paid you the dividends, you will pay taxes as they technically still pass through your hands.
If your goal is long-term portfolio growth, dividend reinvestment makes sense: Reinvested dividends help grow your investment. If you aim to generate an income stream or fund an immediate financial need, you're better off taking cash dividends.
Many rich people do indeed live on dividends. Dividends are a portion of a company's earnings that is distributed to its shareholders, often as a way to share profits with investors.
Investing in covered call ETFs like QYLD and NUSI is the fastest way to live off dividends, as they generate high dividend income and growth through a covered call investment strategy.
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.
