SCHD

cdude

> SCHD - 4.61 % What is even the point of this? It's like you have zero risk management and think a little 5% in dividend growth will shield your highly risky portfolio from any downturns. Lots of index investors started out picking stocks. You need to get burned before you realize that fire is hot.

InvestingNerd2020

While deal with risky options when the OP is 40% of a millionaire? A better long-term choice is an S&P 500 ETF or SCHD for dividend growth.

Bubbleman54

If you're over 50, do you want income from it? Do you wanna make sure to preserve capital? If you want income the CSPs and CCs are still a strategy to do that, but an easier route would be to put some in income focused ETFs. QQQI, SPYI, JEPI, JEPQ, SCHD are some of the popular ones. I am not a financial planner, so you'd want to consult one probably. Im just a guy a couple years away from retirement who has been looking into some of this stuff and running different scenarios/strategies through spreadsheets. There are tax implications on some of these things that I dont fully understand yet so talk to somebody that knows what they are talking about. Some of the returns on income ETFs are considered qualified dividends, some arent, some are considered return of capital. Etc. Way too much to get into here, but if anything Im saying is completely foreign to you they are things to go do some research. Or just get a financial planner. Which is probably the best advice

Main_Following_5709

Get out ASAP, suck up the capital gains taxes, and drop the rest into a couple ETF’s - one that is heavy growth like SCHD, one that is high income like JEPQ, and one that is aggressive growth like STRC, SATA, or a leveraged fund line TECL. It can be others, just examples. You can go into retirement without the constraints of retirement funds. Especially with the high income funds that are classified as return of capital and get the favorable tax treatment. Buy enough of one or two of these types of funds where you can live off the dividends and you never have sell any shares and your tax bill becomes minimal. Again - none of the retirement rules that govern Social Security or 401k’s.

Educational-Ad-4908

SCHD is a good one for companies not reliant on AI or are helping to build out the AI infrastructure, but there are zero Fortune 500 companies that aren’t using AI.

Mouth_Herpes

Sure, there are a million thematic ETFs that won’t or mostly won’t include AI or tech stocks. XLI is all industrials. ITA is all defense/aerospace stocks. XLE is all energy stocks. XLU is all utilities. VCR is all consumer discretionary. You could also pick countries that don’t have any AI companies. ARGT is all Argentine stocks. EWA is all Australian stocks. EPOL is all polish stocks. For something that \*mostly\* avoids AI stocks, you could buy a dividend ETF like SCHD or VIG. These are all just examples. If you want to avoid AI exposure, there are a lot of ways to do it with low expense ratio ETFs.

No-Improvement3164

In reality if the war ends the market goes flat or down because inflation goes down. I mean look at how SCHD preformed prior and SPY SMH and SPMO were flat for a year before the war. Was this all just a squeeze?

Inevitable-Lychee572

First investment ever, am I on the right track? - 40% in VTI, 30% in VXUS, 30% in SCHD I’m 28 and finally teaching myself how to invest. I’m currently a grad student and don’t have a ton of money but am hoping to invest a chunk, set up small monthly deposits, set the dividends to be automatically reinvested, and then leave the account alone. I want to do this with a Roth IRA and also a brokerage account that I can access before retirement. This is my first time, so please be nice if I’m totally off base. I’m excited to be learning how this all works!

DanTaude599

fwiw at your age the boring total-market fund will almost certainly beat the risky individual picks over 30 years, thats just how the math tends to shake out. if you want a dividend tilt SCHD or DGRO inside the roth is reasonable, but id keep the core in VTI and treat the stock-picking as a small play-money slice you can afford to lose.

Any-Tennis4658

Lmao made that in SCHD 🤣

Real_Passenger4282

Hey, props for starting at 18 — that compound interest head start is going to be huge. A few thoughts: On the broker question: Robinhood is fine honestly, especially with the 3% Roth IRA match. Fidelity and Schwab are the other popular picks — better research tools, more reliable customer service, and no PFOF concerns. But don't overthink the broker part, it matters way less than what you actually buy. On your strategy: You said growth + dividends and "a bit risky" — those kind of pull in different directions, so here's how I'd think about it at 20: * Roth IRA → max this out first ($7k/year). Since you won't touch it for decades, go heavy on growth here (VOO, QQQ, or individual growth stocks). The beauty of a Roth is you'll never pay taxes on the gains. * Individual account → this is where dividend stocks make more sense. Build a portfolio of solid dividend payers (think SCHD for an ETF, or individual names like O, KO, JNJ, ABBV if you want to pick stocks). Reinvest every dividend while you're young — the snowball effect is real. For learning: * "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham (the classic) * On YouTube: Joseph Carlson has great content on dividend portfolio building, very practical * r/dividends is a solid sub for that specific strategy One thing that really helped me stay motivated was actually tracking my dividend income month by month. seeing that number go up every quarter keeps you disciplined when the market dips. You're asking the right questions at the right age. Just stay consistent and don't chase meme stocks with your core portfolio. Good luck!

poozyfloor

MY SCHD is doing GREAAT!!

RonShevlin_Research

First off, starting at 18 and actually sticking with it already puts you ahead of 95% of people. The hardest part is building the habit, and you’ve already done that. On the “where to move” question: Robinhood’s managed accounts are fine for getting started, but as your balance grows, you’ll want more flexibility and lower costs. Look into a proper brokerage like Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard. They offer excellent research, no‑fee trading, and much better support for things like tax‑loss harvesting later on. For a simple growth/dividend approach, a low‑cost total‑market ETF (like VTI or SCHB) will give you broad growth with a small but growing dividend stream. If you want to tilt a bit more toward income, you could add a dividend‑focused ETF like SCHD. At 20, your greatest advantage is time—every dollar you don’t pay in fees or lose to a bad gamble is a dollar that will compound for decades. Honestly, the best investment you can make right now is in your own knowledge. Read one good book (like The Simple Path to Wealth or The Little Book of Common Sense Investing) and you’ll know more than most advisors. You don’t have to be a genius to do well—you just need to avoid the big mistakes, keep contributing, and let time do the work. What’s been your main frustration with Robinhood so far? That might help narrow down what kind of platform would suit you better. Happy to answer any other questions.

Deeznutzsgotcha

That rotation in tech maybe coming soon, SCHD rebalanced from 9% tech to 19% tech.

Optimal-Bad2871

this market is why my retirement portfolio is entirely boomer ass SCHD

tommydelriot

Definitely what I’m planning to do! Even now, I just reinvest the dividends. I also have some SCHD and VINIX and a few other stocks for “bonus” dividends.

Doodl3s

You plugged this into AI didn't you... Don't do that. This is a terrible list. And SCHD is and index fund. Not a stock. Please stop using AI for financial advice. Its an LLM, its not doing research. Its outputting an answer that sounds correct based on your prompt and similar answers from other sources.

hop_mantis

You can't get out of it without selling VOO, maybe just invest in SCHD for a bit until it gets to whatever % of your portfolio you want if you don't want to sell

Effective_End8731

I'm actually putting more money into quality. dividend aristocrat companies and covered call layered growth strategies right now even though I'm young enough for growth. I still buy growth every month, but its a smaller % than it used to and positions like SCHD or large cap quality / small cap quality are all looking a bit more attractive. I will definitely be in on part of Anthropic's IPO. I believe in what they're doing and if anyone is going to be the steward of an AI that doesn't kill us it will be them. I also believe that this wave of IPOs has the potential to shift enough capital in the market to trigger the reality check we have been waiting for. Within a year we will see how much of Data center rental, spaceX hype, and anthropic potential grow out demand for data centers has really driven actually revenue in the market. If its less than stellar, people will start to truly consider earnings again and if we are still sitting on 40-100 P/E companies after the hype train has lost its steam - you can bet people will migrate back to quality as the growth potential tapers off. There are \~30% more ETFs being born this year than the expected number based on prior years + the general annual growth rate of ETF counts. There is a lot of artificial demand being driven by yield hungry investors hoping to capitalize on the next 30%+ gains. When those ETFs gets influxes of capital and go buy the underlying it does artificially push up prices that aren't totally based on revenue / cash flow and eventually sanity comes back when those speculative massive growths start to slow. When those yields fail to deliver, people pull their money into the next big thing and that's when the shift happens. If a bunch of money leaves Semi's and moves into new IPOs - that can trigger the panic - a chain of panic sells plummets the price and investors go right to boring profitable companies and this is how sector and industry shifts can drive a greater market shift.

booobReviewer

At 80+, the priority should be capital preservation and income, not long-term growth. A few things to check on those Gabelli CEFs: 1. Expense ratios — Gabelli CEFs often run 1.5-3%+ ER. The Healthcare & Wellness Trust (GRX) is over 3%. That's insanely high for an income fund — it's eating into the distributions. 2. NAV vs market price — If the Utility fund (GAU) is trading at a 2x premium to NAV as someone noted, that's actually a decent time to sell. CEFs can trade at big premiums that revert. 3. NAV erosion — Over 9-12 years, if the NAV has been declining while distributions are paid out, that's effectively returning her own capital. If she needs the income, a better setup might be a simple mix of a short-term bond ETF (BSV or SHY for stability) and a dividend-focused equity ETF (SCHD or VYM) — total ER under 0.10%. Worth a discussion with a fee-only advisor given the tax implications of selling.

Iodide

Up 260% then down 20% then up 4%\* (in how many months? Did we beat SCHD dividend payouts?)

Basic-Goat6329

So at 61 you're already heavy on income ETFs which makes sense. JEPQ, JEPI, QQQI, and SCHD all overlap a lot in what they're trying to do though — you're paying for four slightly different flavors of the same thing. On $3k I wouldn't add a new position. I'd top up whichever one you're most underweight in relative to where you want your income vs growth split. If you want more stability, SCHD. If you're okay with volatility for higher yield, JEPQ. Since it's a taxable account, keep in mind the dividend tax drag(something to think about) Canadian withholding on US ETFs in a non-registered account eats into your yield more than people realize.

sdanielsmith

SCHD. It's the anchor of my portfolio so that I can play with the rest.

DeliciousSimple2

SCHD doesn’t have a lot of tech in general.

Lol-throwaway-WSB

SCHD • Dividend Darling Factor ETFs won't include them because they're not paying and too junior. RSP • Equal-weighted S&P 500 (each company only gets .2%.) Some combination of the two things will trim tech exposure but have the US large caps you're looking for.

USAJourneyman

SCHD

Solid-Mood9571

Look at SCHD holdings, they have VZ in there, not the best picks imo

jpc1215

DIA probably would work better for this, or SCHD There is no way to limit exposure to companies in the S&P500 with VOO. Just “comes with the territory” so to speak

_Mad_Jack_

Put it all in a 50/50 mix of SPY and SCHD and live out the rest of your days in peace

arcanition

To be honest, I was in the same mindset as you, and did my own picking of some sector funds (such as VOOG and similar). At the end of the day, after many years, I found that their performance was similar to the safer, less-volatile overall index funds like VTI. And if I just dump everything into VTI, I'm not picking winners, I never have to worry about "what if growth funds perform worse than the overall market?" I went through a similar learning process with dividend funds such as SCHD, throughout the years worrying about whether it was a good choice. And at the end of those years, it had made a few percent *less* than VTI.

radix33

Moving my money to SCHD

EmergencyFair6786

Is it time to panic and rotate everything to SCHD?

Beemrmem3

I did exactly the same. A 5% off sale in one day is crazy. I'm slowly trying to get SPMO a larger position than QQQ and SCHD. It's currently my favorite ETF.

wineinacoffeemug

-1.62% thanks to SCHD and MO. My ITOT position is down 2.71%

Naive-Present2900

My port is up. Consumer staples, SCHD, UNH, and a few others. If your’s are in tech. It’s gonna hurt.

Bitter-Refuse-8623

FSPSX SCHD Nvidia

AlGAdams

Don't sell the SCHD!!

sharp315

depends on the investment lineup your provider offers but small cap options like AVUV could be a good play if you are concerned with the long term valuation of spacex. you could also look into dividend focused ETFs like SCHD (spacex will never pay a dividend) or international funds to diversify away from large cap.

Michael1272

Good morning - I am 24 and starting to grow my Roth, I have 10k rollover coming into my traditional and want to make sure everything I have looks right. I wanted to know what I’m doing wrong? I shared in another group and they said I need to move it all into index funds. However my novice self thought these were good buys for long term and honestly thought ETFs were index funds. Daily $1 buys - ARKK, ARKQ, BRK.B, DRAM, FNDF, QQQ, SCHD, SFY, SPY, VIG, VOO. I understand the overlap in some but it’s a lot better than I had previously - any help is greatly appreciated and would love some feedback. I want to maximize my time while I’m young, I make decent money for my age 120k+. If you have any questions for me I would love to be able to answer some. Thanks!

_freckles__

Do you have a place that is yours to call home. You already have good amounts in stocks and markets, next you should probably focus on getting a place to call yours. If that is already taken care of , then VT is fine, but maybe have a little bit in some growth/momentum plays like SCHD, SPMO, FMTM etc. Allocate maybe 10% for these aggressive plays maybe

u_spawnTrapd

I’m probably in the minority, but I think the biggest benefit of dividend ETFs for younger investors is behavioral, not mathematical. Getting paid and reinvesting can make people more likely to stay invested through rough periods. That said, at 21 I’d care more about total return than whether the return comes from price appreciation or dividends. A lot of newer investors treat dividends like free money when it’s really just one way value gets returned to shareholders. Nothing wrong with holding something like SCHD alongside broader index funds if it helps you stick to your plan, but I wouldn’t choose dividends over a diversified growth-focused portfolio just because of the income stream.

Clear-Inevitable-414

It depends on market conditions.  I've seen make appreciation in the past two years. I've been rotating out about 30-40% of that growth into SCHD so I don't feel a hard correction as much and can rotate back more money if things look favorable 

samuelpile

Avoid dividends. They are materially identical to the sale of stock. At your age, you should focus on long-term growth for retirement. Once early retirement becomes an option, you can consider an income-driven/dividend investing plan. Prioritizing dividend reinvesting, or DRIP, is silly IMO. In a taxable account, a dividend payout is a forced taxable event, which creates a tax drag on growth. In a tax-advantaged account, if are reinvesting something like SCHD seeking greater total return you could just.... pick an ETF with greater total return. Dividend proponents (especially SCHD'ers) will say that it is less volatility, it has less of at tech tilt, that dividend aristocrats are always going to increase the rate, etc. etc. It is an oversimplification to say that total return is all that matters but all of the aforementioned traits of dividend ETFs are descriptive traits and not advantages. If you want less volatility, there are options with more total return. If you want less tech, there are options with more total return. If you want stocks that will only go up, there are options with more total return. For young investors, it is mostly a psychological tool that keeps the carrot in front of you. The best investor is a diligent one, and if getting $4 every month from your brokerage is enough to keep you drooling then go for it p.s. I never see the SCHD'ers and dividend'ers commenting to prioritizing your tax-advantaged accounts (since dividends sit best in brokerage), which I think is a big drawback for those subreddits getting popular.

sharekharid

Put in JEPi, JEPQ and SCHD

bofoshow51

Isn’t this the principle behind dividend funds like SCHD? That dividend companies, especially qualified ones, have a history of consistent performance and stability. Sure it’s less efficient to have a forced income realization event, and it may long term underperform the s&p500, but it’s kind of exactly what you are asking for if I understand it correctly.

octopus_serenader

all of WSB selling everything and buying SCHD.

RubiksSugarCube

IDK but I'm mostly defensive and SCHD actually has me green today

Jericho3434

Large position in SCHD just in case things go south 💪

Historical-Pride-698

At 28 skip SCHD. Do 70% VOO and 30% QQQM. You don't need dividends yet.

jvaritek33c

I manage our household finances as a whole, roughly in a barbell strategy. My wife is the safe side of the barbell - almost entirely in VOO (50.5k) and SCHD (44.5k), with meaningful but not significant amounts in RSP (6.3k) and VXUS (12.5k). She also has a single share of Costco and I don't remember why Earlier this year I repositioned my VOO into BRK.B (47k), RSP (5k), AVUV (4.7k), and GLDM (3.3k) to reduce my exposure to megacaps and introduce some conservatism. Today I added a 8.5k leveraged position in GOOG, I already have a large position (57k) which is up 80% or so. Let your winners win, yknow. I have speculative options plays in NKE (1.5k) and USO (0.6k) I have 23.6k in SGOV to act as dry powder to be invested per my IPS, either into NKE depending on pre-defined quantitative benchmarks from their SEC filings or otherwise standby for other potential plays that look appealing and pass a DCF analysis All in all, I'm running her side as a typical "Index fund and chill" and my side as a concentrated bet on Google with the BRK.B investment acting as a "buy the dip" or "value investing" proxy. My thinking there is "they have an insane amounts of cash and a framework of value investing that I learn from, why try and do it better than them if they're the ones who have all the cash if a crash happens." It's me attempting to recognize that if a crash happens, I'm not likely to outperform their value investments My thesis for Google is that they own the entire vertical in the AI space, have the distribution network setup, and they're also my quantum computing exposure which I'm very bullish on

Serious_Tree31

It’s not letting me add picture Current ETF s are : SCHD SPHQ SCHD BND VOO VWO

ScytheBuster452

I'd go 60% VOO (the basics from the S&P 500), 30% QQQM (tech companies that grow fast), and only 10% SCHD (dividends), since you're already putting 2k/month into your 401k with S&P 500 and SCHD is probably too much safe investing when you have so much time to let your money grow.

Thirsty799

SCHD

ArthurDent4200

At your age, I would have zero SCHD in a taxable account. Personally, I wouldn't hold SCHD anywhere, but a lot of people love it.

ArthurDent4200

At your age, I would have zero SCHD in a taxable account. Personally, I wouldn't hold SCHD anywhere, but a lot of people love it.

circadiggmigration

> SCHD I can't do that. It would be taking way too large of a risk for someone who doesn't have the time to recover the loss.

LilSwaggyMayne

Full port SCHD and collect $30,000 in dividends quarterly without touching the initial $4M

shryke12

I put everything you need to get in that post. It's all safe buy and forget investments that will throw off solid cash flow for reinvesting or use in life. So you just buy 25% in each of the four funds below, they are all diversified low fee funds. 25% VOO - S&P 500 25% VXUS - international basket fund 25% SCHD - Value and dividend basket fund 25% MLPX - Energy focused fund that reprices rapidly with inflation. Has a high dividend. This energy ETF is unique in the stack as it's holdings are not sensitive to energy prices. They are logistics. This is a core staple holding of mine.

shryke12

If you were going to hold that as a long term investment, you need to stop picking individual stocks right now and start only putting your money in VXUS, VT, VOO, or SCHD.

Vivid-Shelter-146

No, it’s not. They’re both bad. SCHD is bad. You’re wrong. All of your SCHD buddies are also wrong. The data on this is pretty clear. You’re not going to ruin yourself financially by doing dividend investing but it’s incredibly suboptimal. You’re costing yourself tons of money over the long run.

SupremeGobbler1996

Lol SCHD isn't dividend chasing. Guy is here to learn at least explain as well so OP can understand your view. 

shryke12

My advice would be don't pay a fiduciary if you feel you have patience and not panick sell in downturns. And don't overtrade. Simple strategy. 25% VXUS - international basket 25% SCHD - Value and dividend basket 25% MLPX - Energy ETF reprices rapidly with inflation - high dividend. This energy ETF is unique in the stack as it's holdings are not sensitive to energy prices. They are logistics. This is a core staple holding of mine. 25% VOO - S&P 500 This is globally diversified, will throw off great income, will thrive in high inflation periods, and provide growth. If you don't need the dividends reinvest.

SupremeGobbler1996

SCHD or VTI or SCHX tickets are all Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs. Let them sit, reinvest the dividends. 

RemyVonLion

Dang you're lucky son, you can live anywhere that isn't crazy expensive then and not even work. I'm from California and I really miss it, but I wouldn't move back, at least to somewhere populated and thus expensive, unless I was making at least $100k/year, which you easily could. You just need to invest in enough dividend stocks/ETFs. Now obviously my favorite is CHPY, but I get downvoted every time I mention it, probably because people are scared of something too good to be true since the NAV keeps increasing while paying $.66 per share every week. So just to be safe you should diversify into other safe but high income ones like JEPI, JEPQ, QQQI, as well as safer ones like KBWY, DIV, SCHD, and VYM. After putting enough in those to get the desired income, the rest and future income can obviously can go into long term investments and options.

Cartoonicorn

Do not throw away good money. You are already heavily invested in this one stock. Changing your average does not make the previous losses disappear, you are just shoveling more money into what looks like a very risky, losing gamble.  Pick something else. SCHD, VOO, hell, consider putting a *little* into MU (also a gamble, but at least it is a gamble that is going up!  Set yourself up to retire, not lose your shirt or worse.  Good luck, but please, please diversify safely, learn your bitter pill lesson, and invest more carefully from here on. 

pidaryob

i’m running 70% VOO, 15% IWM, 15% VXUS. Would you cut any of these to squeeze a little SCHD position?

No-Reflection-7705

TOTAL SCHD VICTORY! /s…. Kinda….

DrVonSpreckle

I mean thats probably the right instinct. A position doesnt have to be bad to be unnecessary. Sometimes the cleanest portfolio decision is refusing to add a fund that makes the spreadsheet feel more complete but makes the owner less certain. The 5% SCHY question is the same machine in another jacket. If you can explain exactly what foreign dividend exposure is supposed to do for the account then fine. If the answer is mostly more diversification then it still has to beat the simpler question of whether SCHD, VOO, cash needs & your withdrawal plan already cover the job. Retirement portfolios need fewer clever additions than people think. They need durability, tax awareness, liquidity, income comfort & a structure the owner wont second guess during an ugly tape. The box analogy matters because boxes multiply quietly. One for mid caps, one for international dividends, one for yield, one for growth, one for safety. Pretty soon the portfolio owns a lot of explanations without a lot of added control. Make every new sleeve earn its chair before it gets money.

fisho0o

Thank you u/DrVonSpreckle, your repy is *really* helpful for me and I like the box analogy and you pointing out an allocation itch. I need to think deeper about whether or not that's not what I'm doing - checking a box and scratching an itch - with DON. And I can say right now that DON doesn't pass the test. If it were to underperform SCHD and VOO for years I would question why I'm owning it. And not just DON, but I also hold a 5% position in SCHY with plans to build that up as well, but the thought of bringing it to 30% (the Fidelity recommendation) is really difficult for me to accept. And it also fails the future performance test. Thanks again!

mystic-madnes

I’m not gonna make any assumptions about OP. They said that their main goal is to avoid investing in spaceX. Putting their money in a dividend ETF like SCHD will accomplish that goal.

youngsimba320

You’re right. But zoom out 5 years. Voo is up 79%, SCHD is up 25%. Assuming OP is a long term investor SP500 is gonna out grow SCHD long term

mystic-madnes

SCHD is up 18% YTD. SPY and VOO are only up 10% YTD so I’m really not sure what you’re talking about. Plus SCHD gives you dividends that you can reinvest.

youngsimba320

But if OP wants growth SCHD is not gonna give him that

mystic-madnes

No true. You can invest in SCHD or any dividend ETF/index fund. SpaceX isn’t going to pay out dividends so they won’t be included.

hopswaterbarley

SCHD

Lena_Gupta19

Look into a solo 401k since you're self employed, you can shelter way more than just the roth IRA limit each year. Also VTI already contains everything in VOO so you're basically double dipping there, I'd pick one or the other - your roth holdings look solid tho, SCHG and SCHD together cover a lot of ground

Adventurous_Elk_4039

*>It's not "forced selling", it's not "your money back to you"* It is though. The NAV drops by same amount as the dividend payout. They are giving a portion of the company's total value as a payout; even if that portion of the total value was in cash. *>It's a process of generating cashflow through internal ROI and distribution of that cash. The mechanism is very different from how growth stocks work.* It's not different at all other than the final step. A company still has assets and liabilities, they (hopefully) make good decisions that lead to profits (increased NAV), with growth focused companies reinvesting those profits (to entice via price appreciation) versus non-growth companies electing to pay out (as opposed to sitting on a big pile of cash) as an enticement for investors. You're accepting the dividend payout at the expectation that the NAV goes down by that same amount (and likely the company won't be growing too fast if at all but that is a different conversation). \>*Please take a look at SGOV, SCHD, ADX, CSWC for examples.* Why did you include a treasury fund on this list? \>*And yes the funds may move down temporarily but so what? There are funds with stable dividends throughout GFC, Covid, 2022 corrections.* They still decreased in overall value, meaning yes, even the dividend returns went down (even if the div% remained the same or rose). You were suggesting the OP use dividend funds as a cash placeholder because they are scared to invest, but dividend funds would still follow the market and total returns would decrease in a crash even with dividend payouts. Ironically, for this specific purpose if OP wanted a cash placeholder, SGOV would be great.

Annual_Wrangler_5229

SCHD is fantastic. Med tech sector is also oversold AF rn and those are safer bets as well (Medtronic, Abbot, Boston Scientific Etc)

CornerOne238

Obviously it's not free money but you are misunderstanding fundamentally how dividends work. It's not "forced selling", it's not "your money back to you". It's a process of generating cashflow through internal ROI and distribution of that cash. The mechanism is very different from how growth stocks work. Please take a look at SGOV, SCHD, ADX, CSWC for examples.

MX396

I have some cash because reasons and I'm tempted to go more into SCHD and maybe also some international ETF with it. I know the dividends of SCHD have a "tax drag" problem, but between the overconcentration of the S&P 500 in a few high P/E tech stocks and the corruption of the rule changes in NASDAQ (and maybe S&P next) by the tech bros being fast-tracked into the index, I'm a little more skeptical of the total US market approach than I was a couple of years ago.

Cartoonicorn

If you want to enter the market with low cost and some security, I would say start with the SCHD etf. You learn about dividends, feel the waves of good days and bad days. It is not going to be the long term winner like VOO, but will be more stable in the short term. Etfs are spread out over 100 or more different individual stocks, so you won't rocket like crazy, but you will also not lose your shirt. Always check how a stock has grown over its lifetime before you buy. Google the stock name and a graph will appear. Check the month, year, 5 years, and max. Look out for any crazy drops (2020 covid will be a big drop in everything, but look if the stock has recovered)  You will make mistakes. Beat of luck

EffectAdventurous764

If I do trim a stock I usually use it to dca into my VOO SCHD/SCHG. my single stocks are like the fighter pilots protecting the mother ship that are my ETFs. I'm self employed and don't always know how long I will have work for so doing this helps me not worry too much about my weekly ETF deposits into my foundation ETFs that I plan to dca into until retirement. I know I might be capping my future returns in that particular stock but I'm also feeding the beast that will get me to my finish line and my retirement goals.

DrVonSpreckle

So youre asking the right question. Not whether DON is bad. Whether it solves a real problem SCHD plus VOO doesnt already handle cleanly enough. Mid caps can add a different slice of the market. The question is whether that slice gives you enough extra behavior to justify drag, volatility, tax friction & complexity. In retirement that matters more because youre not just chasing total return. Youre protecting sequence risk, income comfort & the ability to sell without hating the price. If DON already feels like a compromise before you buy it, respect that. A 7% to 10% position isnt huge but small positions still have to earn their chair. Diversification isnt automatically better just because another box got checked. The cleaner test is this. if the position underperforms SCHD plus VOO for years, would you still understand why you own it. If the answer is no then you probably dont have a portfolio need. You have an allocation itch. For a retiree who already likes steady & boring, SCHD plus VOO may be the simpler answer unless you can explain exactly what mid caps are supposed to do for the account that the current mix is missing.

steady_compounder

If SCHD already fills the steady, boring income role you want, I would not add DON unless you have a clear reason beyond wanting every box ticked. A 7 to 10 percent mid-cap sleeve is perfectly fine if it helps diversification, but it is not mandatory, especially in retirement when simplicity, tax efficiency, and knowing what each holding is doing matter more. I’d think of mid-caps as an optional small sleeve, not something that has to justify itself by beating SCHD or VOO on its own.

JohnBrownsErection

Retiring in your 40s is possible, but it is not a secret ETF, it is not “just buy more SCHD,” and it is absolutely not achieved by discovering one forbidden ticker in a cave behind Vanguard headquarters. It is math. Horrible, beautiful, soul-stripping math. To retire that early you basically need some combination of: High savings rate High income Low expenses Aggressive but sane investing No lifestyle inflation goblin A plan for healthcare Enough invested outside retirement accounts to bridge the gap A willingness to live like a spreadsheet monk while everyone else leases emotional support trucks The investing part matters, but not as much as people want it to. The main lever is not “VOO vs QQQ vs dividend ETF vs covered call income cauldron.”   The main lever is how much money can you shove into the compounding furnace every single month without ruining your life? Very rough math: if you want to spend $40k/year, you probably want around $1M–$1.3M invested depending on withdrawal rate and risk tolerance. If you want $60k/year, maybe $1.5M–$2M. If you want $100k/year, congratulations, you need dragon-hoard money and possibly a side quest involving a tech salary, business ownership, or marrying a suspiciously wealthy widow. The “retire by 40” version is brutal because you only have six years. Six years is not a compounding runway. Six years is a financial knife fight in a parking lot. Unless you already have a large portfolio or very high income, that probably means extreme savings, career acceleration, business income, house hacking, geo-arbitrage, or some other major life lever. The “retire in your 40s” version is much more realistic. At 34, retiring at 47–49 gives you 13–15 years, which is still aggressive but not completely insane. That is where maxing retirement accounts, taxable brokerage investing, keeping expenses low, and increasing income can actually start looking like a plan instead of a manifesto written in caffeine. Portfolio-wise, boring usually wins -  Broad index funds for the core. Maybe some small/value or growth tilt if you understand the risk. Avoid blowing yourself up chasing “early retirement income” products that are really just yield cosplay with NAV decay wearing a fake mustache. The real FIRE formula is spend way less than you earn, invest the difference automatically, increase income, avoid dumb debt, and do not let your lifestyle expand like a raccoon in a marshmallow factory. Also, early retirement does not have to mean “never work again.” It can mean financial independence, part-time work, consulting, seasonal work, a lower-stress job, or working because you want to instead of because your landlord has you in a chokehold. So the answer is: yes, it is possible, but the path is less “find the perfect investment” and more “turn your savings rate into an industrial weapon.” Investing is the engine. Savings rate is the fuel. Lifestyle inflation is the raccoon chewing through the brake lines.

deptacon

The kind of person who makes this argument os also the kind of person who buys SCHD as a 21 year old as overweight in a long term portfolio

johnthewerewolf

SCHD and JEPI are both dividend-focused ETFs with a good return rate.

Opeth4Lyfe

Bearish on tech when it’s 35% of the S&P? 🧐 The counter ETF to less tech is the dividend value funds like SCHD or DGRO/VYM. Or you can go really crazy and do the Ex Mag 7 ETFs.

Deeznutzsgotcha

That's exactly what Google Gemini told me. It said right now my best investment choices are SGOV, SCHD, or leveraged inverse ETFs.

paistecymbalsrock

SCHD

Largofarburn

Why would someone do that? Just go and lie on the internet? But seriously people Aren’t gonna bother to make a post when the sell something that’s down 5% after a year of holding. You’re only gonna get the massive booms and busts on social media or people hitting big milestones. If you want boring news, I’ve been investing into SCHD in my Ira for like 4 years now. It’s up ~28% over that time frame and I’m getting ~$1,450 a year in dividends.

james_reed_fxdesk

If the goal is passive and easy to stick with, VOO alone is already a strong default. SCHD is not bad, but I would only add it if you know exactly why you want the dividend tilt. In a Roth, the tax angle is not really the point. The simpler portfolio is often better if it keeps you from second guessing every few months.

leaning_on_a_wheel

The question is better asked in reverse - Why would you add SCHD?

pappugulal

Recently read somewhere that 60-40 has been replaced by 90-10, where 90% is stocks and 10% is cash. You should have some idea by now of probability of you being laid off. With that in mind , I would keep a 1-3 years worth of cash, 1-3 years of stable investments (SCHD) and remaining in VOO. This pattern would be for one retiring today. Let me know your opinion as well.

Plane-Salamander2580

Allocating part of your portfolio to bond ETFs, to dividend funds like SCHD/DGRO, to BRK.B are all viable solutions to diversify. Also, if you consider yourself an experienced and educated investor, consider global value ETFs, Singapore blue chip stocks (if available, many high dividend yielding), REITS and TIPS.

deprecated__

SCHD + Equal weight SP

Cruian

What would SCHD be doing for you? Single fund portfolios: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/tg1az5/should_i_invest_in_x_index_fund_a_simple_faq/ This is one of over a dozen links I have that can help explain the reasoning behind that: * https://www.pwlcapital.com/should-you-invest-in-the-sp-500-index - invest in the S&P 500, but don't end there (this covers info on both the US extended market and ex-US markets) [a total US market fund combines S&P 500 + extended market into one] US only is single country risk, which is an *uncompensated* risk. An uncompensated risk is one that doesn't bring higher expected long term returns. It should be avoided whenever possible. Compensated vs uncompensated risk: * https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/uncompensated-risk/ >An uncompensated risk is a risk that you can diversify against. * https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk or if that doesn't work, the archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20260107205255/https://www.northerntrust.com/middle-east/insights-research/2024/wealth-management/compensated-portfolio-risk >But not all risks are compensated with an expected return premium. * https://www.pwlcapital.com/is-investing-risky-yes-and-no/ (Bold mine) >Uncompensated risk is very different; it is the risk specific to an individual company, sector, **or country.** Consider this: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio The bonds are the part that adjust volatility level (if you really can stomach 100% stock, they can even be set to 0%, however not everyone is actually able to tolerate 100% stock). More bonds should equal less volatility. Alternatively, a target date (index) fund or target allocation (index) fund are effectively the 3 fund concept in a single wrapper, managed for you. They are designed to be "one and done," the only thing you hold. They're fully diversified internally for you. These can be found with expense ratios as low as 0.08%-0.12% for the Fidelity, iShares, Schwab, and Vanguard index based ones. The target date and target allocation funds typically are not recommended for taxable accounts but are fine for tax advantaged. VT (2 letters)/VTWAX would cover both stock roles in one fund. >I want to keep it as passive as possible. Then I'd really be looking at the target date fund.

kushdaddyO101

RSP and SCHD at your age

VibrantLychee

Had a similar crossroad, diverisifed by adding mainly SCHD and a bit of VXUS.

annoyed_meows

Someone else said it, the S&P is heavily weighted into tech. But when tech drills like last fall and the beginning of this year the S&P stays buoyed much more. I'm 48. But what I've started doing is when I profit take I put the profits into things like SCHD and BRK.B. People are down on them because they aren't exploding like everything else but when tech drills they usually stay up pretty well or actually go up. Great hedge. BRK.B hasn't moved since warren left, then are down off the may 2025 high of 540. But once that cash pile and buy backs start in earnest it's going to do very well. I keep stacking. I think your idea to trim a bit is a good once, but there's some companies worth keeping money in. GOOG looks like it will be one of the AI stars. I have a big position in that and I'm not letting that go. AMZN too. One of my forever holds. I sold off my MSFT. Personal choice there, but I ran it since 2015. I have some growth/risk stuff I'm willing to let run for many more years, I'm just starting to build into the value categories. Seems like you're doing that now. Makes sense. Something I'd recommend is to start asking AI about this. Tell it what you have. What life you'll live. It can help you start to brainstorm and plan. I do it with gemini, claude, grok. Very useful convos for me to think outside the box and start planning. GL!