Greetings,

Hi, I’m a US based, mid 30s, Linux user.

I mainly hold a lot of $SCHD in my brokerage but I feel like I should possibly diversify. I don’t know a lot about REITs and I have none in my portfolio. I also have little tech exposure as $SCHD doesn’t buy much. So, I complement it with a bit of $QQQM.

$QQQM has almost no dividend. I don’t generally want to sell any stocks. I looked into $JEPI but it seems to not keep up with the market. My goal is to never sell because of Tax reasons. I’m definitely more of a dividend investor.

I don’t want to get much exposure to healthcare. Ever since late last year I think the industry has been heavily under heavy scrutiny. I don’t expect it to do as well. Plus, I don’t like the idea of making money off people who are sick.

I like the idea of having a second source of income. I live very frugally and had 5 jobs in 5 years. I think I settled on a great place to work; but the fear and concerns from layoffs are always there. It’s nice having a soft cushion of dividends.

I have a 401k largely investing in fortune 500.

I was would like input from others.

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
    3·
    6 days ago

    I think if you’re too focused on US-based investments, you’re going to be in a bad way regardless. If you don’t have a Roth IRA already, you should have one and max it out before you even begin to think of a traditional brokerage.

    If you want safe dividends for a cushion, it makes more sense to have a High-Yield Savings Account paying out ~4% per year, monthly, and having growth-focused retirement accounts (preferably a balance of US and international, ie something like VT). Dividend stock investing only really makes sense if you already have 6 months to a year’s worth of expenses in a HYSA already and a maxxed out Roth IRA and 401K focused on asset growth.

  • FancyPantsFIRE@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    6 days ago

    To challenge you slightly: what are your tax reasons for focusing on dividends? People commonly misunderstand the comparative tax implications of dividend vs total return investing. In most cases focusing on dividends is suboptimal both in terms of return and diversification.

    Zooming out, there’s key pieces missing here: what are your goals with your investing? What is your current financial situation?

    My blanket advice for generic scenarios would be:

    • If your taxable brokerage position isn’t large, consider building an emergency fund of 6-12 months
    • Pick a simple, diversified, and easy to automate investment allocation (eg. a three fund portfolio)
    • Outline your goals, investments are a means and not an end unto themselves
    • Sketch out a rough path from today to your goal so you’re not navigating blindly
    • POTOOOOOOOO@reddthat.comOPEnglish
      1·
      5 days ago

      Sure!

      My goals for dividends is to make enough to just barely get by in the event of a layoff. I put my desperation expense at around 8k-11k. I’d like that in passive income.

      I have an emergency fund outside of the taxable brokerage. It’s enough for a year.

      My bills are all at the beginning of the year (mainly February - July) then my bills are non-existent almost. So Auto deposit isn’t the best of ideas. But whenever I get over a threshold in my account then it goes to investments. I am very consistent with that when I am able.

      My goals are to have enough money that I can do a soft retirement or I think people also call it Barista fire. If I stay at my place of work long enough, then full retirement. I just value my financial safety in times of uncertainty.

      My guess of a plan would be ~3000 shares of SCHD on DRIP, and at least 2 other maininvestments leaving about 5-10% in risky investments such as QQQM. I want to focus on having enough dividends for the ability of having passive income.

      Time frame is ~8k in dividends in 5 years if I can. All in a brokerage account. Then once I feel I have my safety net then go after more growth oriented. Plus that is what the 401k is focused on.

      Going through 5 jobs in 5 years to me was stressful. I want a safety net of passive income first. I just don’t want to throw all my eggs in one basket with an ETF that I like a lot. I want diversity.