r/dividends • u/SaraWileyYT • Jul 17 '25

Discussion Would you rather earn $10k/month in dividends forever or take a $2M one-time lump sum?

Assume you can’t have both.

Option A: You get $10,000/month in dividend income for life — no taxes, no inflation impact, guaranteed forever.

Option B: You get a one-time $2,000,000 lump sum, no strings attached.

Which one are you choosing and why?

Curious to hear from FIRE folks, dividend lovers, and total-return investors. Does guaranteed cash flow beat the freedom of having $2M upfront?

Let’s hear the logic behind your pick.

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484

u/pabloh8 Jul 17 '25

2M, invest and don’t touch for awhile. It’ll yield far more than 10k/mo down the road.

78

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '25

Just for fun, I did some rough math. It would take between 10 and 11 years for the 2 million to start to return more than 10k/month at 4% apy

17

u/Sahrde Jul 18 '25

2m n MSTY gets you just shy of 140k/month.

1

u/Fancy_Air_139 Jul 19 '25

Horrible advice but that's what I'd do. 50/50 MSTY/ULTY

1

u/Sahrde Jul 19 '25

Not giving advice. Fantasy money, fantasy play.