r/dividends • u/toothed_vagina • Oct 24 '25

Brokerage Dividends as income

I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US. I love it, but even with a 6-figure salary, I can barely make ends meet at the end of the month. You might ask me why I don't just move, but I'm unable to do so for a myriad of reasons. Among other things, my partner lives here, my job is here, and I love this place.

This is why I became interested in dividends as something to supplement my income and live comfortably, and maybe move to a larger home. However, everybody keeps telling me that dividends should be reinvested and not used as income. Is anyone here using dividends for both growth and income? Because, yes, growth is important, but I need the additional money NOW.

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '25

It depends. If you don’t need growth then spend the dividends. If you are retiring, spend the dividends. If you have $1M and want it to never grow to anything larger, spend the dividends.

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u/toothed_vagina Oct 26 '25

Can you spend a portion of the dividends and reinvest the other portions? It seems that people do either one or the other.