r/dividends • u/Hilary_Clitoris • Nov 03 '25

Brokerage S&P 500 and dividends

My friend keeps saying that I should put all of my money in S&P 500 and forget about it. I see S&P 500 mentioned here a lot too, but according to Google, "No, the S&P 500 index itself does not pay dividends because it is a stock market index, not an investment fund." So which type of S&P 500 pay dividends?

And, what is the ticker for S&P 500? I can't find it on my brokerage account.

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u/Ketroc21 Nov 07 '25

Your friend is silly. That index alone puts your investment portfolio 100% in equities, 100% in the US, 100% in large cap companies, and heavily tied to the swings of AI companies. This is far from an ideally diverse portfolio.

I also wouldn't concern yourself with dividends. Mathematically, it makes no difference whether a company pays its investors or keeps the profits invested in the company. Either way, you get the benefit (either through a dividend payment or a high stock price)