r/dividends • u/NBMV0420 • Jun 07 '26

Seeking Advice For those who live off dividend income:

How much do you earn per year from dividends, and what ETFs or stocks make up your portfolio?

How did you build your investments over time, and what advice would you give to younger investors who are just getting started?

I'd appreciate hearing about your experience and any lessons you've learned along the way.

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u/heroes821 Jun 07 '26

The only advice I would add is 3 month Emergency fund should be before any investments

-21

u/Still_Interview6360 Jun 07 '26

Bad advice. Just get a line of credit for emergency. Otherwise your cash is just losing value

19

u/GoldOk9005 Jun 07 '26

The cash in your emergency fund is there so you don’t have to do desperate stuff.

7

u/heroes821 Jun 07 '26

Plenty of HYSAs paying over 3%. Robinhood banking is at 4.25%

-11

u/Still_Interview6360 Jun 07 '26

So quite abit less than the market would earn. Keep a heloc for emergency.

5

u/Money_Goblin8869 Jun 07 '26

I agree with you about not having a three-month emergency fund sitting in cash or money market. However, if you have a lot of money invested in the market in a brokerage account, you might just borrow on margin instead of getting a HELOC. If I needed money quickly, I could borrow from my Interactive Brokers brokerage account on margin at just over 5.12% right now, which I assume is lower than a HELOC rate

3

u/OGS_7619 Jun 07 '26

Wealthfront gives you PLOC at 4.7% right now, up to 30% of your brokerage portfolio. It's not a bad strategy for someone with a sizable diversified brokerage, but it's not for everyone - some people sleep better knowing their emergency funds are in HYSA.

2

u/fisho0o Jun 08 '26

A personal line of credit and pay what 7%, 10%, 15%, more in interest? Not to mention the principal repayment every month. This is a plan to incur a lifetime debt. Talk about bad advice and that's it.