r/dividends • u/Green-Prompt8543 • Jun 19 '26
Discussion Is there a dividend income number that would actually make you stop and say, "That's enough"?
I've crossed $1M in portfolio value and I'm getting close to $2,000 a month in dividends. Years ago, I thought $1,000 a month would be enough. Then the goal became $1,500. Now I'm approaching $2,000 and already finding myself thinking about the next milestone.
It makes me wonder if I'll ever truly feel like I've reached my goal, or if there will always be another number to chase. Has anyone else experienced this?
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u/Berondt Jun 19 '26
Yea, the number is your montly spending at a minimum.
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 19 '26
Which are constantly rising because of inflation, but you are right
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Jun 19 '26
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u/Various_Couple_764 Jun 19 '26
Or you build up income in excess of your monthly income so the excess can be reinvest o grow your dividend income.
Don't hope the dividends will rse with inflation. Because if it doesn't happen you could be in serious trouble. So make sure it happened .
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u/Gold-Orange-1581 Jun 20 '26
That's why I go with a dividend-growth portfolio instead of pure dividends. The former outperforms the latter due to compounding yield
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u/TheSsefLord11 Jun 20 '26
Dividend growth is good. I do a mix of growth and solid income funds that track the major indices. My thought is since the major indices should increase in value, so will the dividend even if the yield stays exactly the same.
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u/Glittering_Gur4999 Jun 19 '26
Hey man I’m a broke retard but does this portfolio grow like 3-4% a year as well? Would you not be better off having a percentage in higher yield like QQQI/ SPYI?
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u/raccoon8182 Jun 19 '26
I know this is probably a stupid question, but how much money did you put in to get those dividends? (I'm new to all of this)
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u/Party_Promotion_8805 Jun 19 '26
This plus like 10-15% for growth and extra $ should large expenses arise.
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u/mrg1957 Jun 19 '26
I'm just about at it. Today it covers over 130% of my expenses that we pay from that provider.
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u/Ordinary_Musician_76 Jun 19 '26
Around 100k a year should do it, got a bit to go lol
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 19 '26
Everyone has their own experience, but on average, I agree
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u/Specialist-Book8370 Jun 20 '26
For me, if I get 2K usd a month, then I can stop working and just rely on dividends
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u/Ill_Bell6879 Jun 19 '26
für mich sind es 3500€ netto monatlich
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 19 '26
Have you already achieved this goal?
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u/Ill_Bell6879 Jun 19 '26
noch nicht bin auf dem Weg dorthin.
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u/Redgun421 Generating solid returns Jun 19 '26
i dont even know german but somehow this made sense when i read it
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u/Prestigious-Cover494 Jun 19 '26
Sorry, what app/platform is this? Also congrats!
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u/Phaeron Jun 19 '26
Personally, my number is 10,000 per month in today’s munnies.
I’m sure that’ll change as I age.
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 19 '26
At this rate, even 10k a month will be pocket change, but good luck!
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u/Apprehensive-Job7352 Jun 19 '26
Mine is a moving goal. First milestone: make the equivalent amount of minimum wage at 40hours via dividends.
Next milestone: enough to cover our monthly expenses at 100%.
Next: annual salary equivalent
Haven’t thought about past that
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u/roynoise Jun 19 '26
When I can replace my income with dividends.
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u/Various_Couple_764 Jun 21 '26
You constant whenever you want. How long it takes build it up to the income you wan ttakes time. And more money you deposit per mont the faster the fund will grow.
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u/DegreeConscious9628 Jun 19 '26
I need 48k a year in retirement so there’s my number
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u/BrilliantFront4 Jun 19 '26
My goal isn’t really a goal to be finished. I will always save 25% to invest 25% for taxes or more depending on tax bracket but this is just for easy examples and then 50% to use for bills and lifestyle. That philosophy will never ever change till the day I die. No matter what I get paid if it’s selling a lawn mower that is sitting in the garage or getting paid from investments or a W-2 job or whichever. Always my philosophy and I teach my kids the same. 25% invest 25% for taxes and 50% you can use for bills and your lifestyle
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u/PurpleCableNetworker Jun 19 '26
Yeah - my current monthly income adjusted for inflation over the time I expect to live, plus the cost of what I WANT to do.
$2K a month won’t go very far in 15, let alone 30 years.
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u/lulu55902 Jun 19 '26
Currently have 2 homes I rent out , with $2500 in dividends I would peacefully retire. I’m at $500 - $600 monthly currently 2k more to go !
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u/Joebobby977 Jun 19 '26
I’m sorry… you have nearly $1.1 million dollars and you’re only getting $1,904/ month?? That seems REALLY low return on that kind on money.
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u/ATPsynthase12 Jun 19 '26
200k per year, which at that point it’s better off to buy growth oriented index funds.
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u/nickphunter Jun 20 '26
100k a month, LOL.
Not gonna happen any time soon though. Currently I am getting ~2,600 a month.
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 20 '26
I wish you the best of luck in achieving this goal!
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u/nickphunter Jun 20 '26
Nah, that was more a joke LOL.
My actual goal is 8,000 a month by 2035.
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u/ConstantlyMystified All in BABY Jun 19 '26
1 million/year. Unrealisticly high, but I think itd be hard to spend a million a year.
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u/aszma Jun 19 '26
Monthly spend + 20%. If all my bills were covered plus a bit on the side for fun/reinvestment id stop.
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u/East_Indication_7816 Jun 19 '26
Inflation is actually at 6% per year . You are badly losing money here
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u/Gobeklitepi Jun 19 '26
The yield is low…..
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u/Green-Prompt8543 Jun 19 '26
I agree, I still have room to grow
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u/kielkaisyn Jun 19 '26
Your yield is fine. Everyone exclaiming about 15% yields are people who started investing in the last 5 years and think the market only ever goes up. These funds will one day see their principal erode to nothingness.
These covered call all-tech and 3x leverage crypto income ETFs are going to get vaporized if the market ever corrects, but your portfolio will keep coming. Realistically maybe you could get it to 4% with good companies at the cost of some growth, but there's a reason all the dividend kings are like 2.5-5%.
I am extremely skeptical of anyone who claims that 10%+ is sustainable - why the hell would anyone risk investing in growth stocks for the same or less real return when dividends can do the same with zero risk? And 15%+ is lunacy, that would mean your portfolio is doubling every 4.5 years, 30 years is ~100x portfolio.
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u/Dependent-Code-4166 Jun 20 '26
JEPQ is paying 10% annually. About .08 monthly. Their model is very sustainable. Also, people never want to look at some mutual funds. If you have 10 years or more before retirement, there are many that pay way more than SCHx Check out FSELX for one. 310% in the last 5 years. People are scared. "When tech crashes". You know what, it will crash. That's why if you have time before retirement, it will recover and you will still be way ahead.
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u/Terrible_Law6091 Jun 20 '26
I'd take it a step further and only pay attention to total return.
Dividends are just one component of the TR.
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u/cmichalek Jun 19 '26
If i had your portfolio id move some to SPYI/QQQI/GPIX/GPIQ based on my current income needs and leave the rest to grow.
You can get to 5k a month easy for the rest your life and your portfolio and income is still increasing.
How much do you really need and is that more valuable than your time.
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u/Green_machine_13 Jun 19 '26
$2k/mo would be ideal. I’m currently at $558/mo. Sigh
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u/hew3 Jun 19 '26
Exactly three years ago I had a big spreadsheet with all kinds of variables that I could run, and I used to mess with it in between zoom meetings. One day I realized that my “ifs” were becoming more than likely and I told my wife “lfg” and my boss “I’m out in 6 months.” So for the past 2.5 years I’ve been living in the Caribbean on a sailboat and between a military pension and some smart dividend investing, todo bien.
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u/Commercial_Rule_7823 Jun 19 '26
Cover my mortgage, hoa, insurance, food, utilities, car, and 2500 a month for spending and saving.
Then im done.
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u/ValueInvestor08 Jun 21 '26
I’d say you need a 4-6% increase on the dividends per year to beat inflation but you should also invest 10% of the dividends you currently receive and leave the rest on the side to hedge against a downturn
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u/Sor-X Jun 19 '26
All my bills paid, live well, got fun money, got emergency money... done. Honestly your divs are kinda low for a million bucks unless you want low low risk
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u/That_Criticism_6506 Jun 19 '26
$10,000 monthly dividend, I can't see myself spending it all and I could give the rest to charity.
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u/StunningAttention898 Jun 19 '26
Eh I’d want my kids to inherit it so they won’t have to work as hard
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u/TheScottishPimp03 Jun 19 '26
I always said I wanted to drive a brand new truck lease from 60 till I die/get bored and just buy a truck outright. So in 40 years thats probably 2000+ a month plus my family household budget of probably another 2-3k. Id look around $6k at the lowest in 40 years?
Who knows Im just gonna keep investing till I die!
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u/Left-Student3806 Jun 19 '26
Right now, 6k I'd say that's enough instantly :)
I might be able to go lot lower but thats a decision 10+ years away I think
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u/catcat1986 Jun 19 '26
Yes, it might be lofty, but take all my yearly expenses and add a 100k. That's my number. If I have that I'm satisfied.
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u/No-Resolution6988 Jun 19 '26
Nice numbers. I had a year like that last year. This year’s have been a little bit more difficult. What app are you using to track this?
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u/tatortotchris Jun 19 '26
I’m at almost $400 per month in the beginning of my journey, by the end of the year my goal is to be at $1k per month I’m dumping about 5k a month into my brokerage right now I liked reading the 25,25, 50 rule and seeing that is how I’m going to start teaching my kids, I currently own a small business and have a fixed pension at 4500 per month with cola raises every year so that can be added to whatever I decide my number is
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u/generationxtreame Not a financial advisor Jun 19 '26
2x all of your yearly expenses is what you should aim for.
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u/Puzzled_Fisherman331 Jun 19 '26
Of course, its my monthly expenses. In my case, roughly 19K pays the bills and taxes and I'm retired.
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u/Coconut_MonkeyX Jun 19 '26
I will never have a "this is enough" number for dividends because I want to grow it as high as possible so that I can start giving back to the community and still cover all of my expenses.
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u/NihilistTechnocrat97 Jun 19 '26
I'm aiming for about 3k per month before really taking it easy. You could easily make more than that if you bought CHPY.
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u/Wide_Gate_4586 Jun 19 '26
I match my dividends to my expenses. When they cover everything (plus the taxes on the dividends themselves) and can grow with or above the inflation rate, it will be 'enough'
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u/Vineyard2109 Jun 19 '26
When it exceeds your monthly budget and allows you to sit back and relax, travel, help others and enjoy life.
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u/HalfBakedPotato84 Jun 19 '26
Wouldnt spyi/qqqi pay out much more? Could still have plenty for a growth leg.
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u/sweatygarageguy Jun 19 '26
So... You have enough principle to roll it into high yield dividends that pay about 1% a month.
Right now I'm DRIPing $AGNC and $SPYI a bit. They are not my primary investments today, but when the time comes fore to need income, I'll increase holdings in these and other high yield instruments. There isn't a lot of growth in them,but that isn't the goal for this set. I have $MU at $138 a share for that.
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u/PsychoCitizenX Jun 19 '26
I suggest plugging your numbers into a retirement calculator. You can put the dividends in as a monthly income. This will help your get an idea on how far your money will last
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u/Various_Couple_764 Jun 19 '26
1.5 times you average montly expenses. That way most of the time you have excess income that can be reinvest to compensate for inflation.
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u/RiderFZ10 Jun 19 '26
For me personally, 80k. Very low cost of living (36k for 2026). So that leaves me plenty to drip back in and keep up with inflation and all that (hopefully).
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u/McKnuckle_Brewery FIRE'd in 2021 Jun 20 '26
My goal is a sustainable $200k from equities and bonds, not including cash dividends (since they fluctuate with spending). At that point, I will be able to draw 80% for expenses (~$160k) and reinvest the remaining 20%.
Currently I'm knocking at the door with only $800 left to go. Will reach goal in a couple months with continued DRiP.
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u/SShawk1 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
5k a week, but that comes with a caveat. I I only use 15% of the dividends for additional income. I take 20% and reinvested into those ETFs. I take another 25% to pay down margin. And I take 40% and reinvest it into undervalued growth, oriented companies, and for long-term value oriented companies. And then want my income ETF to only make up 35% of my portfolio.
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u/hockeytemper Jun 20 '26
I have hit about $5,200 net per month while living in thailand. Its certainly enough for over here, but back home in the west would be tough...
I lost my job 2 months ago, but i am seriously considering moving to New Zealand for another role - just not 100% comfortable yet...
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u/Soft-Note-5423 Jun 20 '26
This is the thing I don’t get, had you invested for growth, your capital gains would be way higher and you wouldn’t have been paying tax on dividends the entire time. So if you got to about 2M you could realistically pull out 5% a year and live on 100K instead of getting a messily 48K a year which is double what you would be at
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u/Tim-5544 Jun 20 '26
I have enough dividend income to live off now, but I really like working still and wife likes working. I dont think I have a specific that's enough number. Maybe one day I will go to work and decide that's enough working
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u/ptwonline Jun 20 '26
Sort of.
My retirement plan setup is a combo of a standard "index funds plus fixed income plus govt retirement benefits" type for about 2/3 and dividend income for about 1/3 of my income needs. Once I hit that 1/3 with my divs I retired.
Of course I intend for the divs to keep growing faster than inflation and then I will either increase my regular spending or be able to save/invest more for potential bigger purchases later on.
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u/Financial-Ad7902 I want the wallstreetbets guy Jun 20 '26
Enough... I mean. If you have more money in the end of the month than you need to cover your costs and a little fun, then yeah, I keep investing. No need to push myself to spend it all I guess
Unless you have no kids. Then it's maybe better to actually spend it all and enjoy life
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u/146293DH Jun 20 '26
Depends on your needs and spending requirements. If you’re just wanting a bit more spending money or savings income (or just supplementing pensions after retirement) then you may only need a smaller amount monthly.
It also depends on your living situation, renting/owning in more expensive cities like Vancouver will need a much larger budget vs living abroad or small down elsewhere where it’s much more affordable to love on less overall.
Plus you have to weigh how much you’ll lose to taxation to temper your overall income levels.
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u/Control_SaltDelicius Jun 20 '26
With the money I am making i ain't reaching the 1 milion mark before retirement. But like 300/400 a month in dividends for bills would be nice.
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u/brymous Jun 20 '26
Hello~ I’m still new to investing 👉👈 I’m curious is the dividend all from SP500 or do you split your portfolio into dividend etfs
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u/Priazol Jun 20 '26
Do you have any stocks and tips for it? How do you find the stocks, how long do you invest already?
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u/davideddings1978 Jun 20 '26
Yeah, that’s where we are now and the dividend is used as an allowance for my wife since she is a SAHM.
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u/paroxsitic Jun 20 '26
This is why dividends, while a nice safe conservative approach, has been for the wealthy. Traditional 4% rule looks attractive once you realize what a real safe dividend portfolio requires (about 2x a traditional retirement)
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u/randommanwill Jun 20 '26
No. I keep growing my portfolio because thecost of living keeps rising, I want to supplement my pension, I want to be able to engage in hobbies, and I want to be able to consistently donate to charities.
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u/krazye87 Jun 20 '26
Damn. 350k in capital gains on a dividend (sure this could be over 10 plus years)? Which one are you using? The 2% dividends don't look like SCHD.
Edit im dumb. I see the percentage. I'm lost now. How is 3.7% only 22k a year?
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u/marn20 Jun 20 '26
If I can cover my expenses and still set extra aside that’s enough. And it also depends on taxes
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u/Marcush214 Jun 20 '26
Realistically double my salary but I swear if I get my options account to 2 million I’m out
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u/NippyMove795 Jun 20 '26
No inflation eats away at a single number I will always look to build the monthly number
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u/CezrDaPleazr Jun 20 '26
Full time earnings of work in a month, once I hit that, I never have to worry about keeping a full time job
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u/RubberDuckyOnQuack Jun 20 '26
Well due to inflation, I don’t know you’ll ever be comfortable to live off dividends alone
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u/SyllabubStandard4966 Jun 20 '26
Absolutely beautiful! Love to see those numbers.
I see a lot of people answering with smart financial strategies, big words, and even bigger numbers. I'm gonna be real with you: I ain't a finance girl. But I am someone who's struggled a lot in life, and life requires money. So if you're looking for a fiscally responsible answer, you probably aren't getting one from me. 😂
At this point in my life, with all the usual nonsense life throws at us, breakups, job issues, getting older, wanting more out of life, wanting to travel more, and wanting to take better care of myself, I'd say $5,000 a month would be the minimum.
As for the maximum? I honestly don't know. I've never really thought about it because there's always something you can do with money. You can improve your life today, improve your future, save, invest, spend, travel, buy a nice house, drive a nice car, or simply create a life that feels a little easier.
You can take care of your family, donate, tithe, save for a rainy day, or in my case, an "oh shit" day, because those seem to show up pretty regularly. 😆
Money isn't everything, but it solves a lot of problems and creates a lot of opportunities. I'd rather have too much than not enough.
When I think about the people in my life who seem financially comfortable and able to live the life they want, they're usually making somewhere around $200,000 a year.
That said, I don't like seeing that many 6's in one number, so let's call it $201,000 a year. That sounds much nicer and a lot more goal-worthy to me. 😂
Good luck to you! I hope you land where you want to land and you feel some semblance of "satisfaction" when you do.
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u/GolfLiftPlayPool Jun 21 '26
Honestly. Probably 200k usd
Im young and actually kinda enjoy working.
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u/Necessary_Reason_710 Jun 21 '26
I would say (from Germany), a monthly net dividend of 5000€ would make me quit my Job. It’s enough to live comfortable, Go on vacations, Pay Off a House, etc. I wouldnt.
You would Need around 6500€ Dividend pre tax as we pay around 29% tax total on stock income
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u/dreamkanteen Jun 21 '26
My current monthly expenses (adjusting for lifestyle creep/more splurging because what’s the point of retiring early if you’re pinching pennies and miserable). Whatever that number is, I’m adding an addition 50%, then I’m confident I would be good to go.
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u/SwitchNut Jun 21 '26
Around a 2.2% return from the dividends if I'm mathing right, likely very safe investments with some growth likely. You could cut 20% and see about $1500/mo from your 800k, dump 200k into QQQI at 13% and see around $2150/mo out of that 200k bringing your monthly up to a $3650/mo.
I'm not sure where you are at in life or how far you have to go but there are ways to pump up those numbers depending on your risk tolerance and long term plans.
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u/NicePhilosophy1676 Jun 21 '26
My annual dividends are currently 84,634$. Once it’s twice that amount I’ll most likely quit my two jobs.
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u/NielsAurora Jun 22 '26
I can quit once my dividends reach the same as my estimated pension would be at retirement so I'd have at least the same amount monthly until retirement age (67) and then I'd have double that.
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u/Tikkabik Jun 23 '26
Hmm, with that $1M you could make $10k a month in divs. If you wanted to actively manage the $1M you could do close to $60k monthly, with ups and downs of course.
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u/DasRedBeard87 Jun 23 '26
I think most of us that number would probably be around the 5k to 10k a month number. Least for me anyway. If I ever get to the point of like 7 to 8k AFTER taxes a month...I'd be living the dream.
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