Blog
Plain-English guides to dividend investing and worked examples for every calculator on the site. For educational purposes only — not financial advice.
- 12 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Snowball: How Reinvesting Dividends Builds Accelerating Income
The dividend snowball explained: how reinvesting builds accelerating income, a 20-year worked example, and the math behind it — plus how to start one.
Read guide - 8 min readdividends, guides
How to Reinvest Dividends: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to reinvest dividends: turn on automatic reinvestment, buy fractional shares, choose which holdings to compound, and the tax detail to know.
Read guide - 7 min readdividends, guides
How Are Dividends Calculated? (With Examples)
How are dividends calculated? The formulas for dividend per share, dividend yield, and payout ratio — with clear worked examples and a free calculator.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, guides
What Is Dividend Yield? The Formula, With Examples
Dividend yield explained: the simple formula, a worked example, trailing vs forward yield, and what the percentage does — and does not — tell you.
Read guide - 5 min readdividends, guides
What Is a Good Dividend Yield? How to Judge One in 2026
What counts as a good dividend yield, the typical ranges by asset type, why a very high yield can be a warning sign, and how to weigh yield against growth.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, guides
What Is a Dividend? A Plain-English Guide
What a dividend is, how and when companies pay them, the key terms (yield, payout ratio, ex-date), and how investors turn dividends into income.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, etfs, guides
What Is a Dividend ETF? How They Work and the Types
What a dividend ETF is, how it collects and pays out dividends, the main types (high-yield, growth, monthly, covered-call), and what to check before buying one.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
What Is a Special Dividend? When Companies Pay One
What a special dividend is, why companies pay these one-time payouts, how they differ from regular dividends, the ex-date quirk, and how they are taxed.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
How to Build a Dividend Portfolio: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to build a dividend portfolio: set an income goal, choose stocks vs ETFs, diversify, balance yield and growth, reinvest, and mind taxes and payout safety.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
How Often Are Dividends Paid?
How often dividends are paid: most US stocks pay quarterly, some monthly, others semiannual or annual — plus special dividends and how to find any schedule.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
How Do Dividends Work? The Full Process, Step by Step
How dividends work: where the money comes from, the four key dates, how you get paid, reinvesting vs taking cash, and how dividends are taxed.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, taxes, guides
How Are Dividends Taxed in 2026?
How dividend taxes work in the US: qualified vs ordinary rates, the 3.8% surtax, account types, REITs, reinvested dividends, and how to estimate what you keep.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
Gordon Growth Model: Formula, Example, and Limits
The Gordon Growth Model explained: the formula P = D₁ / (r − g), a worked example, the assumptions it relies on, and when it does and does not work.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, guides
Ex-Dividend Date: When to Buy a Stock to Get the Dividend
What the ex-dividend date means, the four key dividend dates, when you must buy to receive a payout, and why the share price drops on the ex-date.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP): How It Works
What a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) is, how automatic reinvestment compounds your shares, the pros and cons, and how dividends are still taxed.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Kings: 50+ Years of Rising Dividends, Explained
What dividend kings are, how 50+ years of dividend increases differs from dividend aristocrats, why investors prize them, and the caveats before buying.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Capture Strategy: Does It Actually Work?
What the dividend capture strategy is, how it is supposed to work, and the four reasons — price drop, taxes, costs, and risk — it usually disappoints.
Read guide - 2 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Aristocrats: What They Are and Why Investors Watch Them
What dividend aristocrats are, the criteria to qualify, how they differ from dividend kings, and the caveats before assuming a 25-year streak means a good buy.
Read guide - 3 min readdividends, etfs, guides
Covered Call ETFs: How the High Yields Really Work
What covered call ETFs are, how they generate those high monthly yields, the upside-for-income tradeoff, NAV erosion risk, and how the distributions are taxed.
Read guide - 9 min readdividends, taxes, guides
Qualified vs Ordinary Dividends: How Dividend Taxes Work
Qualified dividends are taxed at lower capital gains rates while ordinary dividends are taxed as income — how to tell them apart and why it matters.
Read guide - 8 min readdividends, guides
Monthly Dividend Stocks: How They Work and What to Watch For
Monthly dividend stocks pay income twelve times a year. Learn how they work, the main categories — REITs, BDCs, and covered-call ETFs — and the risks.
Read guide - 7 min readetfs, guides
Is JEPI a Safe Investment? What the Yield Doesn’t Tell You
Is JEPI a safe investment? A clear, balanced look at how the JEPI ETF works, what “safe” means here, the real risks, and how its income is taxed.
Read guide - 9 min readdividends, guides
How to Live Off Dividends: The Math, the Yield, and the Reality
How to live off dividends explained: the portfolio-needed formula, worked examples at 4% and 6% yield, the yield-vs-safety tradeoff, taxes, and growth.
Read guide - 10 min readdividends, guides
Dividend Payout Ratio: The Formula, Healthy Levels, and What It Reveals
The dividend payout ratio explained: the formula, the FCF variant, healthy levels by sector, what a ratio over 100% means, and how it predicts dividend cuts.
Read guide - 3 min readetfs, guides
Best Monthly Dividend ETFs: Popular Options by Strategy
A guide to the most popular monthly dividend ETFs by strategy — covered-call income funds and monthly dividend-growth funds — with a calculator for each.
Read guide - 3 min readetfs, guides
Best Dividend ETFs: The Most Popular Funds by Category
A guide to the most popular dividend ETFs by category — dividend growth, high yield, broad market, and covered-call income — each with its own calculator.
Read guide - 4 min readDRIP, guides
How to Use a Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Calculator: A Worked Example
A step-by-step walkthrough of every DRIP calculator input and output, with a worked $10,000 example and the three numbers most people read wrong.
Read guide