How do you make money with exchange-traded funds ETFs?
Most ETF income is generated by the fund's underlying holdings. Typically, that means dividends from stocks or interest (coupons) from bonds. Dividends: These are a portion of the company's earnings paid out in cash or shares to stockholders on a per-share basis, sometimes to attract investors to buy the stock.
Though ETFs allow investors to gain as stock prices rise and fall, they also benefit from companies that pay dividends. Dividends are a portion of earnings allocated or paid by companies to investors for holding their stock.
There are 2 basic types of dividends issued to investors of ETFs: qualified and non-qualified dividends. If you own shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF), you may receive distributions in the form of dividends. These may be paid monthly or at some other interval, depending on the ETF.
Average ETF returns vary, but on average, you should expect to generate an annualized return of 7-10% over a ten-year period. Investors must also understand that ETFs will not always produce positive returns each year.
ETF shares trade exactly like stocks. Unlike index funds, which are priced only after market closings, ETFs are priced and traded continuously throughout the trading day. They can be bought on margin, sold short, or held for the long-term, exactly like common stock.
Some ETFs might provide passive income given enough capital invested, but this depends on market conditions. Dividend ETFs can be a good passive income generator, but again, it depends on market conditions and how much you have invested and hold.
ETFs are liquid and you can buy or sell immediately, but it can take longer for you to be paid out than a unit trust.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) includes a basket of securities and trades on an exchange. If the stocks owned by the fund pay dividends, the money is passed along to the investor. Most ETFs pay these dividends quarterly on a pro-rata basis, where payments are based on the number of shares the investor owns.
As with stocks and many mutual funds, most ETFs pay their dividends quarterly—once every three months. However, ETFs that offer monthly dividend returns are also available.
Investors buy shares of ETFs, and the money is used to invest according to a certain objective. For example, if you buy an S&P 500 ETF, your money will be invested in the 500 companies in that index.
How much do I need to invest to make $1,000 a month?
The truth is that most investors won't have the money to generate $1,000 per month in dividends; not at first, anyway. Even if you find a market-beating series of investments that average 3% annual yield, you would still need $400,000 in up-front capital to hit your targets. And that's okay.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in February 2014 would be worth $5,971.20, or a gain of 497.12%, as of February 5, 2024, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases. Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 178.17% and gold's return of 55.50% over the same time frame.
Too many people are paid a lot of money to tell investors that yields like that are impossible. But the truth is you can get a 9.5% yield today--and even more. But even at 9.5%, we're talking about a middle-class income of $4,000 per month on an investment of just a touch over $500K.
ETFs are bought and sold just like stocks (through a brokerage house, either by phone or online), and their price can change from second to second. Mutual fund orders can be made during the day, but the actual trade doesn't occur until after the markets close.
An ETF can stray from its intended benchmarks for several reasons. For instance, if the fund manager needs to swap out assets in the fund or make other changes, the ETF may not exactly reflect the holdings of the index. As a result, the performance of the ETF may deviate from the performance of the index.
ETFs held for longer than a year are taxed as long-term gains. If you sell an ETF, and buy the same (or a substantially similar) ETF after less than 30 days, you may be subject to the wash sale rule.
The Bottom Line
Investing 15% of your income is generally a good rule of thumb to meet your long-term goals.
Why Invest in ETFs Rather Than Mutual Funds? ETFs can be less expensive to own than mutual funds. Plus, they trade continuously throughout exchange hours, and such flexibility may matter to certain investors. ETFs also can result in lower taxes from capital gains, since they're a passive security that tracks an index.
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JEPI may be tax-inefficient, as distributions from the fund may be taxed as income, and dividends from underlying stock holdings are not considered qualified because of the offsetting options positions. JEPI isn't eligible for Tax-Loss Harvesting, since we can't find a viable alternate fund.
What happens to your money if an ETF closes?
The Bottom Line
If you find yourself holding an ETF that is being closed, there's no reason to panic. You'll get your money back and can search for another ETF in which to invest. ETFGI. “ETFGI Reports the Global ETFs Industry Gathered Net Inflows of US$64.64 Billion During August.”
From the perspective of the IRS, the tax treatment of ETFs and mutual funds are the same. Both are subject to capital gains tax and taxation of dividend income.
If you buy substantially identical security within 30 days before or after a sale at a loss, you are subject to the wash sale rule. This prevents you from claiming the loss at this time.
Symbol | Name | 5-Year Return |
---|---|---|
XHB | SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF | 23.34% |
IXN | iShares Global Tech ETF | 23.21% |
SPUU | Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 2x Shares | 22.76% |
IETC | iShares U.S. Tech Independence Focused ETF | 22.63% |
Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers ETF (PEY)
The fund tracks the NASDAQ US Broad Dividend Achievers Index. PEY is rebalanced quarterly and pays out dividends monthly. Value stocks comprise about three-quarters of the fund's holdings, with the rest being core equities.
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