DVY vs SDY: Dividend Comparison

At $157.96 per share, $10,000 buys about 63.3 shares of iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY). Each share pays $3.54 per year in dividends, so the position starts out generating roughly $224 per year — about $19 a month.

At $155.22 per share, $10,000 buys about 64.4 shares of SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY). Each share pays $3.63 per year in dividends, so the position starts out generating roughly $234 per year — about $20 a month.

SDY is the larger income stream from day one: $10 per year more on the same $10,000 invested.

iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY) has raised its dividend about 7.7% a year over the past five years. If that pace held, the $342 per year that $10,000 generates today at the current 3.42% yield would reach $718 per year by 2036 — a 7.2% yield on the original cost.

SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) has raised its dividend about 8.4% a year over the past five years. If that pace held, the $245 per year that $10,000 generates today at the current 2.45% yield would reach $550 per year by 2036 — a 5.5% yield on the original cost.

On those trailing rates, DVY pays more in 2036: $718 versus $550 per year. The projection assumes each five-year growth rate persists and no dividends are reinvested — real payouts will differ.

Not within a realistic holding period. SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) is growing its dividend faster (8.4% vs 7.7% a year), but the starting-yield gap — 3.42% for DVY vs 2.45% for SDY — is wide enough that the crossover sits more than 30 years out on trailing rates. For income you plan to spend, DVY's head start is decisive.

REWD has neither an earnings-per-share figure nor a payout ratio for iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY) and SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) — typical for ETFs and covered-call funds, whose distributions are funded by the underlying portfolio (stock dividends, option premium, or return of capital) rather than a single company's earnings. For a fund, judge sustainability by the distribution history and the strategy behind it, not a payout ratio.

For income you need right now, iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY) leads: $100,000 invested today pays about $285 a month at the current 3.42% yield, versus $204 a month from SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) at 2.45%.

With a decade or more before the income is needed, SDY's faster dividend growth (8.4% vs 7.7% a year) matters more than the starting yield — raises compound into the larger paycheck over time.

On consistency: DVY has raised its dividend 5 consecutive years; SDY has raised its dividend 4 consecutive years.

Many income investors simply hold both — the mix pairs current yield with growth and spreads single-name risk. Whichever way you lean, dividends are never guaranteed; recheck the payout each quarter rather than setting and forgetting.