How much do you need to invest for dividend income?
At a 4% yield, $1,000 a month in dividends takes $300,000 invested. Enter your own goal and yield, or work out how long monthly investing would take to get there.
You need about $300,000 invested to earn $1,000 a month.
| At a yield of | Needed for $1,000 a month |
|---|---|
| 2% | $600,000 |
| 3% | $400,000 |
| 4% | $300,000 |
| 5% | $240,000 |
| 6% | $200,000 |
| 8% | $150,000 |
How to work out the amount you need
Multiply your monthly goal by 12, then divide by the yield. For $1,000 a month, that is $12,000 a year. At 4%, $12,000 divided by 0.04 is $300,000. At 3% it is $400,000, and at 5% it is $240,000. A higher yield lowers the amount but usually comes with less growth or more risk that the payment falls.
What that goal takes at real yields
The yield is the input that matters most, so here is $1,000 a month at the yields of three widely held funds, using our data from Nov 4, 2026.
| Fund | Yield | Needed |
|---|---|---|
| VOO | 1.05% | $1,142,857 |
| SCHD | 3% | $400,000 |
| SGOV | 3.73% | $321,716 |
These funds are examples of the arithmetic and not suggestions, and each one's page shows how its own payment has moved.
How long it takes to build
Investing $1,500 a month at a 4% yield with every dividend reinvested, on a flat price and a flat payment, reaches $1,000 a month in year 14. Raising the payment-growth or price fields changes that answer a lot, so the calculator starts them at zero and leaves your assumptions to you.
How much to invest for $1,000 a month walks through this in more depth, and every ticker page answers the same question for that holding.
Other dividend calculators
Results are estimates from the numbers you enter, not forecasts or advice. Written by Editorial Staff. See the methodology and the disclaimer.