Illustrative sample · not your account
A dividend portfolio that starts at 4%.
Twenty-one listed stocks, sized so the indicated dividend is 4% of value. The page spends those dividends, keeps every share, and follows the income for 35 years.
Thirty-five years of dividend income
Dividend income over 35 years
Selected years
| Year | Dividend income | Today’s dollars | Market value | Real market value |
|---|
The dividend 4% rule on this page
Spend the dividends
Year-1 cash is the indicated dividend, set at 4% of starting value. Later years spend that year’s dividend. The share count never changes.
Income keeps pace
The base path assumes no cuts and dividend growth of 2% a year, the same pace as inflation. Real income is therefore level for all 35 years.
The corpus stays intact
Prices are assumed to rise with the dividends. With shares unchanged, real market value stays flat on the base path. That is an assumption of the drawing, not a forecast.
A total-return 4% rule is a different test. It withdraws 4% of the starting balance and raises that withdrawal with inflation, selling shares when dividends fall short. This page does not sell shares.