Software Engineer Making $9,000 a Month in Dividends Shares Portfolio, Says He 'YOLO'd Tech Stocks in IRA'

President Donald Trump‘s tariffs against America’s trading partners and the subsequent retaliatory measures from China and Europe resulted in major losses for investors across the globe, with no end to volatility in sight. Trade tensions may ease amid expected deals between key countries, but prudent investors are rethinking their long-term strategies.

Dividend stocks have gained significance in this period of market turbulence because of their strong history. A March report from S&P Global showed that dividends have accounted for about 31% of the total S&P 500 returns since 1926.

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A few weeks ago, a dividend investor shared his income report and portfolio details on r/Dividends — a Reddit community with over 700,000 followers. The portfolio screenshots shared by the investor showed he was making about $9,250 per month, or $111,100 annually, in dividends. His total portfolio yield was about 2.3%.

“Dividends and interest cover 60% of expenses. Decent growth without huge volatility,” he said.

The investor, 58, said he was a software engineer in Silicon Valley and retired in 2021. He said his goal is to cover his expenses of $15,000 per month with dividends by 2030.

“YOLO’d tech stocks in my IRA,” the investor said, referring to the social media slang for taking a bold, high-risk approach.

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Let’s take a look at some of the key holdings in the investor’s portfolio.

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF 

The iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:SHV) gives investors exposure to US Treasury bonds with remaining maturities of one year or less. SHV is suitable for investors looking for low-risk funds to preserve capital and earn income.  The investor said SHV accounted for about 5% of his total portfolio.

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSE:AGG) was another key bond ETF in the investor’s portfolio.  The fund tracks an index composed of investment-grade US bonds.

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Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

The investor earning about $9,000 in monthly dividends had Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSE:SCHD) in his portfolio. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and provides exposure to some of the top dividend stocks trading in the U.S., including Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX).

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

The investor making $9,000 a month in dividends said about 60% of his portfolio was allocated to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:IVV). The fund tracks the S&P 500 Index and yields about 1.2%. It provides investors exposure to some of the biggest companies in the world, including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL)), among others.

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This article Software Engineer Making $9,000 a Month in Dividends Shares Portfolio, Says He ‘YOLO’d Tech Stocks in IRA’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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