Every US-listed dividend and option-income ETF with at least $1 billion in assets, compared on yield, cost, returns, the 2022 bear market and a 10-year 4% withdrawal test.
49funds compared
28US dividend funds
11International funds
10Option-income funds
Oct 27, 2026data as of
A dividend ETF can do two jobs in retirement at once: it pays cash you can spend without selling shares, and it keeps you invested in companies that can raise that cash over time. The funds below take very different routes to get there. Some only buy companies with long records of raising their dividends, some simply buy the highest yields, and some sell options to turn part of the market's future growth into income today.
Those choices show up in the numbers: in the yield, in the fee, and most clearly in how each fund held up when markets fell. The last column asks the question that matters most for retirees and that no fact sheet answers: if you had put $1 million into the fund ten years ago and withdrawn 4% in the first year, raising the amount with inflation every year, how much would be left today?
US dividend stock funds
Funds that own US companies chosen for their dividends: some screen for long records of raising the payout, others for the highest current yield.
28 funds in this group; 21 have the ten years of history the 4% rule test needs.
Starting with $1 million in Oct 2016, 20 of 21 ended with more than they started with after ten years of withdrawals, and 20 still had at least $1 million after inflation, their full starting buying power. The median fund ended at $1.94M.
The S&P 500 (SPY) ended at $3.23M; one of these funds did better.
In the 2022 bear market, 25 of the 26 funds that existed then fell less than the S&P 500's -24.5%.
Highest trailing yield: HDV at 5.42%. Lowest cost: VIG at 0.04% a year.
PEY Invesco High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers™…
4.31%
monthly
0.68%
$1.13B
+8.3%
+9.3%
-8.8%
$1.66M
International and global dividend funds
Dividend payers outside the US (or worldwide). Foreign companies often pay out more of their profits, but currency swings and foreign taxes on dividends come with them.
11 funds in this group; 9 have the ten years of history the 4% rule test needs.
Starting with $1 million in Oct 2016, all 9 ended with more than they started with after ten years of withdrawals, and 9 still had at least $1 million after inflation, their full starting buying power. The median fund ended at $1.74M.
The S&P 500 (SPY) ended at $3.23M; none of these funds did better.
In the 2022 bear market, 7 of the 10 funds that existed then fell less than the S&P 500's -24.5%.
Highest trailing yield: IDV at 5.72%. Lowest cost: VYMI at 0.07% a year.
Funds that sell options on stocks or indexes and pay out the premiums. Income is higher and steadier, but upside in strong markets is capped and the payments are mostly taxed as ordinary income. How they work.
10 funds in this group; 2 have the ten years of history the 4% rule test needs.
Starting with $1 million in Oct 2016, both ended with more than they started with after ten years of withdrawals, and 2 still had at least $1 million after inflation, their full starting buying power. The median fund ended at $1.57M.
The S&P 500 (SPY) ended at $3.23M; none of these funds did better.
In the 2022 bear market, 6 of the 6 funds that existed then fell less than the S&P 500's -24.5%.
Highest trailing yield: QQQI at 14.16%. Lowest cost: JEPI at 0.35% a year.
Yield is only the cash part of a fund's return. A fund that pays out a lot but loses value can leave you with less money, and less income, a few years later. Compare the yield with the 5- and 10-year total returns.
Option income has a cost
Selling options turns some of the market's future gains into payments today. In strong markets these funds usually lag, and their payouts are mostly taxed as ordinary income rather than at the lower qualified-dividend rates.
Dividend funds lean on a few sectors
Screens for high or rising dividends tilt toward financials, energy, consumer staples and utilities, and away from fast-growing companies that pay little. That can mean long stretches of trailing the broad market.
Dividends can be cut
Companies reduce dividends in recessions, which is when retirees feel it most. Funds that screen for dividend growth or financial strength have historically cut less, but no fund's income is guaranteed.
Dividends are one piece of a retirement plan
ReadyAimRetire shows whether your whole plan works: your accounts, Social Security, taxes and spending, year by year, including what happens if markets fall the year you retire.
They can be a useful part of a retirement portfolio because they pay regular cash and spread your money across many companies. They are still stock funds: their prices fall in bear markets and their income can drop. Most retirement plans pair them with bonds or cash for spending money in down years.
What is the difference between dividend growth and high-yield ETFs?
Dividend growth funds buy companies that have raised their dividends for many years; they usually yield less today but have grown their payouts faster. High-yield funds buy the companies paying the most right now; they pay more today but hold more slow-growing and struggling businesses.
How are dividend ETF payouts taxed?
In a taxable US account, most dividends from US stock funds are qualified dividends, taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rates. Option premiums and bond interest are usually taxed as ordinary income. Inside an IRA or 401(k), payouts are not taxed until you withdraw money.
Can I live off dividends alone?
Only if your portfolio is large enough that its yield covers your spending. Many retirees instead use total return: they spend dividends and also sell some shares when needed, which lets them hold a broader mix of funds than yield alone would allow.
How we built this list
Which funds: US-listed stock ETFs with at least $1 billion in net assets whose names describe a dividend or option-income strategy. Leveraged, inverse and single-stock option funds are left out. Sorted by size; click a column heading to re-sort.
Yield: distributions paid over the 12 months to Oct 27, 2026, divided by the price on that date, with payments before a share split adjusted (VIG, SCHD, VYM, DGRO, CGDV, RDVY, DVY, SDY, DGRW, HDV, NOBL, SDVY, FDVV, FVD, SPYD, FDL, DLN, CGDG, TDIV, DON, SPHD, QDF, DES, REGL, DTD, DHS, SDOG, PEY, VYMI, VIGI, IDV, LVHI, DEM, GCOW, DIVI, HDEF, IHDG, DGS, IGRO, JEPI, JEPQ, QQQI, SPYI, QYLD, DIVO, RDVI, KNG, XYLD, FTHI).
Returns: annualized total returns with distributions reinvested, to Oct 27, 2026. Fund prices are already net of the expense ratio.
4% rule test: $1,000,000 invested at the start of Oct 2016, withdrawing 4% ($40,000) a year in monthly amounts that rise with US inflation (CPI-U), before taxes. Funds launched more than ten years ago only.
Costs and size: from each fund's latest prospectus and N-PORT report where we have fetched them, otherwise from our fund database.
Figures computed Nov 3, 2026. For education only, not a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. Past results do not predict future results.
