iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF: its payout record since 2003, the income it would have paid someone living on it, and the amount a monthly income takes at today’s yield.
4.75%yield, last 12 months
monthlypayments
$252,600for $1,000 a month
Nov 2, 2026data as of
Over the last 12 months TLT paid $3.89 a share, a 4.75% yield at today’s price, in 12 monthly payments. At that yield, $1,000 a month before taxes takes about $252,600 invested.
From 2015 to 2025 its yearly payout per share grew 2.1% a year, against 3.2% inflation: down 1.1% a year in today’s dollars.
The payout fell by 5% or more from one year to the next in 6 years: 2012 (−19.2%), 2015 (−6.3%), 2020 (−23.1%), 2021 (−5.9%), and earlier.
Bond and T-bill payouts follow interest rates: they rose after rates jumped in 2022, and they fall when rates fall.
$100,000 invested at the start of 2016 with every payout spent paid $2,561 that year and $3,199 over the last 12 months (down 10.8% after inflation); the shares are worth $67,292 today.
How much TLT for a monthly income
The amount invested that would have paid each monthly income over the last 12 months, at TLT’s 4.75% trailing yield, before taxes. Yields move, so the second column uses its lowest calendar-year yield of the last five years (1.41% in 2021).
Monthly income
At today’s yield
At the 2021 yield
$500 a month ($6,000 a year)
$126,300
$425,500
$1,000 a month ($12,000 a year)
$252,600
$851,100
$2,000 a month ($24,000 a year)
$505,300
$1,702,100
$5,000 a month ($60,000 a year)
$1,263,200
$4,255,300
Income on $100,000, year by year
What $100,000 invested at the start of each year would have paid during that year, and the same income in today’s dollars. Years with a payout at least 5% below the year before are marked.
Income in each calendar year on $100,000 invested at the start of that year.
Year
Per share
Income on $100K
In today’s dollars
Price that year
Total return
2025
$3.87
$4,419
$5,036
-0.5%
+4.0%
2024
$3.76
$3,824
$4,100
-11.2%
-7.5%
2023
$3.36
$3,311
$3,655
-2.5%
+0.9%
2022
$2.65
$1,836
$2,110
-31.0%
-29.4%
2021 ↓
$2.22
$1,409
$1,748
-5.9%
-4.5%
2020 ↓
$2.36
$1,722
$2,237
+15.1%
+16.8%
2019
$3.07
$2,513
$3,305
+10.9%
+13.5%
2018
$3.18
$2,534
$3,393
-3.2%
-0.5%
2017
$3.06
$2,557
$3,509
+6.0%
+8.7%
2016
$3.11
$2,561
$3,588
-1.9%
+0.5%
2015 ↓
$3.15
$2,474
$3,511
-5.3%
-2.9%
2014
$3.36
$3,288
$4,672
+23.2%
+26.9%
2013
$3.32
$2,777
$4,009
-14.8%
-12.2%
2012 ↓
$3.24
$2,713
$3,974
+1.5%
+4.2%
2011
$4.01
$4,292
$6,417
+29.8%
+35.0%
2010
$3.91
$4,354
$6,714
+4.8%
+9.1%
2009 ↓
$3.66
$3,146
$4,931
-22.7%
-19.8%
2008
$4.19
$4,439
$6,936
+26.4%
+32.1%
2007
$4.19
$4,703
$7,628
+4.4%
+9.5%
2006
$3.99
$4,350
$7,257
-3.7%
+0.8%
Payout per share in earlier years (2003–2005)
Year
Per share
Change
2005
$4.18
+0.9%
2004
$4.14
-8.6%
2003
$4.53
Payouts per share; full calendar years only. Today’s dollars use the consumer price index (CPI-U).
If you had lived on it since 2016
$100,000 invested in TLT on Jan 4, 2016, every payout spent and nothing reinvested.
Income in 2016$2,561$3,588 in today’s dollars
Income, last 12 months$3,199down 10.8% after inflation
Shares worth today$67,292price -32.7%
Income collected$27,611since 2016
The shares’ value (lower line) and the shares plus the income collected so far (upper line), month by month.
Payments and taxes
When it pays
Every month. Payment dates shift a little from year to year; the fund announces each one shortly before it is paid.
Treasury interest
Bond interest is taxed as ordinary income, not at the lower qualified-dividend rate. Interest from US Treasuries is exempt from state income tax. Inside an IRA or 401(k), none of it is taxed until you withdraw.
Yield is not a promise
The yield here is what the fund paid over the last 12 months, divided by today’s price. Future payouts depend on what the fund earns, which for bond and T-bill funds follows interest rates.
The rest of the record
Fees, holdings, returns and downturns are on the TLT page.
Turn your savings into a monthly paycheck
ReadyAimRetire builds a month-by-month income plan from all your accounts, Social Security and pensions, and shows how long it lasts, before and after taxes.
About $252,600, at its 4.75% yield over the 12 months to November 2026, before taxes. Yields move: at its lowest calendar-year yield of the last five years (1.41% in 2021) it would take $851,100.
How often does TLT pay?
Every month.
Has TLT ever cut its payout?
Yes. Its yearly payout per share fell by 5% or more in 2004 (−8.6%), 2009 (−12.6%), 2012 (−19.2%), 2015 (−6.3%), 2020 (−23.1%), 2021 (−5.9%), among the full years 2003–2025.
Did TLT’s payout keep up with inflation?
No: from 2015 to 2025 the yearly payout per share grew 2.1% a year while prices rose 3.2% a year.
How is TLT’s income taxed?
Bond interest is taxed as ordinary income, not at the lower qualified-dividend rate. Interest from US Treasuries is exempt from state income tax. Inside an IRA or 401(k), none of it is taxed until you withdraw (and in a Roth, not then either, if the rules are met).
How these figures are built
Payouts: every distribution on record from Sep 3, 2002 to Nov 2, 2026, per share. A few payments in our data are rounded to the cent, which barely changes yearly totals.
Yield: distributions over the last 12 months divided by the latest price.
Income on $100,000: the shares $100,000 bought at the first price of each year, times that year’s payouts. Prices start Jun 6, 2005 in our data.
Today’s dollars: adjusted with the consumer price index (CPI-U), by calendar-year average.
Cuts: a calendar year whose payout per share was at least 5% below the year before.
For education only, not a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. Past payouts do not predict future payouts.
