What Are the Best Dividend Stocks for Your Roth IRA? (2024)

A Roth IRA is a type of investment account that helps you save for retirement. You pay taxes on the money when you contribute it, and you can withdraw those contributions and earnings tax free in exchange for keeping the money in the account until you retire. Roth IRAs provide the opposite benefit of traditional IRAs, which let you deduct contributions from your income but require you to pay income tax on withdrawals.

One popular strategy for people who want to save for retirement is to buy dividend-paying stocks. Dividends are regular distributions of cash that companies give their stockholders. Investors can reinvest those dividends to buy more shares over time, increasing the size of each dividend payment they receive. Those dividends can serve as a source of income when they retire.

Key Takeaways

Roth IRAs let investors grow their savings tax free.
Dividends earned in a Roth IRA aren’t subject to income taxes.
Reinvesting dividends into additional shares increases the amount of dividends you'll receive in the future.
Many investors use dividends to produce a stream of income in retirement.

How Dividend Investing Works

Dividend investing means buying shares in companies that pay dividends. These are typically larger, more established companies that don’t have to spend as much money on expanding their operations.

Dividend yield is a common metric that dividend investors look at. It's the ratio of a company’s dividend payments to its stock price. For example, a company that pays $2 in annual dividends and has a stock price of $100 would have a dividend yield of 2%.

Some companies are called blue chips. These are extremely large companies with a reputation for large, stable dividends and a reliable stock price. The list of blue-chip businesses includes giants 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, and Disney.

Dividend-paying companies may not experience the significant price appreciation other stocks might see, but they offer stable returns through their dividend payments. These payments often happen quarterly.

Note

Dividend investors often choose to reinvest their dividends by buying more shares. This lets them receive a growing dividend payment, which in turn increases the number of shares they can purchase. Compounding returns can lead to significant growth in investors’ portfolios over time.

Imagine a company worth $50, with a dividend payment of 75 cents every quarter (a yield of 6%). Assume the company’s stock price holds steady at $50.

An investor buys 100 shares of the company for $5,000. Their first dividend payment totals $75, and they reinvest it in the company, purchasing an additional 1.5 shares. Their next dividend payment will be $76.125, allowing them to purchase an additional 1.522 shares. The third dividend payment will be for $77.267, letting them buy 1.545 more shares.

Finding Dividend Stocks for Your Roth IRA

Choosing the right dividend stock for your Roth IRA is important if you’re hoping to grow your portfolio over time. Retirement investing means building your nest egg over decades, so you want to buy shares in large, stable companies.

One metric that investors look to when trying to identify strong dividend investments is dividend growth. A company that consistently increases its dividend is displaying financial stability. This concept is popular enough that it has led to the idea of Dividend Aristocrats.

A company is a member of the Dividend Aristocrats if it has increased its dividend every year for the past 25 years straight.

Note

You can use a stock screener to identify companies that have a record of dividend growth or that have a high dividend yield, but keep in mind that a dividend yield that's too high might be a sign of a company in distress or that the dividend is unsustainable.

You'll also want to consider the industry that the business operates in. Good picks for stable dividend investments include businesses that can succeed in both strong and weak economies or ones that have a natural ability to weather less-profitable years. Examples include consumer staples businesses or utilities companies because demand for these things is relatively consistent over time.

Finding stable companies with good dividends has historically been a strong investment strategy. A few modern Dividend Aristocrats have made many people millionaires in the past. The following are a few examples:

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a multinational beverage company known across the globe for its carbonated soft drinks. The company was founded in 1892 and has a long history of increasing dividends.

One popular story among dividend investors is that of the town of Quincy, Florida. Many residents were convinced to invest in the company during the 1920s and 1930s because the stock was significantly undervalued, trading for less than the amount of cash it had in its bank accounts.

Coca-Cola continued to grow at a steady pace and pay regular dividends over the following decades. Many residents of the town became millionaires. This story is one of the most popular regarding dividend investing because residents of the town were able to rely on those regular payments to grow their portfolios and shore up their incomes during poor financial times.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is another Dividend Aristocrat that is well known for the stability of its dividend payments.

The company operates in multiple industries, selling medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. Many of its products are staples and essentials that people must purchase in both strong and weak economies. That has historically insulated Johnson & Johnson from the negative impacts of recession, and it's made it a stable investment.

Johnson and Johnson’s dividend yield was just over 2.5% in late 2022. Its stock price has grown at a pace of 8.87% over five years, and its dividend has grown at roughly 6% per year since 2013.

Investors have seen the value of their shares appreciate and have enjoyed growth in their annual income from the expanding dividend payments.

Should You Invest Your Roth IRA Fund in Dividend Stocks?

Whether you should use your Roth IRA to invest in dividend stocks is a difficult question. It all depends on your personal goals and investing style.

Dividend stocks tend to be more stable than other stocks over the long run, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to retain their value in all situations. For example, one Dividend Aristocrat ETF saw its value drop by roughly one-third during the start of the pandemic.

By contrast, Vanguard’s bond ETF fell by a much smaller percentage, roughly 6.5%. That shows that dividend stocks aren’t always a good way to avoid market downturns.

At the same time, dividend stocks may not experience the price growth that other stocks net, especially small caps and growth stocks. Vanguard’s growth stock ETF has returned 16.3% over the last decade while the Dividend Aristocrats Index has produced a return of 14.05%.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do dividends count toward Roth IRA contribution limits?

Dividend payments on shares held in your Roth IRA do not count toward Roth IRA contribution limits. You may contribute up to $6,000 from outside the account in 2022 as long as you meet income restrictions. This increases to $6,500 in 2023, and you can contribute $1,000 more in either or both years if you're age 50 or older.

What is a dividend yield, and how do you calculate it?

Dividend yield is the ratio of a company’s annual dividend payment compared with its stock price. You can calculate it by dividing the annual dividend by the price of one share. The dividend yield is $1/$30 = 3.33% if a company pays $1 in dividends per share each year and its shares trade at $30.

As an investment enthusiast with a deep understanding of retirement planning and dividend investing, I bring firsthand expertise to guide you through the intricacies of Roth IRAs and the potential benefits of incorporating dividend-paying stocks into your retirement strategy.

Roth IRAs are powerful investment tools designed to help you save for retirement. The unique feature of Roth IRAs is that you contribute post-tax income, and in return, your withdrawals, including earnings, are tax-free when you retire. This contrasts with traditional IRAs, where contributions may be tax-deductible, but withdrawals are taxed.

The article introduces a compelling strategy for retirement savings—investing in dividend-paying stocks. Dividends are regular cash distributions that companies share with their shareholders. The advantage within a Roth IRA is that these dividends and their earnings are not subject to income taxes. Reinvesting dividends by purchasing additional shares over time can compound the growth of your investment and serve as a source of income during retirement.

Let's delve into the key concepts mentioned in the article:

Dividend Investing:
- This involves buying shares in companies that pay dividends, typically larger, more established firms with stable operations.
- Dividend yield, a critical metric, is the ratio of a company's annual dividend payments to its stock price.
Blue-Chip Companies:
- Blue-chip companies, such as 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, and Disney, are large, stable businesses known for consistent dividends and reliable stock prices.
Compounding Returns:
- Reinvesting dividends by purchasing additional shares can lead to compounding returns, significantly growing your portfolio over time.
Dividend Growth and Dividend Aristocrats:
- Companies that consistently increase their dividends are considered financially stable, forming the basis for the concept of Dividend Aristocrats.
- Dividend Aristocrats are companies that have increased dividends every year for the past 25 years.
Choosing Dividend Stocks for Roth IRA:
- Investors consider factors such as dividend growth, industry stability, and the ability to weather economic fluctuations when selecting dividend stocks for a Roth IRA.
Examples of Dividend Aristocrats:
- Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson serve as examples of Dividend Aristocrats with long histories of increasing dividends and providing stable returns.
Considerations for Roth IRA Investments:
- Roth IRA investors should weigh the stability of dividend stocks against potential market downturns and the growth potential of other investment options.
FAQs:
- Dividend payments in Roth IRAs do not count toward contribution limits.
- Dividend yield, a crucial metric, is calculated by dividing the annual dividend by the stock price.

In conclusion, the article provides valuable insights into the benefits of using Roth IRAs and the potential of dividend investing for building a secure retirement portfolio. The choice to invest in dividend stocks within a Roth IRA should align with individual financial goals and risk tolerance.