Income Investors: Owning Dividend ETFs vs. the 'Real Thing'

“The Real Thing” was once a slogan for Coca-Cola (KO), which is among the “Dividend Aristocrats,” companies with a rich history of raising dividend payments. And Coca-Cola is one of the stocks I picked to compare the performance of 7 individual “real” stocks against owning two widely held ETFs that emphasize dividend-paying equities. One of these ETFs that comes to mind is the S&P Dividend ETF (SDY). It tracks the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which is weighted (subject to some limits) by “indicated annual dividend yield.” And there’s another widely held ETF from iShares, the Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund (DVY). It tracks a similar group of stocks, also using a dividend-weighted approach. But should income investors buy shares in these ETFs instead of individual companies? Or does investing in “the real thing,” actual shares of stock work best? ETFs: Convenience but less control With an ETF,... Read more