Here's How Much You'd Need to Invest in SCHD to Generate $500 Per Month in Dividends

How much money would you need to invest today to generate $500 a month in dividend income?

Choosing a high-yield fund will get you there faster, but those could be vulnerable to higher volatility and the risk that those yields aren't sustainable. You could go with a more defensive dividend growth ETF, but those tend to have lower yields.

Your best bet is to try to find the happy medium -- something that combines dividend growth with above-average yield and a focus on balance sheet health to make it all sustainable.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD) is built to deliver that durable passive income stream.

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How to earn $500 per month with SCHD

Earning $500 per month in dividend income requires generating $6,000 in annual income. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF distributes dividends quarterly, so investors should expect $1,500 every three months.

The fund currently offers a yield of roughly 3.3%. That means to generate $500 per month, you'd need an initial investment of $181,818. Keep in mind that yields and distributions change regularly, so this investment will change with them.

SCHD's income is built to grow over time

One of the biggest advantages of using the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF for income generation is that its selection criteria act as a cross-check on one another to weed out potential risks.

To start, the fund looks at a universe of stocks that have paid dividends for at least 10 consecutive years. Qualifying stocks are then evaluated by dividend yield, five-year dividend growth rate, return on equity (ROE), and free cash flow relative to debt.

The yield requirement helps improve the fund's income prospects. The dividend growth requirement helps ensure that the included stocks have committed to growing their dividends over time. The quality requirement is meant to identify stocks with the financial strength to sustainably pay and grow their dividends over the foreseeable future.

This three-pronged approach is unique to the dividend ETF category. Many funds use just one or two of these metrics in their selection process. But very few consider all three. It's a methodology that helps to identify the "best of the best" dividend stocks.

That's why the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF is one of my favorite ETFs for generating regular, predictable portfolio income. While the initial required investment of nearly $200,000 to generate $500 in monthly dividend income could be considered high, the yield-focused approach requires a smaller outlay than many other dividend ETFs. And it does so without altering the portfolio's risk profile.

David Dierking has positions in Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.