Here's How Many Shares of the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) You'd Need for $500 in Yearly Dividends

Key Points

• This ETF is terrific if you're bullish on the American economy.

• It encompasses more than 3,000 stocks.

• Its dividend yield isn't huge, though.

• 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF ›

If you're looking for a broad stock market investment that will also deliver dividend income to you, you might want to consider the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEMKT: VTI). It's an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which means it's a fund that trades like a stock. It's also an index fund, encompassing not just the 500 big American companies in the S&P 500 index but just about all of the U.S. stock market -- more than 3,600 stocks.

The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF pays dividends, too, and recently sported a dividend yield of 1.2% -- but whereas most healthy and growing companies pay a fixed dividend amount until they increase it, this ETF's payout fluctuates a fair amount, as the companies in it change what they pay.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: Getty Images.

But let's assume a 1.2% yield. If you invest, say, $1,000, you'll receive around $12. So to collect $500 in dividend income, you'd need about 42 times that -- meaning a stake worth roughly $42,000. That would mean some 130 shares.

To be clear, you can collect much more in dividend income from various high-yield stocks and even some good dividend-focused ETFs. But the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF can still serve a useful role in your long-term portfolio, having you invested in pretty much the entire U.S. market -- and, therefore, most of the U.S. economy -- including stocks from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE: ZIM). So if you're bullish on the future of e-commerce and international trade, not to mention scores of other businesses, this ETF has you covered. (Note that there are reports that ZIM may be taken private. And Amazon investors are expecting its investments in artificial intelligence to make it even more efficient.)

It has more to recommend it, too, such as a low expense ratio (annual fee) of just 0.03%, costing you $3 per $10,000 invested per year.

Should you invest $1,000 in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Selena Maranjian has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Zim Integrated Shipping Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.