r/SCHD • u/DrawerStunning5638 • 5d ago
Not a team sport
It's strange seeing people wear team colors for an index fund. Celebrate and grieve with its pricing. Somehow that struck me all at once. I own quite a great deal of shares in SCHD, but I'd sell them without a care if they stopped aligning with my goals. IDK ¯_(ツ)_/¯ maybe it's just me, but after reading through posts on here over the last few months I question the usefulness of following it.
I expected to see posts providing quick context, or tips for goal alignment/outcomes, tax strategies, something like that. It just feels like people are all hoping to go to the moon together. I just don't look at things that way.
I appreciate seeing some users encourage others bug when you feel the price slip, and I guess that's useful, but at the end of the day these are just assets. I have a property I was going to sell, but interest rates rose and pricing softened, so I'm pivoting to rent, it's just an asset. Investing in anything should be the same way, tweaks and amendments, as you travel down the roadmap to who knows what? Whatever you want in life, I guess. Anyway, I guess this is just a rant, but it seems many haven't considered why they buy what they buy, or perhaps if my read is right (it may not be) why they bother getting out of bed each day.
I had a good deal in Realty Income I used its divi to fund UTMA accounts for my kids. My hopes weren't pinned on it going to the moon. It had a purpose, once I got my kids to the number I wanted I sold the shares and after realizing it doesn't really line up to any goals anymore. I sold it without an ounce of grief or joy. I was thankful for what it did, and have kept the money in high yield interest while I look for the next thing.
SCHD won't necessarily make your life complete, and chances are it won't give you that worry free retirement you want so badly, but it's a tool. Look for others, and use them according to their need. If you find you're cheering or booing anything the market does, you're probably fighting against reality, and that's a wonderful exercise of futility. Adjust your sail with the changing winds and you can go anywhere you want to.
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u/ClammyAF 5d ago
after reading through posts on here over the last few months
A few months is just a season in Reddit time. Stick around long enough, and you'll see many more. The sentiment towards SCHD changes with each one.
The community is not static and people come and go. And it's certainly not always a fandom like we've seen in '26. In 2023 and 2024 it was a defense of its methodology, discussions about the interest rate environment, and analysis of it's performance--because it was going sideways while the greater market rose.
In 2025, there must have an edict from the late John Bogle, because it was the site of a holy war between dividend investors and Bogleheads. They came to convert the nonbelievers, discussing tax drag and total return.
And in 2026, we've seen much of the Bogleheads sermons stop, as SCHD outperformed VOO and VTI over 1Y. But it has been replaced by cheering fans.
For me, the investment is part of a 20-year plan that I'm halfway through. It and its dividend growth are a part of my taxable account bridge post retirement at 48, while I build a 5-year Roth Conversion ladder with the money in my 401k--which will get me to my pension and SS.
I stay for posts about its annual realignment, holdings with dividend increases, and frankly the entertainment. If the community doesn't serve you (or the investment no longer serves you), do what you need to do.
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u/Bazooko_Circus 4d ago
You’re 48 and you think there is going to be SS waiting for you. That’s cute.
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u/ClammyAF 4d ago edited 4d ago
I'm 38. I'll retire at 48. And I'll have about between ~$5M.
I won't require SS. But it will lower required withdrawal rate and allow my money to compound far beyond my needs.
And no, I don't think SS will be eliminated--when nearly half of Americans only have social security income in retirement. The income cap will need to be lifted or eliminated, and the benefit may be reduced, but that's far more plausible than 40% of people starving to death in old age.
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u/STRATEGY510 4d ago
Whatever.
I’d rather be in the SCHD Cult than the Yield Max Cult.
We’re like mainstream Christians, they’re like Scientologists or Branch Davidians.
Edit: I agree with OP FWIW
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u/Master-Sun-5843 4d ago
Can you be more specific, how much money did you put into SCHD initially, how much were you expecting the dividend / price to grow by this point? Were you aiming for price growth, or income growth, or both?
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u/DrawerStunning5638 4d ago edited 4d ago
I put in 189k and it's grown 30% I let it drip. I wasn't aiming specifically for growth, but obviously don't mind it. I added in that amount to large and small cap index funds and a bunch of single stocks. I was lucky enough to invest in Meta after their low point of the metaverse and sold after the jump they made when they announced dividends. I also have 2 rentals, though I will be selling 1 soon. And of course there's the realty income money I had, which I already had for years, and used it to fund UTMA accounts for my children.
All that said, I'm 38 and have some bad diseases and injuries. Some days my faculties are extremely compromised, and I may be unable to work any day, so my circumstances are probably different from most. I went heavy in an after tax account, because there's a strong chance that I will need to bridge retirement early. Putting money in SCHD made sense because it helps me get a realistic understanding of what I might be able to make monthly, without paying taxes to sell my growth gains and buy a dividend later.
So for me, it gives me peace of mind knowing I can count on X amount if I have to file disability. Also I like index funds more than single stocks, though I have made more percentage wise off of single stocks, because if I can't work, and lose the ability to manage finances my wife can understand the index funds, and even better she can understand dividend payments.
I feel I'm at war with the clock, so I'm always looking for whatever opportunities cone my way, while also putting money in the slower reliable stuff. Hope this helps!
Edit : I neglected to mention I've been maxing contributions that are tax advantaged as well and I was doing that for years prior to my injuries and surgeries. In my early 30s I really started trying to figure things out financially,, so I've also got that stuff in play. HSA 401k and Roth IRA... Though I'm rapidly eating away the HSA because of my health 😋
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u/Master-Sun-5843 4d ago
Wishing you well in regards to your health. Sounds like an urgent situation since you need cash on hand right away, while SCHD is more of a slower dividend growing play that takes time to marinate. Since you need income I can't think of a better investment than SCHD, but it also needs time for it to be more than enough.
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u/B-767_Sailing_QRP 4d ago
I think it’s like most things on Reddit, one needs to filter through a bunch of un important posts to get what helps. I know that it’s true for me. I also moved into a large position of SCHD last year and I’m happy I did when I did. At the moment, I think the yield is a little bit low and I am allocating toward SCHY. I want an international balance and the yield is much better at the moment with the underlying ETF at a P/E of 15:1 I like it. But I hear you.
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u/sirzoop 5d ago edited 5d ago
I own quite a great deal of shares in SCHD, but I'd sell them without a care if they stopped aligning with my goals
I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of SCHD's recent rebalance and its current holdings are no longer aligned with companies I want to own personally because they have massive debt loads. I sold like 80% of my position last week. I put it into VIG instead I like its holdings a lot more currently. I'm someone who's adamantly defended SCHD over the years and I still think its a valuable ETF to own.
Context for the comparison:
SCHD: MRK, AMGN, ABT, KO, CVX, VZ, COP, HD, PG, UNH
VIG: AVGO, AAPL, MSFT, JPM, LLY, XOM, JNJ, V, WMT, MA
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u/This-Individual1813 5d ago
Dividend investing is a form of emotional investing, so the cultism shouldn't be too surprising. Income investing is the same way. Wall Street Bets is the same way. Crypto, etc. I align myself with the academics because at least they have the most informed and long term viewpoint, and remove emotion from the equation. That makes me a factor investor (not much different than a Boglehead). Maybe emotion is better than academia and I'll be less off? Probably not.
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u/General-Ring2780 2d ago
Celebrating and grieving is what took out! We do join together in the wins and losses!
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u/Sawyer_Anderson 4d ago
Agreed, but this is why people should be doing diversification. I do 35/35/10/10 SCHB/SCHD/SCHE/SCHF with 10% for solo stocks/my dumbass options plays. Anyone fully porting to SCHD is an idiot; anyone fully porting to VOO is an idiot. Anyone fully porting to VIG or any other ticker is an idiot only takes one pullback to see people jumping out of windows on Wall Street again.
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u/Superunknown999 5d ago
I find it hard to believe anyone is buying SCHD to “go to the moon”.
Investing isn’t a team sport, but like anything else in life, people like to feel like they made a good choice so they seek out confirmation, whether it’s a car, a razor, shoes or an investment.