Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (VIG)
iStockPhoto
Investors seeking dividends on the cheap might consider Vanguard Dividend Appreciation, an exchange-traded fund that contains stocks representing a range of sectors and industries. A requirement for inclusion in the fund’s index is that companies must have increased their annual dividends for at least the past 10 years, so the portfolio is full of market heavyweights like PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and McDonald’s Corp. The fund lost 27 percent in 2008, 12 percentage points less than the average of all large-cap blend ETFs. Its three-year annualized return ranks it in the top 1 percent of its category. The fund yields 2.18 percent.
