Here are 13 dividend stocks that each boast a rich history of uninterrupted payouts to shareholders that stretch back at least a century. Investors should be aware that income from municipal bonds issued by other states may be subject to state or local income tax in your own state. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, notes that a bond with a negative yield is worth less than "a bag of dirt in your basement.". The Ascent is The Motley Fool's new personal finance brand devoted to helping you live a richer life. It has returned an annualized 1.7% over the trailing five- and 10-year periods. Home to $72.52 billion in assets under management, VEA is not just the largest international ETF trading in the U.S., it is the sixth-largest ETF of any variety. For investors that enjoy building their retirement portfolios themselves, ETFs are among the ideal vehicles for use in tax-advantaged accounts, such as IRAs. Don’t expect to get rich with this one. Accessed Aug. 3a, 2020. Your target allocation would be different, however, if you are 55 and risk-averse. Kent Thune is the mutual funds and investing expert at The Balance. Buying stocks individually is an effortless undertaking in today’s market. More than 15 countries are represented in IEMG, but China is the dominant geographic exposure at 30.74%, a percentage that is likely to increase later this year when MSCI adds more Chinese A-shares to its international indexes. Now that tax season is in the rearview mirror, investors can get back to contributing to their retirement portfolios, including individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Participation in the fund exposes investors to. Focused on high yield corporate bonds with short remaining maturity durations (less than 5 years), the iShares 0-5 Year High Yield Corp bond fund is another easily traded ETF. They are issued with five-, 10-, and 30-year maturities. Another option for an investor with higher risk tolerance is corporate bonds, which are issued by a corporation and backed by the ability of the company to pay its debt obligations. “Over the past 30 years, dividends from S&P 500 stocks have, on average, contributed exactly half of the index’s total return on an annual basis,” according to State Street research. Vanguard’s Total Bond Market Index Fund boasts an affordable expense ratio of 0.15% combined with an acceptable risk level because of the fund’s broad diversification. A company that goes from a non-investment-grade credit rating to an investment-grade credit rating often sees the price of its bonds increase. Want a bond fund that can still produce juicy returns? A well-diversified investment portfolio should have an allocation to bonds, which are often less volatile than stocks and generate interest income. If the investor has the bond called, he or she is forced to reinvest at a lower interest rate. Consider that in November 2019, $12.5 trillion was invested globally in bonds that have negative yields. PONAX reports a duration of just 0.41 years, which means it would lose essentially nothing should interest rates head higher from here. Therefore it's wise for investors to hold a range of ETFs from different categories in their retirement account, especially if the IRA is their only long-term savings vehicle.