SCHD vs VYM is one of the most common questions dividend investors ask. That makes sense. These are two of the biggest, cheapest dividend ETFs in the world, and on the surface they look almost identical: both own big US dividend payers, both skip REITs, and both pay you every quarter.
Look under the hood, though, and they’re different machines. One is a carefully screened 100-stock portfolio that rebuilds itself every March. The other is a broad 600-stock basket of higher-yielding companies, weighted by size. That difference explains why one beat the other by 14 points in 2020, lost by 11 points in 2025, and then jumped ahead again in 2026.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the data, not the hype: yield, dividend growth, returns over every rolling period since 2011, risk, overlap, taxes, and a simple framework for choosing.
Data as of October 9–13, 2026 unless stated otherwise. Some links in this article may be affiliate links; I only recommend tools I believe add value. This article is for education, not personalized financial advice.
Key Takeaways
- They’re different bets. SCHD holds ~100 quality-screened dividend stocks with a 4% cap per stock and rebuilds every March. VYM holds ~600 higher-yield stocks weighted by market size, with no cap.
- SCHD now pays more. Its trailing yield is about 3.2% (30-day SEC yield 3.32%), vs about 2.3% for VYM. That’s a reversal: VYM yielded more every year from 2012 to 2020.
- SCHD has grown its dividend faster. About 10.6% a year over 2015–2025, vs 5.0% for VYM. But in the last 12 months SCHD’s payout grew only ~2%, vs ~4.5% for VYM.
- Long-term returns are close. From November 2011 to September 2026: SCHD 12.9% a year, VYM 12.2%. SCHD won every rolling 10-year period, but VYM won every 3-year period ending in 2024–2026.
- Breadth didn’t protect VYM in crashes. Its worst month-end drawdown (−24.0%) was deeper than SCHD’s (−21.5%).
- Owning both is a blend, not diversification. Their monthly returns have a 0.96 correlation.
SCHD vs VYM at a Glance
| Feature | SCHD | VYM |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF | Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF |
| Index | Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 | FTSE High Dividend Yield |
| Number of stocks | ~100 (102) | ~600 |
| Expense ratio | 0.06% | 0.04% |
| Trailing dividend yield | ~3.2% (SEC yield 3.32%) | ~2.3% |
| 10-year dividend growth (per year) | ~10.6% | ~5.0% |
| 10-year total return (per year, to Sep 30, 2026) | 12.4% | 11.3% |
| Top 10 holdings weight | ~41% | ~26% |
| Largest sector | Health care / consumer staples (~20% each) | Financials (~21%) |
| Biggest holding | Texas Instruments (~4.7%) | Broadcom (~7%) |
| Portfolio turnover | ~40% | ~11% |
| Worst month-end drawdown (2011–2026) | −21.5% | −24.0% |
| Assets | ~$110B | ~$80B |
| Pays dividends | Quarterly | Quarterly |
Sources: Schwab (Oct 8–9, 2026), Vanguard (Jun 30, 2026), ETF Central (Oct 8, 2026), and InvestingEngineer calculations from Alpha Vantage data. Yields and growth rates are split-adjusted.
What’s the Difference Between SCHD and VYM?
The main difference between SCHD and VYM is how they pick stocks. SCHD holds about 100 US dividend payers chosen by a quality-and-yield score and rebuilt every March. VYM holds about 600 higher-yield US stocks weighted by company size. SCHD is more concentrated; VYM is broader and behaves like a value index.
How SCHD Picks Its 100 Stocks
SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. The recipe works like a filter:
- Start with US stocks, minus REITs.
- Require 10+ consecutive years of dividends, plus minimum size and trading-volume rules.
- Keep only the higher-yielding half of what’s left.
- Score each stock on four measures: free cash flow to total debt, return on equity, dividend yield, and five-year dividend growth.
- Pick the top 100, then weight them by size, capped at 4% per stock and 25% per sector.
The index is rebuilt every March, and weights are reset every quarter. That annual rebuild is SCHD’s biggest strength and its biggest risk. It keeps the portfolio fresh, but it can also swing hard into or out of a sector at the wrong moment.
How VYM Picks Its ~600 Stocks
VYM tracks the FTSE High Dividend Yield Index. Its recipe is simpler:
- Start with US stocks that pay a dividend, minus REITs.
- Rank them by forecast dividend yield over the next 12 months.
- Keep roughly the higher-yielding half.
- Weight them by market size, with no cap.
No quality screen and no dividend-history requirement. That makes VYM broad, cheap to run, and low-turnover. It also means a big company can grow into a big position: Broadcom is about 7% of the fund.
The Simple Analogy
Think of SCHD as a curated playlist: 100 songs, hand-picked by a strict set of rules and re-picked every year. VYM is the whole high-yield radio station: 600 songs, with the most popular ones played most often.
What Do SCHD and VYM Hold Right Now?
Top 10 Holdings
| # | SCHD (Oct 8, 2026) | Weight | VYM (Jun 30, 2026) | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas Instruments | 4.7% | Broadcom | 7.3% |
| 2 | Qualcomm | 4.3% | JPMorgan Chase | 3.4% |
| 3 | Procter & Gamble | 4.3% | Johnson & Johnson | 2.5% |
| 4 | Chevron | 4.2% | Exxon Mobil | 2.4% |
| 5 | Coca-Cola | 4.2% | Caterpillar | 2.0% |
| 6 | ConocoPhillips | 4.1% | Cisco | 1.9% |
| 7 | Merck | 3.9% | AbbVie | 1.8% |
| 8 | UnitedHealth | 3.9% | Bank of America | 1.6% |
| 9 | Home Depot | 3.9% | UnitedHealth | 1.6% |
| 10 | Verizon | 3.9% | Home Depot | 1.5% |
| Top 10 total | ~41% | Top 10 total | ~26% |
Notice the shape. SCHD’s top 10 are all clustered near the 4% cap, so it’s concentrated but evenly spread across its biggest names. VYM has one standout, Broadcom, and then a long tail of small positions. Broadcom’s AI-chip growth is why a tech company now sits at the top of a “dividend” fund.
Sector Breakdown
| Sector | SCHD | VYM |
|---|---|---|
| Health care | ~19–21% | ~12–14% |
| Consumer staples | ~20% | ~8% |
| Energy | ~14–16% | ~9–10% |
| Industrials | ~11% | ~12–14% |
| Financials | ~9–10% | ~21% |
| Technology | ~9–12% | ~15% |
| Consumer discretionary | ~7–8% | ~6–8% |
| Communication services | ~6% | ~3–4% |
| Utilities | ~0% | ~5–6% |
| Materials | 0% | ~3% |
| Real estate (REITs) | 0% | 0% |
Ranges reflect issuer data (SCHD Jun 30, 2026; VYM Jun 30, 2026) and October 9, 2026 holdings data.
In plain English: SCHD is a defensive-plus-energy fund. Staples, health care and energy make up more than half of it. VYM looks like the large-cap value market: heavy in banks, with real tech exposure and some utilities.
How Much Do SCHD and VYM Overlap?
This is where most comparisons get it wrong. They count shared names and stop there. Here’s the full picture as of October 9, 2026:
- 79 stocks appear in both funds.
- Those 79 stocks make up about 99% of SCHD, but only about 22% of VYM.
- Measured by weight, the two portfolios overlap by roughly 22%.
So almost everything SCHD owns is somewhere inside VYM, but at much smaller weights. Yet their monthly returns still have a 0.96 correlation. In other words, they own different proportions of similar kinds of companies, so they tend to move together anyway.
SCHD vs VYM Dividend Yield and Dividend Growth
For most dividend investors, this is the section that matters most.
The Yield Flip: Why VYM No Longer Has the Higher Yield
If you read older SCHD vs VYM articles, you’ll often see “VYM for higher yield, SCHD for dividend growth.” That used to be true. It isn’t anymore.
| Year-end | SCHD trailing yield | VYM trailing yield | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.86% | 3.23% | VYM |
| 2016 | 2.89% | 2.91% | VYM |
| 2018 | 3.06% | 3.40% | VYM |
| 2020 | 3.16% | 3.18% | VYM |
| 2021 | 2.78% | 2.76% | Tie |
| 2022 | 3.39% | 3.01% | SCHD |
| 2024 | 3.64% | 2.74% | SCHD |
| 2025 | 3.82% | 2.44% | SCHD |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 3.24% | 2.37% | SCHD |
Split-adjusted. Source: InvestingEngineer calculations from Alpha Vantage distribution and price data.
Why the flip? SCHD’s screens pulled it toward higher-yielding sectors like staples, pharma, telecom and energy. Meanwhile, VYM’s biggest holdings (Broadcom and the big banks) rose sharply in price, which pushed its yield down. As of October 8, 2026, Schwab reports SCHD’s 30-day SEC yield at 3.32%.
SCHD didn’t cut its dividend — it split 3-for-1.
On October 11, 2024, SCHD split each share into three. Quarterly payouts went from about $0.75 to about $0.26 per share, but you owned three times as many shares. Split-adjusted, SCHD’s 2024 distributions actually rose 12.2%. If a chart shows SCHD’s price or dividend falling ~67% in October 2024, it isn’t split-adjusted.
Dividend Growth Over 1, 5, and 10 Years
| Dividend growth (per year) | SCHD | VYM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year (2024 → 2025) | 5.4% | 0.2% |
| 3 years (2022 → 2025) | 7.1% | 2.5% |
| 5 years (2020 → 2025) | 9.2% | 3.8% |
| 10 years (2015 → 2025) | 10.6% | 5.0% |
| Latest 12 months (to Sep 30, 2026) | 2.0% | 4.5% |
Calendar-year distributions per share, split-adjusted.
Over the long run, SCHD has grown its payout about twice as fast. That said, notice the last row. SCHD’s dividend growth has slowed sharply in 2026, and VYM’s has picked up after two flat years. If you buy SCHD for growth, keep an eye on whether that slowdown is a blip or a new normal.
Watch the Dividend Slowdown as It Happens
SCHD’s payout grew only about 2% over the last 12 months, while VYM’s grew about 4.5%. The next few quarterly payouts in December and March will show whether that’s a blip or a trend. Add both ETFs to a watchlist, track their yield and payout history, and set alerts so you see each new dividend when it’s announced.
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Yield on Cost: What $10,000 From 2016 Pays Today
Here’s a real-world way to see dividend growth. Imagine you put $10,000 into each fund on September 30, 2016, and took the dividends as cash.
| SCHD | VYM | |
|---|---|---|
| Income in year 1 | $331 | $336 |
| Income in the latest 12 months | $747 | $509 |
| Yield on cost today | 7.5% | 5.1% |
| Total cash income over 10 years | $5,403 | $4,299 |
| Value of the shares today | $23,065 | $21,514 |
VYM actually paid a bit more in the first two years. SCHD caught up in 2019, and the gap has widened every year since. Dividend growth beat starting yield, and it wasn’t close. Want to see what that could mean for your own goal? Try our passive income goal calculator.
SCHD vs VYM Performance
Total Returns Over 1, 3, 5, and 10 Years
| Period (to Sep 30, 2026, per year) | SCHD | VYM | S&P 500 (SPY) | Large value (VTV) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 23.3% | 12.8% | 15.7% | 18.2% |
| 3 years | 15.5% | 17.7% | 22.8% | 18.8% |
| 5 years | 9.5% | 11.6% | 13.7% | 12.4% |
| 10 years | 12.4% | 11.3% | 15.2% | 12.3% |
| Since Nov 2011 | 12.9% | 12.2% | 15.0% | 13.0% |
| $10,000 since Nov 2011 | $60,565 | $55,402 | $79,297 | $61,045 |
| 2026 YTD (to Oct 9) | +23.4% | +12.6% | +15.1% | +17.3% |
Total returns with dividends reinvested. Our SCHD figures match Schwab’s published returns for the same dates.
Two things jump out. First, SCHD wins on the 1- and 10-year numbers, while VYM wins on 3 and 5 years. Second, neither beat the S&P 500 over 10 years. These are income and value funds, not market-beaters in a tech-led decade.
Year-by-Year Returns
| Year | SCHD | VYM | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 16.4% | 17.0% | VYM |
| 2017 | 20.8% | 16.4% | SCHD |
| 2018 | −5.6% | −5.9% | SCHD |
| 2019 | 27.3% | 24.1% | SCHD |
| 2020 | 15.1% | 1.1% | SCHD |
| 2021 | 29.9% | 26.2% | SCHD |
| 2022 | −3.2% | −0.5% | VYM |
| 2023 | 4.6% | 6.6% | VYM |
| 2024 | 11.7% | 17.6% | VYM |
| 2025 | 4.3% | 15.4% | VYM |
| 2026 YTD | 23.4% | 12.6% | SCHD |
From 2012 to 2025, VYM actually won more calendar years (8 vs 6). SCHD’s wins were just bigger.
Why the Start Date Changes the Winner (Rolling Returns)
If someone tells you “SCHD crushes VYM” or “VYM beats SCHD,” check their start date. A rolling-return analysis tests every possible period, not just one.
| Holding period | Number of periods tested | SCHD beat VYM | Average yearly edge for SCHD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 143 | 54% of the time | +0.9 points |
| 5 years | 119 | 76% of the time | +1.5 points |
| 10 years | 59 | 100% of the time | +1.5 points |
Monthly rolling periods, November 2011 to September 2026.
The longer you held, the more often SCHD won. Even so, its 10-year lead shrank to just 0.1 point a year at the low point in late 2025. And every 3-year period ending in 2024, 2025 or 2026 went to VYM.
Find Out Which Fund “Wins” From Your Start Date
Start in 2020 and SCHD looks like the clear winner. Start in 2023 and VYM pulls ahead. Plot SCHD and VYM on one chart, switch to percentage view, and move the start date around. You’ll see how much the “winner” depends on when you begin, and you won’t have to rely on anyone’s cherry-picked chart, including ours.
Compare SCHD vs VYM on TradingView →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Why SCHD Lagged in 2023–2025 and Surged in 2026
From the start of 2023 to the end of 2025, SCHD returned +21.8% in total. VYM returned +44.6%, and the S&P 500 returned +85.5%. That’s a painful gap, and a lot of investors wondered whether SCHD was “broken.”
The evidence points to sector timing, not a broken method:
- Too little in financials and tech. Banks and dividend-paying chip stocks (Broadcom especially) led the market, and VYM owned far more of them.
- Too much in energy and staples. Both lagged. The March 2025 rebuild raised SCHD’s energy weight from about 12% to about 21% just before energy stumbled again.
- Mega-cap tech dominated. Neither fund owns much of it, but VYM’s Broadcom gave it a slice of the AI rally.
Then 2026 flipped the script. The March 2026 rebuild was one of SCHD’s biggest ever: 25 additions, 22 removals, and roughly 31% turnover. It cut energy, added UnitedHealth, Abbott, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm and Accenture, and removed Cisco and AbbVie. Combined with strong health-care picks and a rotation away from expensive tech, SCHD gained 23.4% YTD through October 9, nearly double VYM.
My take: The 2023–2025 slump looks temporary rather than structural. But the annual rebuild means SCHD will occasionally lock in a sector bet at a bad moment, so expect more multi-year stretches of lagging in the future.
Risk: Is VYM Safer Because It’s More Diversified?
Volatility and Drawdowns
| Risk measure (Dec 2011 – Sep 2026) | SCHD | VYM | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual volatility | 13.7% | 12.9% | 13.9% |
| Downside volatility | 9.1% | 9.1% | 9.7% |
| Worst month-end drawdown | −21.5% | −24.0% | −23.9% |
| Beta to S&P 500 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 1.00 |
| COVID crash (intramonth price low) | ≈ −35% | ≈ −37% | ≈ −36% |
| 2022 bear market (intramonth price low) | ≈ −20% | ≈ −18% | ≈ −27% |
Six hundred stocks sounds safer than one hundred, but the data says otherwise:
- VYM is slightly less volatile day to day.
- It held up better in 2022 and in the 2025 tariff sell-off.
- But it fell further in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered far more slowly: in 2020, SCHD returned +15.1% and VYM +1.1%.
- Their downside volatility is essentially identical.
Neither fund is a bond substitute. Both fell roughly 35% at the worst point of 2020, about the same as the overall market. If you want true downside protection, that comes from your asset mix (bonds, cash), not from your choice of dividend ETF.
How They Behave When Interest Rates Change
| 10-year Treasury yield | SCHD (per year) | VYM (per year) | S&P 500 (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 2% | 19.0% | 15.9% | 18.7% |
| 2% to 3.5% | 8.5% | 8.3% | 9.3% |
| 3.5% and above | 12.2% | 13.6% | 19.1% |
Monthly returns grouped by the 10-year Treasury yield level, 2011–2026.
SCHD has done better when rates were low or falling. VYM has done a bit better when rates were high, likely thanks to its large bank holdings, which benefit from higher rates. The effect is modest, though, and the high-rate bucket is mostly one episode (2023–2026). With the 10-year yield near 5% in September 2026, rates are worth watching.
Is VYM Just a Value Fund? Is SCHD?
Here’s an insight most comparisons miss. When I compared each fund’s monthly returns with the S&P 500 and a plain large-value fund (VTV):
- VYM’s returns were 97% explained by the overall market plus a value tilt, with essentially no extra return left over. In practice, VYM behaves like a large-value index fund that happens to focus on dividends.
- SCHD’s returns were 89% explained the same way. The remaining 11% is SCHD’s quality screen and sector bets, which added roughly 0.7% a year since 2011, in streaks.
That’s not a knock on VYM. Being a cheap, predictable value fund is a perfectly good job. It just means that if you already own a value fund like VTV, VYM adds very little. SCHD adds more of its own character, for better and worse.
Costs, Taxes, and Account Placement
Expense Ratios and Turnover
- VYM: 0.04%. Cut from 0.06% in February 2025. That’s $40 a year on $100,000.
- SCHD: 0.06%. That’s $60 a year on $100,000.
- Turnover: SCHD ~40%, VYM ~11%.
The fee difference is tiny. Turnover matters more for how much the portfolio changes than for costs or taxes, because ETFs use in-kind redemptions to shed low-cost shares without selling them.
Taxes for US Investors
- Qualified dividends. Both funds hold US common stocks and no REITs, so their dividends are typically almost entirely qualified and taxed at long-term capital-gains rates. Check each year’s 1099 or issuer tax supplement for the exact percentage.
- Capital gains distributions. Historically minimal for both, thanks to the ETF structure.
- Account placement. Both work in a taxable account. SCHD’s higher yield creates more taxable income each year, so if IRA or Roth IRA space is limited, SCHD gets slightly more benefit from a tax-advantaged account.
Buying SCHD or VYM From Outside the US
For international investors
• US dividend withholding: Usually 15% for UK and Canadian investors with a W-8BEN, 25% for Philippine investors under the treaty, and 30% without a treaty or W-8BEN. That cuts SCHD’s ~3.2% yield to about 2.4–2.7% in hand.
• UK ISA: The 15% withholding isn’t recoverable. Some UK brokers can’t sell US-domiciled ETFs to retail clients because of PRIIPs/KID rules.
• Canada: An RRSP is generally exempt from US withholding; a TFSA is not.
• Philippines: US-listed ETFs count as US-situs assets. Non-resident aliens face US estate tax above US$60,000, and there’s no US–Philippines estate tax treaty.
• UCITS options: We didn’t find a UCITS ETF tracking either SCHD’s or VYM’s index. Global high-dividend UCITS funds exist, but they hold different stocks.
Should You Hold Both SCHD and VYM?
Probably not, at least not for diversification.
A 50/50 mix of SCHD and VYM (rebalanced monthly, 2011–2026) returned 12.6% a year with 13.2% volatility and a −22.8% worst drawdown. Every figure lands neatly between the two funds. That’s what a 0.96 correlation does: you get an average, not a cushion.
Holding both can still make sense if you:
- Want SCHD’s quality tilt but are uneasy with its 41% top-10 concentration.
- Want to smooth the “regret” of picking the wrong one in a given year.
- Are adding a new fund without selling an old one in a taxable account (to avoid capital gains).
If your goal is real diversification, pair either fund with something that behaves differently:
- A growth ETF (e.g., a Nasdaq-100 fund) to cover the tech gap both share. See our SPMO vs QQQM comparison.
- An international dividend ETF, for different economies and currencies.
- A REIT fund, since neither SCHD nor VYM owns REITs.
Pros and Cons
SCHD — Pros
- Higher current yield (~3.2%) and the stronger long-term dividend growth record (~10.6% a year)
- Quality screens on cash flow, debt and profitability
- Has beaten VYM in every rolling 10-year period since 2011
- 4% stock cap and 25% sector cap prevent any one company or sector from dominating
SCHD — Cons
- Annual rebuild can mistime sector bets (energy in 2025)
- Heavy in staples, health care and energy; almost no utilities or materials
- Can lag for years (2023–2025)
- Dividend growth slowed to ~2% in the latest 12 months
VYM — Pros
- Very broad (~600 stocks), with a 0.04% expense ratio
- Low turnover and a predictable, value-index-like behavior
- More financials and tech, which helped in 2023–2025
- Dividend growth picked up in 2026 (+4.5%)
VYM — Cons
- Lower yield (~2.3%) and slower long-term dividend growth (~5% a year)
- No stock cap: Broadcom is ~7% of an “income” fund
- Choppier quarterly payouts (11 quarters with year-over-year declines since 2016, vs 6 for SCHD)
- Adds little if you already own a large-cap value fund
SCHD vs VYM: Which Should You Choose?
There’s no single winner, so here’s a decision framework instead.
Choose SCHD if…
- You want the higher income today and a history of faster dividend growth.
- You like the idea of quality screens (cash flow, debt, profitability).
- You can stick with a fund through 2–3 years of lagging the market.
- You’re comfortable with sector concentration in staples, health care and energy.
Choose VYM if…
- You want maximum diversification and a “set it and forget it” fund.
- You prefer low turnover and predictable, value-index-like behavior.
- You want some exposure to banks and dividend-paying tech.
- You value the lowest possible cost.
Hold both if…
- You can’t decide and want to avoid “picking wrong” — just know you’re blending, not diversifying.
Don’t rely on either as your only holding if…
- You’re in the accumulation phase and want to keep pace with the overall market. Both have trailed the S&P 500 in most periods.
Sample Allocations (Illustrative Only)
| Investor | Example mix |
|---|---|
| Accumulation phase (20s–40s) | 60–70% broad market or growth ETF + 20–30% SCHD or VYM + 10% international |
| Pre-retirement income builder | 40–50% SCHD or VYM + 30% broad market + 10% international dividend + 10% bonds/REITs |
| Retirement income | 30–40% SCHD and/or VYM + 30–40% bonds + 10% REITs + 10–20% international/cash |
These are educational examples, not recommendations. Your mix should reflect your goals, timeline and risk tolerance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SCHD or VYM better?
Neither is better in every situation. SCHD has returned slightly more since 2011 (12.9% vs 12.2% a year), pays a higher yield and has grown its dividend faster, but VYM won 2023–2025 and is broader and cheaper.
Which has a higher dividend, SCHD or VYM?
SCHD. As of October 2026, its trailing yield was about 3.2% (30-day SEC yield 3.32%), vs about 2.3% for VYM. VYM yielded more from 2012 to 2020, but that reversed in 2022.
Should I hold both SCHD and VYM?
You can, but it won’t add much diversification. Their monthly returns have a 0.96 correlation, so a 50/50 mix behaves like an average of the two.
Why did SCHD underperform from 2023 to 2025?
Mostly sector mix. SCHD held fewer banks and tech stocks, which led the market, and more energy and consumer staples, which lagged. It rebounded strongly in 2026, up 23.4% through October 9.
Did SCHD cut its dividend in 2024?
No. SCHD did a 3-for-1 share split on October 11, 2024. The per-share payout looked smaller, but split-adjusted distributions rose 12.2% in 2024.
How much do SCHD and VYM overlap?
They share 79 stocks, but the portfolios overlap by only about 22% by weight, because VYM holds those stocks at much smaller weights.
Do SCHD or VYM pay monthly?
No. Both pay quarterly, usually in March, June, September and December.
Is VYM good for retirement income?
It can be a solid, diversified core holding. Its yield (~2.3%) is lower than SCHD’s, and its dividend has grown more slowly over the long term, so retirees focused on income often pair it with other sources.
The Bottom Line
SCHD vs VYM isn’t a contest between a good fund and a bad one. It’s a choice between two styles. SCHD is a concentrated, quality-screened income fund with the higher yield today and the stronger dividend growth record, and it comes with occasional painful stretches. VYM is a broad, cheap, low-turnover fund that behaves like the large-value market.
If I had to sum it up as an engineer: SCHD is the higher-performance component with tighter tolerances, and VYM is the robust, general-purpose part. Pick the one whose behavior you’ll actually stick with through a bad three-year stretch, because that’s what will decide your results.
Know What You Own Before the Next Reshuffle
SCHD rebuilds its portfolio every March, and VYM’s biggest weights shift as Broadcom and the big banks move. Before you buy either one, it pays to keep an eye on:
- How SCHD and VYM perform against the S&P 500 over different start dates
- Each fund’s yield and quarterly dividend, especially SCHD’s recent slowdown
- The top holdings driving each fund, such as Texas Instruments, Chevron and Broadcom
| Build Your SCHD & VYM Watchlist on TradingView → |
Affiliate link. Investing involves risk. This article is educational and does not constitute financial advice.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial, tax or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Figures are as of the dates shown and may change. InvestingEngineer calculations use Alpha Vantage monthly adjusted price and distribution data; SCHD per-share figures are adjusted for its October 2024 3-for-1 split. Consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions.
Sources: Schwab Asset Management (SCHD product page, Oct 2026); Vanguard (VYM investment profile, Jun 30, 2026); S&P Dow Jones Indices; FTSE Russell; ETF Central; Motley Fool (Apr 14, 2026); Cut the Crap Investing (Sep 20, 2026); ETF Focus (May 2025); Optimized Portfolio; Alpha Vantage.
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Learn more about Pepperstone →Affiliate link. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Most retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. Consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Disclosure: The content on this page was produced with AI writing assistance under the editorial direction of a licensed Electrical Engineering practitioner and certified investor in different markets with over a decade of experience. All articles are reviewed and approved by the author before publication.
