3 Dividend Growth ETFs to Buy With $500 and Hold Forever

One of the ascendant aboriginal themes of 2026 has been the instrumentality of non-tech stocks. Investors person started to deliberation doubly astir the imaginable interaction of the AI roar and person begun rotating into much antiaircraft and value-oriented areas of the market.

That displacement has besides benefited dividend stocks successful a large way. Strategies that impact semipermanent dividend maturation aren't needfully exciting, but nether conditions wherever investors instrumentality hazard disconnected the table, they can, well, wage dividends.

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And they're large for a semipermanent buy-and-hold mindset. These stocks are often durable, high-quality, and cash-rich. They thin to clasp up amended successful challenging economical conditions, and the dividend yields tin assistance heighten full returns. Plus, with galore brokerages requiring you to bargain arsenic small arsenic a azygous share, you tin get vulnerability for small money.

Here are 3 of the champion dividend maturation ETFs you tin bargain and clasp forever.

The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG) tracks the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. It targets U.S. large-cap stocks that person grown their yearly dividend for astatine slightest 10 consecutive years. Eliminating existent property concern trusts (REITs) and the apical 25% of qualifying yields removes the money arsenic a high-income option, but it increases the prime and durability of the dividend.

The fund's apical 5 assemblage holdings are Technology (27%), Financials (22%), Healthcare (17%), Industrials (11%), and Consumer Staples (10%). Your mileage whitethorn alteration connected the high-tech assemblage exposure, but that's a merchandise of the marketplace cap-weighting strategy that includes Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).

The remainder of the portfolio, however, is simply a bully substance of cyclical and antiaircraft sectors.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD) follows the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. It targets stocks that show a beardown operation of dividend history, equilibrium expanse quality, and precocious yield. It considers cardinal factors, specified arsenic instrumentality connected equity (ROE) and cash-flow-to-debt, to constrictive it down to a database of 100 components that cheque each the boxes.

This fund's yearly rebalance past twelvemonth pushed the portfolio heavy into Energy (20%) and Consumer Staples (19%). That wasn't a fashionable premix successful 2025, but it has made this ETF a top-tier performer this year. The minimal vulnerability to Technology (8%) has besides worked successful its favour recently. From a semipermanent perspective, this portfolio is filled with big, durable, cash-generating businesses. With net maturation anticipated to beryllium affirmative this year, with ostentation nether control, that's the benignant of situation that could proceed rewarding these stocks.