| Chart of the Day |
| NOVEMBER 12, 2026 |
MONEY & MARKETS • STOCK MARKET |
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| The S&P 500 Paid 4.2% in Dividends in the 1980s. Today It Pays 1.1%. |
| Your stock portfolio now throws off less income than a savings account... and inflation is eating what’s left. |
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| Average S&P 500 dividend yield by decade. The 2026 figure is the trailing 12-month yield as of November 2026. |
| Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices, 2026 |
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| If you owned the S&P 500 in 1985, the market paid you a little over 4% a year just for showing up. No trading. No clever timing. Just a check in the mail, four times a year, like clockwork. |
| Today? The S&P 500 pays 1.1%. That is near a record low. Meanwhile, your money market fund... the one your broker parks your cash in... pays nearly 4%. Read that again. Cash is paying you more than three times what the entire U.S. stock market pays in dividends. |
| Most folks see the S&P up double digits this year and figure everything is fine. But price gains are not income. You cannot deposit a number on a screen. And when you sell shares to generate cash, you are eating your own seed corn. |
| Here is what most people miss. Companies made a choice. Instead of paying you a dividend, they started buying back their own shares. In 2024, S&P 500 companies spent $942 billion on buybacks and only $630 billion on dividends. Buybacks push the stock price higher... which is great for the CEO’s options package... but does nothing for the retiree who needs a quarterly check. |
| Now add Tuesday’s inflation report: an estimated 4%. Your 1.1% dividend does not cover a third of the rate prices are rising. In the 1980s, dividends alone nearly matched inflation. Today, they are not in the same zip code. If you are retired and counting on your portfolio for income, that gap is the whole ballgame. |
