I'm tempted to suggest a high-growth exchange-traded fund (ETF) here, but instead I want to offer a top-flight dividend-oriented ETF. Why? Well, I'm considering that the world -- and our economy -- is a little less steady than usual these days, with a war afoot and tariffs and trade wars, too. On top of that, the stock market has delivered double-digit gains in six of the past seven full years (2019-2025). It could be smart to be a defensive investor.

So dividends. Healthy and growing dividend-paying stocks offer the potential for stock-price appreciation, just like any stock. And on top of that, they deliver regular income -- which tends to grow over time via dividend increases. It's a compelling proposition in any kind of economy, really.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meet the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

Consider the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD -0.97%). Here's how it has performed in recent years:

Source: SchwabAssetManagement.com, as of Feb. 28, 2026.

Clearly, it's a strong performer -- and it's also a solid dividend payer, recently yielding 3.3%. Most funds tend to deliver either strong returns or strong dividend income. This one offers both.

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NYSEMKT: SCHD

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

Today's Change

(-0.97%) $-0.32

Current Price

$32.53

Key Data Points

AUM

$109B

Dividend Yield

3.24%

Expense Ratio

0.06%

Top Holdings

TXN

4.67%

QCOM

4.58%

PG

4.24%

If you invested $1,200 annually ($100 per month) in it, and you earned an annual return of, say, 10%, you'd end up with around $68,730 in 20 years.

So what's in this ETF? Here are the top 10 holdings as of March 13:

Source: SchwabAssetManagement.com and Yahoo! Finance, as of May 8, 2025.

The ETF holds roughly 100 stocks, many of them blue chips. Invest in the ETF now and you'll own those same stocks -- and can expect significant dividend income.