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My favorite manner of incomes a second earnings is to purchase dividend shares. And there’s numerous them to select from. For instance, in the intervening time (28 November), the 5 highest-yielding shares on the FTSE 100 provide a mean return of seven.5%.
| Inventory | Yield (%) |
|---|---|
| Authorized & Normal | 8.7 |
| Phoenix Group Holdings (LSE:PHNX) | 7.9 |
| M&G | 7.4 |
| Mondi | 7.0 |
| Land Securities Group | 6.7 |
| Common | 7.5 |
This implies a £20,000 funding divided equally amongst them may generate a return of £1,500 over the following 12 months.
A long run method
However let’s assume that as a substitute of banking this money, it’s reinvested shopping for extra of those shares. On this case, if the yield remained unchanged, earnings of £1,613 could be obtained in yr two. Repeat this for one more yr and the return would rise to £1,733. You get the image.
The act of reinvesting dividends is named compounding and has some high-profile supporters. For instance, Warren Buffett as soon as stated: “If you happen to don’t discover a technique to earn a living when you sleep, you’ll work till you die.”
Returning to our instance, if we continued for one more 22 years, the preliminary lump sum of £20,000 would develop to £121,967 after 1 / 4 of century. At this level, a 7.5% return would offer an annual second earnings of £9,148.
After all, it’s smart to be slightly cautious. There aren’t any ensures – particularly over a interval of 25 years – that dividends shall be maintained. And inevitably, the share costs of those 5 will transfer up and down. In the event that they go within the fallacious course then all the advantages of holding earnings shares may very well be worn out.
Nonetheless, this instance does spotlight the potential advantages accessible from proudly owning high-yielding shares, particularly over an prolonged interval.
Delving deeper
Wanting on the 5, Phoenix Group Holdings, the wealth supervisor, is the one which’s been across the longest. The group can hint its roots again to 1782. And for its previous six monetary years, it’s elevated its dividend. For 2024, it was 15.4% larger than in 2019. Its interim payout for 2025 is 2.6% greater than final yr’s.
| Yr | Dividend per share (pence) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 46.8 | +1.7 |
| 2020 | 47.5 | +1.5 |
| 2021 | 48.9 | +3.0 |
| 2022 | 50.8 | +3.9 |
| 2023 | 52.65 | +3.7 |
| 2024 | 54.0 | +2.6 |
At 30 September, it had £98.18bn of equites, £91.57 of debt securities, and £4.48bn of funding property on its stability sheet. This implies it’s susceptible to turbulence in different markets. Falling returns are more likely to put is dividend underneath stress. And elevated competitors is one other concern.
Nonetheless, in comparison with a yr earlier, the corporate’s half-year outcomes for the six months ended 30 June confirmed a 25.3% enhance in adjusted working revenue, a 9% rise in working money era and a 5% increase to belongings underneath administration.
Phoenix isn’t a family title, which most likely explains why from March 2026, will probably be often called Commonplace Life, certainly one of its extra well-known manufacturers. Following a collection of acquisitions in addition to natural progress, the group now takes care of the pensions, financial savings, and investments of 12m folks in Europe.
General, I believe it’s value contemplating.
Remaining thought
As for the opposite 4, I already personal Authorized & Normal. However I’d should do extra analysis earlier than deciding whether or not the remaining three needs to be a part of my ISA.
However I wouldn’t cease there. I believe the UK inventory market is stuffed stuffed with spectacular dividend shares providing engaging returns.




