One of my favorite ways to earn truly passive income, the money I make from literally doing nothing, is by dividends. Dividends are the earnings that companies distribute to their shareholders to let them take part in the spoils of being a partial owner. It doesn’t matter whether you own just one share – you’re still entitled to a dividend payment.

As you might guess, the more of these shares you collect, the more income you can expect to receive. There are entire investment communities and retirement strategies that are built around dividend-paying equities.

I strongly advocate for anyone to build multiple income streams to increase their financial stability. However, as nurse practitioners with demanding careers, we don’t always have the time to devote to a new side hustle or tend to a rental property. Believe me – as a landlord; it’s no fun getting a call in the middle of the night from one of your tenants that the furnace just went out. 

That’s why the more things you can do with your money to promote passive income, the better, and high-quality dividend stocks are a great place to start. But with so many stocks, which ones do you pick? Whether you’re new to investing or have been for a while, making the right selections can be intimidating! 

Fortunately, you don’t have to. There are three simple ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that any investor could consider adding to their dividend income portfolio:

• S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (ticker: NOBL) – This fund tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, a group of companies that has increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years.
• Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (ticker: VYM) – This fund tracks the performance of a benchmark index of stocks that are forecasted to have above-average dividend yields.
• Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (ticker: SCHD) – Tracks the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, a fund of high-dividend-yielding U.S. stocks with a record of consistently paying dividends.

With the economy down, now is a great time to buy up as many shares as possible of these funds while they’re trading at a discount. Remember: If you don’t have a lot of money to put into them right now, don’t worry – you can always dollar cost average your way into buying shares every two to four weeks. Every little bit helps!