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Data last updated: Oct 19, 2026
Snapshot (as of Oct 19, 2026): Vanguard Total Bond Market Idx InstlPls (VBMPX) pays a $0.29 annual dividend ($0.02 monthly), yielding 4.22% at $9.32/share. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 4.22%
Annual Dividend: $0.29 per share
Dividend Frequency: monthly
Years of Dividend History: 17
Vanguard Total Bond Market Idx InstlPls dividend comes from a broad index fund covering U.S. investment-grade taxable bonds, including government, corporate, mortgage-backed, and asset-backed securities with maturities over one year. The fund currently yields 4.24%, placing it in high-yield territory for a broad bond index fund. VBMPX pays monthly, with a last dividend of $0.2943 per share. That monthly cadence and above-4% yield make it a natural fit for income-focused investors who want regular cash flow from diversified fixed income exposure.
Vanguard Total Bond Market Idx InstlPls dividend safety depends on the aggregate distributions generated by its underlying holdings, which span U.S. government bonds, investment-grade corporates, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Payout ratio is not applicable (fund/ETF), since distributions flow directly from bond interest payments across the index rather than from corporate earnings. The most data-supported pressure point is rate sensitivity: the annual dividend per share fell from $0.4060 in 2011 to $0.2800 in 2020, a decline of more than 30% over nine years, reflecting how changes in interest rates across the bond market directly compress or expand what the fund passes through to shareholders.
Vanguard Total Bond Market Idx InstlPls dividend history shows a CAGR of -4.0% per year from 2011 to 2020. Per-share payments fell from $0.4060 to $0.2800 over that window, a meaningful erosion for income investors counting on a rising income stream. The largest annual increase in the window was 6.0% in 2016, but the overall trend ran negative. Growth is slow, and in this case, it ran in reverse.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +15.3% | $0.25 (2022) | $0.38 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +6.3% | $0.28 (2020) | $0.38 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +4.0% | $0.26 (2015) | $0.38 (2025) |
VBMPX fits income-focused investors who want monthly distributions from a diversified pool of U.S. investment-grade bonds, not dividend growth. The yield is high (above 4%), which is the fund's clearest strength. The trade-off is real: the per-share dividend declined at -4.0% per year from 2011 to 2020, meaning purchasing power from distributions eroded over time rather than compounded. Four consecutive years of increases through the most recent data offer some encouragement, but the longer history shows the payout is tied to interest rate conditions across the bond market, not to a company's ability to grow earnings. An investor gets broad fixed income exposure and a meaningful current yield; they accept that the income stream can shrink when rates fall.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | $0.0330 |
| 2026-08-31 | $0.0337 |
| 2026-07-31 | $0.0335 |
| 2026-06-30 | $0.0325 |
| 2026-05-29 | $0.0331 |
| 2026-04-30 | $0.0321 |
| 2026-03-31 | $0.0331 |
| 2026-02-27 | $0.0304 |
| 2026-01-30 | $0.0328 |
| 2025-12-31 | $0.0328 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $0.2942 |
| 2025 | $0.3794 |
| 2024 | $0.3502 |
| 2023 | $0.3015 |
| 2022 | $0.2476 |
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