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Data last updated: Sep 06, 2026
Snapshot (as of Sep 06, 2026): Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund (VFORX) pays a $1.38 annual dividend, yielding 2.48% at $55.63/share. Next ex-dividend date 2025-12-23. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 2.48%
Annual Dividend: $1.38 per share
Ex-Dividend Date: 2025-12-23
Sector: Financial Services
Years of Dividend History: 20
The Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund dividend comes from a single-fund portfolio that automatically shifts from equities toward fixed income as 2040 approaches, targeting investors retiring between 2038 and 2042. VFORX currently pays $1.3820 per share on a trailing annual basis, with the next ex-dividend date set for December 23, 2025. The yield stands at 2.48%, placing it in moderate territory for a fund that carries a beta of 1.07. That beta means VFORX moves roughly in line with the broader market, making it a fit for dividend investors who can tolerate equity-level swings in exchange for a gradually shifting allocation.
Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund pays out dividends as a pass-through of its underlying holdings, making a traditional payout ratio not applicable (fund/ETF). Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund dividend safety is structurally tied to the performance of its blended equity and bond portfolio, which automatically rebalances over time rather than relying on a single company's earnings. The most significant pressure point is market volatility: with a beta of 1.07 and a portfolio still weighted toward equities in 2025, a sustained equity drawdown directly reduces the income the fund passes through to shareholders.
Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund dividend history shows a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% per year from 2009 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $0.3680 in 2009 to $1.3820 in 2025, a nearly fourfold increase over the window. The largest single-year jump in the data was 875.6% in 2021, though the history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, so growth has not been linear.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +16.0% | $0.89 (2022) | $1.38 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +14.0% | $0.72 (2020) | $1.38 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +5.0% | $0.85 (2015) | $1.38 (2025) |
VFORX fits dividend investors who want a self-rebalancing fund and can accept a yield that currently runs below its own historical average. At 2.48%, the yield is moderate (2–4%), but it sits well below the 5-year average of 4.69%, meaning recent share price appreciation has compressed what income buyers actually receive today. The 8.6% CAGR over 16 years shows the fund has grown its distributions meaningfully over time, but year-to-year payments have been uneven. What an investor gets here is a diversifying, automatically managed allocation that produces income as a byproduct of its holdings, not a fund engineered specifically for yield maximization.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-23 | $1.3820 |
| 2024-12-30 | $1.1454 |
| 2023-12-27 | $0.9360 |
| 2022-12-28 | $0.8857 |
| 2021-12-29 | $8.6924 |
| 2020-12-30 | $0.7190 |
| 2019-12-27 | $0.8910 |
| 2018-12-28 | $0.8350 |
| 2017-12-28 | $0.6980 |
| 2016-12-28 | $0.7240 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $1.3820 |
| 2024 | $1.1454 |
| 2023 | $0.9360 |
| 2022 | $0.8857 |
| 2021 | $8.6924 |
Project income from VFORX with the VFORX dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.