Starting a Dividend Portfolio With $1,000: What I'd Do Differently

When I started dividend investing, I made every rookie mistake. Chased yield, ignored fundamentals, overdiversified into 30 positions with a tiny account.

If I could restart with $1,000, here's my approach:

Keep it simple at first. 3-5 quality holdings max. You don't need 40 stocks to be diversified when you have $1,000—you need conviction in what you own.

Start with dividend ETFs. Seriously. SCHD, VYM, or DGRO give you instant diversification and solid yield while you learn. No shame in ETFs being your whole portfolio.

Turn on DRIP immediately. Dividend reinvestment is how compounding actually happens. Those small quarterly payments buying fractional shares add up over years.

Focus on contribution rate, not yield. With a small account, adding $200/month matters more than whether you're yielding 3% or 4%. The real gains come from consistent investing.

Avoid the yield trap. That 12% yielding stock looks amazing until it cuts the dividend 50% and the share price craters.

What would you tell yourself when starting out?