- Pays: monthly — usually going ex-dividend on the first business day of the month.
- Paying since: 2020 (launched mid-2020, when its payout was nearly nothing — see why below).
- What it is: a fund holding U.S. Treasury bills that mature within 3 months — about the safest income-producing asset that exists — and passing the interest through monthly.
- The payout IS the interest rate: near-zero in 2020–21, about $4.88/share at 2023's peak rates, easing since as the Fed cuts. No other fund on this site tracks its driver so exactly.
- Tax perk: interest from Treasuries is generally exempt from state and local income tax (you still owe federal).
SGOV's distribution is passed-through T-bill interest — it rises and falls with Federal Reserve policy, and its share price intentionally hugs $100.
SGOV pays monthly. Each point below is one distribution — and the shape is a graph of Federal Reserve policy itself: flat at nearly zero through 2021, a steep climb through 2022–23, and a gentle slope down as rates ease.
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Each point is one payment; the line ends at the most recent payout. The table below totals them by year.
| Recent Ex-Dividend Dates | Distribution / Share |
|---|
"Next expected" is estimated from SGOV's recent payment rhythm — the fund announces exact dates shortly before each payout, and the data feed can lag a few days. You must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout; the cash typically arrives days later. See every fund's upcoming date on the live dividend calendar.
A real total-return estimate, assuming every payout was reinvested — including what happened to the share price. Before taxes and fees. Past performance does not predict the future.
Now Estimate Your Own Future
These are assumptions, not a prediction. Want the full chart and tax options? Open the full calculator →
Every other payout chart on this site reflects some strategy — dividend growth, option premiums, lending spreads. SGOV's reflects exactly one thing: the short-term interest rate set by the Federal Reserve. The fund holds Treasury bills maturing within weeks, collects their interest, and mails it out monthly. When rates were zero, SGOV paid pennies a year. At the 2023 peak it paid nearly $5 per $100 share. As the Fed cuts, the checks shrink on schedule. There is no skill, no risk premium, and no surprise in this chart — which is precisely its appeal.
SGOV is where cash waits: money you'll need soon, earning the full short-term rate with essentially no price risk (the share hugs $100 by design). It is not a long-term income strategy — when rates fall, the income simply leaves, as 2020–21 shows. One genuine perk: T-bill interest is generally exempt from state income tax, which fattens the after-tax yield in high-tax states — tax details here.
| Year | Total Distributions / Share | Payments | Change vs Prior Year |
|---|
Data source: Yahoo Finance. Figures are per share; the current year may be partial and figures should be verified against official sources.
Calculated from complete calendar years in the data above. Past results don't guarantee future payments.
When Is SGOV's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
SGOV pays monthly — usually going ex-dividend on the first business day of the month. The exact date of each payout is announced by the fund only shortly beforehand, so no site can promise the next date — but the live schedule box above shows the most recent ex-dividend date and the expected window for the next one, computed from SGOV's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
SGOV's Record: Monetary Policy, Payment by Payment
SGOV — the iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF — has become one of the largest funds in America by doing the least: it buys Treasury bills that mature within three months and forwards the interest as a monthly distribution. Its payment record since 2020 is a clean drawing of Fed policy: roughly $0.04 for all of 2020, $0.03 in 2021, then $1.46 in 2022, $4.88 in 2023, $5.12 in 2024, and an easing glide since as rate cuts arrive. The chart above is that whole story.
What SGOV Is Actually For
SGOV is the waiting room. Emergency funds, house down payments, cash between investments — money that must not shrink but shouldn't sit idle either. It solves that problem about as well as anything ever has: government-backed, priced to hug $100, yielding whatever the Fed currently pays, with a state-tax exemption on the interest as a bonus. What it cannot do is compound your wealth or defend your income against falling rates — the 2020–21 rows of the yearly table show exactly what happens to SGOV income when the Fed goes to zero.
SGOV vs. the Income Funds on This Site
The comparison is apples to engines. Funds like JEPI or SCHD take market risk to produce yield or growth; SGOV takes essentially none and produces whatever the risk-free rate happens to be. A sensible portfolio often holds both — SGOV for the money with a date attached, risk assets for the money with a decade attached. Model the long-term side with the dividend calculator, and see every fund's next payment on the live calendar.
Where Does Your Interest Get Taxed?
Ordinary income, state exemptions, and why the account you use can matter as much as the yield — in plain English.
Read: How Are Dividends Taxed?