ETFs / SGOV
What If You Had Invested in SGOV 6 Years Ago?
iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) with real monthly prices, dividends reinvested, through November 2026.
SGOV $100.49 ▲ +0.04% last close, Nov 06, 2026
If you had invested $1,000 in SGOV in November 2020, today it would be worth
$1,205
Same $1,000 in the S&P 500 (SPY): $2,202
If you had put $500 a month into SGOV since November 2020, your $36,500 would be worth today
$40,996
Same plan in the S&P 500 (SPY): $56,665
More options in the What If calculator.
SGOV live price chart
SGOV returns by period
| Period | Total return | Per year | $1,000 became | SPY per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | +3.2% | +3.2% | $1,032 | +8.8% |
| 3 years | +13.3% | +4.3% | $1,133 | +18.7% |
| 5 years | +20.5% | +3.8% | $1,205 | +11.5% |
| Since 2020 | +20.6% | +3.0% | $1,206 | — |
SGOV year by year
Best full year: 2024 (+5.3%). Weakest: 2021 (+0.0%), still a gain.
| Year | SGOV | SPY | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +2.8% | +8.7% | |
| 2025 | +4.2% | +17.7% | |
| 2024 | +5.3% | +24.9% | |
| 2023 | +5.1% | +26.2% | After the Fed's hikes, Treasury bills paid about 5%, the most in more than fifteen years. |
| 2022 | +1.6% | -18.2% | |
| 2021 | +0.0% | +28.7% | With the Fed holding rates near zero, SGOV returned close to nothing. |
SGOV: all at once or every month?
Take $12,000: all of it on day one, or $1,000 a month for a year. Across every starting month since 2020 (66 of them), the lump sum was ahead after 12 months in 66 (100%). There was never a dip to buy: SGOV's price barely moves, so spreading money out only meant less time earning interest.
Worst drop
SGOV has never had a real fall on month-end prices in this history; its deepest dip was -0.2%.
Comparing SGOV with stock funds mostly shows what holding cash costs over long periods. Its job is stability, not growth.
SGOV dividends
SGOV paid $3.32 per share over the last 12 months, in monthly payments. At $100.49 that is 3.30%, a moderate yield. The yearly total fell in 2021, 2025.
| Year | Dividends / share | Change | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $4.12 | -19.6% | 4.10% |
| 2024 | $5.12 | +4.7% | 5.10% |
| 2023 | $4.88 | +235.7% | 4.87% |
| 2022 | $1.46 | +4309.1% | 1.45% |
| 2021 | $0.03 | -26.7% | 0.03% |
| 2020 | $0.04 | — | 0.04% |
Yield = each year’s dividends divided by the price at the end of the year.
SGOV dividend history: last 12 payments
| Ex-dividend date | Amount | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 01, 2026 | $0.3010 | -2.0% |
| Sep 01, 2026 | $0.3070 | +0.0% |
| Aug 03, 2026 | $0.3070 | +3.7% |
| Jul 01, 2026 | $0.2960 | -1.0% |
| Jun 01, 2026 | $0.2990 | +0.3% |
| May 01, 2026 | $0.2980 | +1.7% |
| Apr 01, 2026 | $0.2930 | +7.7% |
| Mar 02, 2026 | $0.2720 | -12.0% |
| Feb 02, 2026 | $0.3090 | -4.3% |
| Dec 19, 2025 | $0.3230 | +3.2% |
| Dec 01, 2025 | $0.3130 | -10.1% |
| Nov 03, 2025 | $0.3480 | — |
How much SGOV do you need for $1,000 a month?
About $363,436, or roughly 3,617 shares at $100.49. That uses SGOV's last 12 months of dividends ($3.32 a share, a 3.30% yield) and is before tax.
| Income | Invest | Shares | Paid as |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $181,718 | 1,808 | $500/mo |
| $1,000 | $363,436 | 3,617 | $1,000/mo |
| $2,000 | $726,872 | 7,233 | $2,000/mo |
SGOV pays every month and the amounts have been fairly steady, so the income really does arrive monthly.
Bond fund payouts follow interest rates: they rose as rates went up and can shrink again if rates fall, so the amount above is not fixed.
Treasury bill interest is taxed as ordinary income at the federal level but is exempt from state and local income tax, which makes SGOV more attractive than a bank account or money market fund in high-tax states.
Want to build toward it with monthly buys? Try the dividend calculator with SGOV's numbers filled in.
About SGOV
| Issuer | BlackRock (iShares) |
| Launched | May 2020 |
| Tracks | ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% |
| Holdings | U.S. Treasury bills that mature within three months |
Fund details as of 2025. Check the issuer for the current expense ratio and holdings.
SGOV holds U.S. Treasury bills that mature within three months. It is about as close to cash as an ETF gets: the share price barely moves, and nearly all of the return is interest, paid out monthly.
Because the bills are so short, SGOV's yield follows the Federal Reserve's policy rate within weeks. It paid almost nothing in 2021, when rates sat near zero, about 5% a year in 2023 and 2024 after the Fed's hikes, and less once the Fed began cutting.
People use SGOV to park cash inside a brokerage account: an emergency fund, or money waiting to be invested. It is not insured like a bank deposit, but it is backed by U.S. government debt.
The yardstick
SGOV is on this site mainly as a yardstick. Every stock fund here has to beat what Treasury bills paid to be worth its risk. Over SGOV's short history that bar has ranged from almost nothing to about 5% a year.
Rates are the whole story
Unlike a long bond fund such as TLT, SGOV holds nothing long enough to lose value when rates rise, so it did not fall in 2022. The other side is that its income drops as soon as the Fed cuts. Locking in a rate for years takes longer bonds, with the price swings that come with them.
Questions about SGOV
Did SGOV beat the S&P 500?
No. Over the last 5 years it trailed by 7.7 percentage points a year: +3.8% a year for SGOV against +11.5% for SPY, dividends reinvested. Its worst fall was milder than SPY's over the same history (-0.2% against -23.9%).
Is SGOV the same as a money market fund?
Close, but not the same. Both hold very short-term debt and pay roughly the Fed's rate. SGOV trades on an exchange like a stock, so you buy and sell at market prices during the day, and its price drifts up between monthly payouts and drops back after each one. Money market funds keep a fixed $1 price and trade once a day.