SCHD’s next ex-dividend date is scheduled for Wednesday, December 9, 2026. The record date is the same day and payment follows on Monday, December 14. You must own shares before the ex-date, so the last day to buy is Tuesday, December 8. Confirm on Schwab’s fund page, because dates can change.
Dividend sites list SCHD’s dates as a bare table. What they rarely say is that the dates follow a fixed pattern, and that once you see it you can work out the last day to buy for any quarter in advance.
SCHD's ex-dividend dates, last eight and next
These come from the distribution table on Schwab Asset Management’s own SCHD page, plus the scheduled December date.
| Distribution | Ex-dividend date | Record date | Payable date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | Wed 9 Dec 2026 scheduled | Wed 9 Dec 2026 | Mon 14 Dec 2026 | Not yet declared amount not set |
| September 2026 | Wed 23 Sep 2026 | Wed 23 Sep 2026 | Mon 28 Sep 2026 | Paid |
| June 2026 | Wed 24 Jun 2026 | Wed 24 Jun 2026 | Mon 29 Jun 2026 | Paid |
| March 2026 | Wed 25 Mar 2026 | Wed 25 Mar 2026 | Mon 30 Mar 2026 | Paid |
| December 2025 | Wed 10 Dec 2025 | Wed 10 Dec 2025 | Mon 15 Dec 2025 | Paid |
| September 2025 | Wed 24 Sep 2025 | Wed 24 Sep 2025 | Mon 29 Sep 2025 | Paid |
| June 2025 | Wed 25 Jun 2025 | Wed 25 Jun 2025 | Mon 30 Jun 2025 | Paid |
| March 2025 | Wed 26 Mar 2025 | Wed 26 Mar 2025 | Mon 31 Mar 2025 | Paid |
| December 2024 | Wed 11 Dec 2024 | Wed 11 Dec 2024 | Mon 16 Dec 2024 | Paid |
Source: Schwab Asset Management SCHD distribution table (past rows). The December 2026 row is the scheduled date reported by third party trackers citing Schwab. Schwab’s own 2026 schedule could not be opened, so confirm before trading.
Look down the columns. In all eight past rows the ex-dividend date and the record date are the same day, the ex-date is a Wednesday, and the payable date is the following Monday, three business days later. The December 2026 date fits the same pattern, which is a second reason to trust it.
The other pattern is easy to miss. The March, June and September dates land between the 23rd and 26th of the month, but December comes earlier, on the 10th in 2025 and the 11th in 2024. Anyone who expects a late December ex-date will miss it.
The last day to buy, worked out
To receive a dividend you must own the shares before the ex-dividend date. Buy on the ex-date itself and the seller keeps the payment. For SCHD the ex-date is a Wednesday, so the last day to buy is the Tuesday before it.
| Date | What it is | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 8 Dec 2026 | Last day to buy | Own the shares at the close of this day and you receive the dividend. |
| Wed 9 Dec 2026 | Ex-dividend date and record date | Buy today and the seller keeps this payment. Sell today and you still receive it. |
| Mon 14 Dec 2026 | Payable date | The cash is paid to everyone who owned the shares before the ex-date. |
Dates are scheduled as of 15 October 2026 and the amount is not yet declared. Check Schwab’s fund page before relying on them.
If you sell on the ex-date you still receive the dividend, because you owned the shares going into that day. The buyer does not.
Why the ex-date and record date are the same day
This is a recent change. The United States moved to one day settlement, called T+1, on 28 May 2024, and FINRA Rule 11140 now sets the ex-dividend date as the record date itself when the record date is a business day. Before that, the ex-date came one business day earlier.
SCHD’s own dates show the switch. Schwab’s 2024 distribution schedule lists the March 2024 distribution with an ex-date of 20 March and a record date of 21 March. From June 2024 onward every ex-date equals its record date. Our page on the ex-dividend date and the record date explains the rule, the weekend exception and the large special dividend case.
Why websites disagree about December
When we checked on 15 October 2026, the sites listing the next SCHD date did not agree. Two trackers showed Wednesday, December 9, with payment on Monday, December 14. At least one other listed December 10 and December 15.
December 10, 2026 is a Thursday. Every SCHD ex-date on Schwab’s own page is a Wednesday, so a Thursday ex-date would break a pattern that has held for eight straight distributions. One possible explanation is that a site carried the December 2025 date, which fell on the 10th, over into 2026.
We could not open Schwab’s own 2026 distribution schedule to settle it, so treat December 9 as scheduled, not confirmed, and check the fund page before you trade around it. Schwab’s distribution table shows no upcoming dates, and the amount is not set until the distribution is declared.
What happens to the price on the ex-date
The share price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount when the ex-date opens, so buying just before it is not free money. Planning around total income matters more than timing one date, and our SCHD dividend calculator projects that income as a range with tax applied.
Free tool
SCHD Dividend Calculator
Project SCHD dividend income with DRIP, tax applied properly, and a Roth against a taxable account, shown as a range instead of one optimistic number.
Quick answers
When is the next SCHD ex-dividend date?
Scheduled for Wednesday, December 9, 2026, with the record date the same day and payment on Monday, December 14. Check Schwab’s fund page before relying on it.
Is the SCHD ex-dividend date the same as the record date?
Yes. Since the move to T+1 settlement in May 2024, every SCHD distribution on Schwab’s page has the same ex-date and record date.
What day of the week is the SCHD ex-dividend date?
A Wednesday. All eight distributions listed on Schwab’s page, from December 2024 to September 2026, went ex on a Wednesday and were paid the following Monday.
What is the last day to buy SCHD for the dividend?
The business day before the ex-date. For a Wednesday ex-date that is Tuesday, so Tuesday, December 8 for the December 2026 distribution.
Do I get the SCHD dividend if I buy on the ex-date?
No. You have to own the shares before the ex-date. Buy on the ex-date and the seller receives the payment.
How many days after the ex-date is SCHD paid?
Three business days. The ex-date is a Wednesday and the payable date is the Monday after.
When does Schwab announce the SCHD dividend?
Schwab’s fund page does not show a declaration date. One tracker logged the September 2026 declaration on 22 September, the day before the ex-date, so expect the amount only at the last minute.
Sources and date
Checked 15 October 2026 against the distribution table on Schwab Asset Management’s SCHD page, which carries the eight ex-dates, record dates and payable dates shown above, and Schwab’s 2024 equity ETF distribution schedule for the March 2024 dates. The rule that sets the ex-date is FINRA Rule 11140. The December 9 date comes from two third party trackers that cite Schwab’s schedule, and we could not open that schedule directly, which is why it is labelled scheduled. The declaration date is from a single third party report. Dates are subject to change. This page is general information, not investment advice.
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