in the US, those dividends arent qualified, so they will be taxed at your normal income tax rate, not 15%. If you're a very low wage earner, there may be no difference, but for most people, you want to be earning qualified dividends not unqualified. That means big companies that make their dividends from free cash flow from business operations. That's why people pile into dividend ETFs like SCHD, VYM, etc. nearly all the dividends are qualified so especially in a taxable account for high wage earners, buying stocks like these are considered much better than say, bonds/real estate.