It’s never too late to begin buying ASX shares to build a wealthier retirement.

With that said, the earlier you start, the sooner you can tap into the magic of compounding.

So, if you’re 30 years and don’t have any real savings to fall back on yet, don’t panic. You have plenty of time to build that retirement nest egg well beyond your superannuation balance.

How much do I need to invest in ASX shares for $1 million at retirement?

Let’s assume you’d like to retire a little early. Say at 65 years of age rather than the more customary 67 years.

In that case you’ve got 35 years to gradually build up your ASX share portfolio to the magic $1 million figure.

But to do so, you will need to start saving some money each month and investing in quality ASX stocks or exchange traded funds (ETFs).

There’s no way around it.

But you may be surprised by the modest amount it will take to reach your $1 million retirement mark, provided you start soon.

Let’s take the S&P/ASX 200 Gross Total Return Index (ASX: XJT) – which includes all cash dividends reinvested on the ex-dividend date – as our benchmark for the types of returns you might expect.

Over the past five years, the ASX 200 total return index has gained 45%. That equates to 7.7% annual gains, compounded.

Now if you invest just $500 in ASX shares every month, or only $6,000 a year, at a 7.7% annual return you’ll have:

• $91,305 in 10 years
• $288,090 in 20 years
• $708,326 in 30 years
• $1,072,204 in 35 years

So, if you just turned 30 and start investing $500 each month now, you should achieve your $1 million mark sometime before your 65^th birthday party.

And if you do decide to work the extra two years to the standard 67 year old retirement age, and you keep buying $500 worth of ASX shares every month, you could kick back with an extra $1,264,195.

One ASX ETF to consider today

Rather than trying to build a well-diversified ASX share portfolio from day one, you may want to look into the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS).

This low-cost, diversified, exchange traded fund aims to track the ASX 300 Index, which holds the top 300 ASX shares by market cap.

And this ASX ETF has just edged out the 7.7% annualised gains figure we used above, returning 7.8% five-year annualised gains.

The fund’s top four holdings are BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares.

The post No savings at 30? Here’s how I’d aim to retire early with $1 million buying ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How much do I need in my superannuation to earn $200 a day in passive income?
• Looking for income for life? These are the ASX shares I’d consider
• These are the 10 richest people in the world in September
• ASX 200 bank shares led a financial sector rebound last week
• These are the most popular ASX ETFs. Which has performed best over the last year?

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Following the stellar rebound from the June multi-year share price lows, the upcoming CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) dividend is icing on the cake.

In late afternoon trade on Friday, CSL shares were trading for $175.68 apiece. That sees shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) biotech giant up a an eye-popping 90.5% since the stock closed at $92.24 a share on 3 June.

For some context, the ASX 200 has gained 2.5% over this same period.

Talk about outperformance!

But we were talking about the CSL dividend.

The clock is running on the final CSL dividend

CSL reported its full year FY 2026 results on 18 August.

And investors couldn’t have responded more enthusiastically. By the end of the trading day, CSL shares closed up 17.3%.

As for the CSL dividend, management declared an unfranked dividend of $2.277 a share.

Now that’s 7.1% below the FY 2025 final dividend payout. But from a yield perspective, it’s important to remember that, despite the recent supercharged rally, the CSL share price is still down around 17% from this time last year.

Now the stock trades ex-dividend on Wednesday, 9 September. So if you want to bank the upcoming CSL dividend, you’ll need to own shares at market close tomorrow, 8 September.

You can then expect to see that passive income hit your bank account on 2 October.

At the recent share price, this equates to a yield of 1.3%.

Adding in the interim dividend of $1.81 a share, CSL stock trades on an unfranked dividend yield (partly trailing, partly pending) of 2.3%.

Why did the ASX 200 healthcare stock soar on its results?

The big one-day gains posted by the ASX 200 stock following its FY 2026 results release wasn’t driven so much by the past year’s performance, of the final CSL dividend, but by a brighter outlook.

“FY26 has been a year of reset. We have taken decisive action and created a clear path to return to sustainable growth,” CSL interim CEO Gordon Naylor said on the day.

Looking to FY 2027, CSL expects to achieve steady revenue, with underlying NPAT forecast to grow by around 5%.

Are CSL shares still a good buy after surging 90%?

Morgans’ Damien Nguyen recently analysed the outlook for the resurgent ASX 200 biotech stock. And he believes it can keep outperforming (courtesy of The Bull) in FY 2027.

He noted:

CSL is a global healthcare leader with strong competitive advantages across plasma therapies, vaccines and specialty medicines. Demand for its products remain largely independent of economic conditions.

Summarising his buy recommendation, which bodes well for future CSL dividends, he concluded:

In our view, the latest full year result in 2026 is generating confidence that repeated earnings downgrades are behind CSL.

With defensive earnings, global market leadership and attractive long term growth prospects, we view CSL as an appealing investment opportunity.

The post Looking to bank the upcoming CSL dividend? You better hurry! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top 3 ASX healthcare shares to buy after a brutal year
• Top 3 ASX shares I’d buy with $5000 right now
• 40 ASX shares with ex-dividend dates next week
• ASX shares investors are getting younger and trading more often: CBA report
• 11 ASX 200 shares with reaffirmed buy ratings post-results

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX All Ords Index (ASX: XAO) mining shares typically reward investors with generous dividend payout ratios.

The dividend payout ratio is the percentage of a miner’s earnings paid out to shareholders as dividends. 

Most miners target a percentage range, or a minimum or maximum payout ratio, as part of their standing dividend policy.

For example, the market’s largest miner, BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), pays a minimum 50% of underlying attributable profit as dividends at each reporting period.

This earnings season, BHP declared a final dividend of 99 US cents for FY26, which equated to a 72% payout ratio.

Many ASX mining shares are paying boosted dividends this season because of higher earnings due to stronger commodity prices.

The final BHP dividend for FY26 was 65% higher than the final dividend for FY25, and the largest final dividend in four years.

BHP shares went ex-dividend last week, along with Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) and Newmont Corporation CDI (ASX: NEM) shares.

This week, nine ASX mining shares go ex-dividend. Among them is Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR), which benefited from an 18% increase in the copper price in FY26.

The higher copper price helped enable the miner to declare its first dividend since 2022.

Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) benefitted from a 278% surge in the lithium spodumene price and a 7% lift in the iron ore price.

The miner resumed dividends this season after a two-year break.

Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) and other ASX gold miners benefitted from an 18% rise in the gold price.

Genesis Minerals is paying its maiden dividend this season.

ASX mining shares going ex-dividend this week

Remember, in order to receive a dividend, you must buy (or already own) the ASX mining share before its ex-dividend date.

ASX share	Ex-div date	Dividend	Payday
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX: ALK)	Today	1 cents per share	1 October
Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU)	Today	9 cents per share	7 October
Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN)	8 September	83 cents per share	30 September
Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)	9 September	21 cents per share	2 October
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)	9 September	30 cents per share	15 October
Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD)	9 September	5 cents per share	5 October
IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)	9 September	5 cents per share	30 September
Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL)	10 September	20 cents per share	7 October
Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)	10 September	35 cents per share	30 September

These ASX mining shares are among 40 stocks going ex-dividend this week.

The post 9 ASX mining shares going ex-dividend this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 9 ASX shares downgraded by experts post-results this week
• 8 ASX shares upgraded by the professionals post-results this week
• What’s driving the ASX 200 higher today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 40 ASX shares with ex-dividend dates next week

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.