pay dividends

Meaning

To yield great benefits or advantages in the future as a result of an effort, investment, or action made now. While it originates from financial terminology, it is widely used in everyday life to describe the long-term rewards of hard work, good habits, or learning.

Examples

• Exercising daily will pay dividends for your health in the long run.

  Exercising daily will pay dividends for your health in the long run.

• All those extra hours of studying are finally paying dividends.

  All those extra hours of studying are finally paying dividends.

• Investing in high-quality tools now will pay dividends later.

  Investing in high-quality tools now will pay dividends later.

• Learning a second language early in life pays rich dividends.

  Learning a second language early in life pays rich dividends.

• Her patience with the new interns is starting to pay dividends.

  Her patience with the new interns is starting to pay dividends.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ My hard work paid a dividend.

  ✓ My hard work paid dividends.

  The idiom is almost always plural ('dividends'), reflecting multiple ongoing benefits.

• ✗ This course will pay dividends to my career.

  ✓ This course will pay dividends for my career.

  Use 'pay dividends for [something]' or 'pay dividends in [some area]' rather than 'to'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Eating healthy and sleeping well will ___ as you get older.

  💡 Bring great benefits in the future.

  Show answer

  pay dividends

• Our focus on customer service is finally starting to ___.

  💡 Yield positive results.

  Show answer

  pay dividends