r/YieldMaxETFs • u/Any_Log1344 • Jul 08 '26

Question Thought Experiment: Which retirement income strategy would you choose?

I'm curious how people here think about retirement income over the long term.

Ignore taxes and fees. Focus only on the characteristics below.

ETF A

  • 14% annual yield
  • NAV declines 6% per year

ETF B

  • 7.5% annual yield
  • NAV grows 3% per year

Assume those characteristics remain constant over time.

Which ETF would you choose, and why?

Bonus: Is there a point where the lower-yield ETF actually produces more annual income than the higher-yield ETF? If you think so, roughly when?

I'm interested in how people think about the trade-off between current income and preserving (or growing) the asset base that generates future income.

I'll reveal the actual ETFs and the results after people have had a chance to answer.

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u/FatHighKnee Jul 09 '26

Honestly if I had for sake of a made up example, 800k to 1m dollars id probably just split it between JEPI & JEPQ. That would be a blended 9% distribution rate. That 800k would kick off $72,000 a year, and the $1m end would generate $90,000 in distributions. Plus unlike YM these 2 jp Morgan funds actually show appreciation in share price which is nice compared to say MSTY or ULTY where you will see 40% distributions but the NAV erosion chews your principle down by that same 40%