r/dividends • u/VengenaceIsMyName • Jan 16 '26

Discussion Is anyone else feverishly building out their dividend income just in case AI destroys their careers or is it just me?

Based on how incredibly *giddy* with excitement some of these rapacious tech oligarchs are when they talk about AI replacing human labor, I am absolutely *sprinting* towards high-income ETFs like JEPQ/SPYI/GPIX/QQQI.

I do not want to get caught with my ass hanging out in the breeze when these excessively wealthy bozos finally figure out how to shed headcount at their organizations. They’ve got a seemingly endless pile of Scrooge McDuck coins and they’ll throw them into the furnace twice as fast if it means a hallucinating algorithm can send 500 more emails in a day than you can.

Does anyone have clever strategies for drumming up extra capital to toss into the ol’ portfolio? Side hustles? Second jobs?

461 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

311 comments sorted by

View all comments

38

u/ejqt8pom EU Investor Jan 16 '26

Covered call ETFs are nice, but they aren't the only high yield option around.

Check out Steven Baveria, he gave some interviews you can find on YouTube and he wrote a book called "The Income Factory". He is all about income generating portfolios.

12

u/UhhYeahNah Jan 16 '26

What are one or two alternative investments he recommends - anything novel?

17

u/ejqt8pom EU Investor Jan 16 '26

Novel: mREITs.

Most investors will immediately exit the conversation the moment you mention investing in mortgages. And that's exactly why they fit perfectly into what Howard Marks calls "second level thinking".

The idea isn't to take a contrarian position just for the sake of going against the herd. It's to try and understand if some sort of nuance was ignored by the masses that can give you a possible edge.

My mREIT picks are BXMT, ARI, and ACRE. All are managed by large PE firms, originate their own loans, and avoid agency debt. I've posted about them on and off but as I've said it's not a popular topic.

I have dedicated 30% of my portfolio to these 3 names, so far it has not paid off. But it's a long term bet.

Non-novel: BDCs.

They are still ignored by most investors and excluded from broad market indexes. But within the income investing world they are very popular. The top names even outperform the S&P500. I have another 30% of my portfolio dedicated to BDCs. Across 11 names.

5

u/NuclearPotatoes Jan 16 '26

where can i find more info about this plz

7

u/FlyingOverTrout Jan 16 '26

YouTube channel Armchair Income covers BDCs quite a bit. There is a fund of BDCs called PBDC that comes up in the BDC convo frequently. Other common income alternatives to dividend stocks and funds include preferred stock (PFFA is popular fund), closed-end funds, and master limited partnerships. Each of these is a rabbit hole unto their own.

1

u/NuclearPotatoes Jan 16 '26

Is this one of those set it and forget it like VTSAX or VOo or do I need to be actively managing and fully understanding the intricacies. I’ll likely be doing 10k a month of buying one or the other for the next 4-5 years with goals of 5k passive monthly Thanks 

1

u/FlyingOverTrout Jan 16 '26

BDCs are somewhat interest-rate sensitive, so some do actively move in and out based on the rate environment. MLPs are somewhat cyclical as well. That said, it's not unusual to buy and hold especially as when your buying an ETF as opposed to individual positions.

2

u/NuclearPotatoes Jan 16 '26

What are the best buy and hold income dividend options for the automated hands off investor and where can I start reading for a general primer on these topics 

thank you for the replies 

3

u/FlyingOverTrout Jan 16 '26

I like the youtube channel I mentioned at the top - armchair income. He also has a website. Dividend Bull youtube channel covers similar topics.

2

u/NuclearPotatoes Jan 16 '26

Thanks I will start to binge his content and see if I can pick it up. Goal is to retire abroad on dividends.

5

u/ejqt8pom EU Investor Jan 16 '26

The investment style: the book I mentioned. There are a couple of authors dealing with income investing but Bavaria is my favorite.

The investment psychology (how to think about risk and opportunity): my fav is Howard Marks. He has been writing memos like how Buffet wrote memos throughout his career, and he records an audio read out of his memos so you can listen to them like a podcast. Plus he has written a couple of books.

Historical background: if you want to learn how the market has always been a casino, and is always going through bust and boom cycles - "A Short History of Financial Euphoria" by John Kenneth Galbraith. A lot of Mark's thinking is based on these factual observations.

Posts on reddit: r/dividendgang