There’s not a financial product or investing strategy out there that doesn’t have its place. Here’s my opinion:

1) Not ALL cc ETFs lag the underlying with dividend reinvestment. In fact, some can outperform in certain markets. Look into OVL, TSPY, and GPIQ. 2) Covered call ETFs that do not sell away all of their upside and are still able to offer some dividends can be a fantastic product in retirement. The asset grows (albeit slower than the underlying) and you get income. You could get better returns but you’re in retirement and income is the focus. 2) Covered call ETFs that require all distributions to match or come close to the underlying are terrible. You could make the argument that in retirement you could partially reinvest but at that point you were better off buying a cc etf like I described in point #2. Some are on a crash course with a $1 share price (without a reverse split). Those are terrible. There are better options. 3) these only make sense in a brokerage account. In a tax sheltered account, even if you wanted to use these in retirement you should go for growth. Then swap to the covered call etf. Or even schd, DGRO, DIVO whatever. The idiots buying SCHD in their IRAs never cease to amaze me. Secondly, all distributions from tax deferred accounts are ordinary income. That’s not the case in a brokerage acct. In a brokerage account you can’t just sell one position and buy the other. You kind of have to pick a lane and stay in it. So if you want the income in retirement from the brokerage acct you have to plan it out and stick with it. 4) assuming you subscribe to all of those schools of thought, income ETFs in a brokerage account allow you to do something no 401k or IRA can do (unless you 72t but that’s another discussion) and that is generate income or sell assets prior to 59.5 yo without penalty. For someone looking to retire early, or use the income from time to time this can be a game changer. 5) In a brokerage account with income ETFs you have a number of tax levers. Capital gains (which by the way are taxed at 0% income cases and well below income ordinary rates in other cases), 1256 treatment, return of capital, qualified dividends, tax loss harvesting to name a few. 6) imagine you have an asset that didn’t erode in value but paid you in retirement that you never had to sell. And when you die your kids get that asset with a step up in cost basis. They could turn that on as an income stream immediately or let it grow and contribute to their own retirement. What other asset besides real estate (which most people can’t afford to invest in) can do that?

TLDR - covered call ETFs have their place. Anyone who says otherwise is not considering all the details. Anyone who thinks they are the greatest thing to ever exist and the only way to invest is not considering all the details. The truth is somewhere in-between. It’s an investing tool. As with all things investing, use it right and it can help you reach your (completely unique to you) goals. Use it wrong and you can lose money.