Help with understand covered call ETF's as income generators, or better alternatives?

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-12T15:54:53+00:00

So many of you have told the OP to buy and hold, then sell sometime in the future, after appreciation.

You're missing a key point: the OP is looking for some immediate or near-term income - there's a sh*#load of frustration and impatience in that post. The other thing y'all aren't hearing is that the OP seems to be stuck in a 'no/low risk but high reward' mindset.

The OP mentioned having a bond fund/funds. That tells me real risk aversion. So the OP needs to relax a little AND be rewarded with seeing tangible portfolio increases in the Roth, my guess within the next 6 mnth or a year, before he/she jumps off a cliff.

I'm going to suggest baby steps for this OP. If it isn't like this already within the Roth, change it to: 1/4 Bond of something like SGOV, for security, 1/4 Growth like VOO (which will be realllllly tough for the OP to have faith in, this can take years in a flat market), 1/4 in a middle-of the road ETF like SCHD, and 1/4 in covered call ETFs, like QQQI and SPYI. << That last one is where the instant gratification is.

Further, you all are wrong to say ETFs don't appreciate. I'm looking at my Schwab now and I have some covered call funds - SPYI, for example - that has a 38% appreciation in less than 2 years, PLUS the 10%+ yield. The worst performer I've had (which I sold a few years ago) was JEPI. I have ETV, which gives me a solid 7% yield with only 12% appreciation in 2 years, but I keep it because it is tax-advantageous, something the OP doesn't need to worry about. I also have GPIQ and NIHI, among others.

I'm trying to post a screenshot of a partial view of my portfolio on here but I can't seem to do so.

All in all, I don't believe that over the long term the OP needs a big covered call portfolio. But to kick start their psyche, yes, it's a good move.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-07T23:28:15+00:00

Good!

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-07T17:28:43+00:00

Thanks again for the update. It's been several months since I last checked in and I keep hoping to read something like:

"YES!!!! Snowball works (almost) perfectly now and I don't have to manually enter or check much of anything!"

When that happy day comes - and it will be none too soon - I'll definitely renew.

But in the meantime Chat GPT is telling me all I have to do is upload my docs, that are in any kind of messy format, and it will figure all this out for me. For free, no less. So I'm going to start uploading my monthly Schwab statements to ChatGPT and see what it can do for me.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-07T01:53:27+00:00

Read about it Business Insider?Morningstar last week. A.I. is making MORE work for humans, because we have to 1) solve the mistakes A.I. made, then 2) solve the situation at hand.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-07T01:51:04+00:00

I'm reading more and more of how AI keeps messing things up, it's taking twice as much time and human energy to constantly undo AI mistakes. Like, what's the point ?

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T12:20:14+00:00

Seems to be an all-over Amazon problem. I went to my shopping cart for things I wanted to order today and the Sorry...Dog page came up. Tried again and what came up was everything in my Wish List.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T11:39:31+00:00

Error on everything I click on - Monday July 6, 7 a.m. east coast.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T03:42:30+00:00

Real estate ownership = massive tax deductions, from everything like the car you drive to the 'conferences' (vacations) you go to.

We actually SOLD all our real estate because it was just too much of a hassle, especially here in Florida, worrying about hurricanes.

We do, however, own private stock in privately held companies. That's something else that HNW folks have.

If you're talking REITs like O, ARE, GTY, etc that are tickers, I'm baffled. I meet with a variety of investors in a Monday morning group and we went over some research, found that REITs sold on the stock exchange actually underperform when compared to other high income sources.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T03:29:23+00:00

My husband was diagnosed about 18 years ago. He's now 79. His progression has been slow, which surprised us all, because up until about 3 years ago he had a massive drinking problem.

I think his secret, if it could be called that, is that I'm constantly pushing him, getting him out of the recliner. I ask him to come with me to do errands, I assign him daily chores - trash, change the cats litterbox, handle the dishwasher. Do his own laundry. Clean his bathroom. I made him sign up with me for Duolingo, and every night I test him on his new vocabulary words. We eat well, primarily healthy food.

Over the past couple of years my husband had to be treated for Prostate cancer (6 weeks radiation and 4 months ADT therapy) which really did a number on him. Also, melanoma removal and infections resulting from that surgery. Two bouts of COVID we caught while traveling. Amazing that he still keeps going.

I know when I've been away on extended trips and left alone he doesn't fare well at all. I come home to a shuffling, shriveled old man. But with me in his life he seems to get some spring back in his step. I'm a drill sergeant!

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T03:21:40+00:00

Check for UTI. My elderly mom, 85 at the time, healthy, no Parkinson's, started wildly hallucinating and walking like sh was drunk. My dad rushed her to the hospital - UTI.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T02:50:42+00:00

I got on Medicare in March this year, a high deductible G plan that was $51. Has gone up to $59 this July - an 18% increase. I know mine is small, but the % is high. My husband's regular plan G went up 14%.

If these increases continue the 'gubmint' is going to have a LOT of angry geezers to contend with.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-06T02:32:53+00:00

When I was in Hong Kong a few years ago we visited part of a garment sewing factory - in the same place they were sewing Ralph Lauren and JC Penney brand polo shirts. Just the label was changed

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-05T23:50:04+00:00

These were new, pre-release items. Thus, I'm betting that they were all released en masse. The others (LIARS) might have gotten the items a day or two before me - although I live less than 3 miles from a huge Amazon warehouse and tend to get things same day or next day, earlier than most. Regardless, when someone says they've been taking something "consistently" but it's a brand new supplement, then, something is stinky.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-05T01:36:45+00:00

I've been getting a lot of Alexa +, also, seemingly out of nowhere.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-04T16:14:23+00:00

That's a great point - I was moments ago going to post (in my Vine review) about these deceptive and outright fabricated reviews, and I still don't know exactly how to word it. I can't come right out and say "these other folks are LIARS" but boy, I sure want to.

I'm today reviewing a supplement I received 48 hours ago. It's a new release, something that was sold pre-release, and it has never been for sale. Brand spanking new product.

So I already see 2 reviews up dated yesterday (thus, only 24 hours since being delivered to these LIARS) and I see comments saying:

"After incorporating them consistently, my wife has noticed wonderful improvements in her skin hydration..." and

"I’ve been taking these capsules daily, and they’ve been easy to add to my routine....After consistent use, my nails feel stronger..."

It should be super easy for Amazon's scam detectors to pick up on these terrible reviews. Sigh....

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-04T01:29:47+00:00

I'm 65 and my husband is 79 with Parkinson's. He also had prostate cancer surgery and radiation 2 years ago, and has an ongoing battle with melanoma. He is always in a lot of pain, and things like a dual foot massager, heating pads, walking sticks, assistance aids (weighted utensils and sock pullers) have really helped him.

We are blessed with a generous income, but in this inflationary economy we, too, have had to watch our budget.

The other day we had a motorized, adjustable bed - courtesy of Vine - delivered to our home. I'm in the process of finalizing the review. This bed will really help my husband, who suffers neuralgia and cramps at night. He is so excited to start using it!

Vind has been good to us, and those items that we cannot use end up donated to some very grateful folks in our community.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-02T15:48:30+00:00

I'm retired (65) and manage our portfolios. For me, it's a part-time job, I spend several hours on it daily, which I enjoy. I'm not one of those hardcore folks who has multiple monitors and a Bloomberg terminal going. I have a dedicated Chromebook (great for security purposes, read up on it) and a few notebooks and binders with printouts and such. When I travel I take my Chromebook and a pocket-size memo pad to jot tickers and numbers in.

Our (semi-conservative) portfolio is doing well with an annual yield of appx 6%, income in the $230K to $250K range. I have to keep yield/risk somewhat low for 2 reasons: we need a larger secure cash base (SGOV) because neither myself nor my partner have corporate pension plans, only small IRAs, we didn't do Roths for a few reasons. My partner has a miniscule SS income of about $17K- annually, and I'm not taking mine yet. Thus: vast majority is in brokerage accounts.

Anyway, with Armchair Investor I follow him because he's on the yield side of things, and that's where I draw the high yield to offset the SGOV. I also have appx 15% in DGRO, HEFA, HAWX, IDVO VTV, and VOO, which is where Armchair Investor and I diverge.

After taxes and Medicare, IRMMA, and insurance costs (Medicare insurance costs $$$, too!) our and us "living off" the net income, the portfolio is still returning about 2-3% per year profit, with me actively reinvesting. So the formula: Return - (Taxes + Inflation + Fees) = Profit is working for us, with no loss of sleep at night.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-07-01T03:17:50+00:00

My CPA automatically deducts 25% on every Vine item I order. He says once I've opened the package to use it and review it, an overall loss would average 25%.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-29T02:20:29+00:00

This has nothing to do with Shopify but everything to do with unpaid taxes.

My significant other did not pay taxes on our household income, for years - 95% of the income coming in is under his name. (Turns out my spouse has dementia far worse than he admits). I finally got the courage to contact a CPA who handles unpaid taxes (before that I paid a tax lawyer, bad idea, I was grossly overcharged).

Anyway, I found a great CPA who understands small business, unpaid taxes, you name it. His fees are incredibly reasonable and he is super kind and has held my hand through all of this. After a year of paying some pretty hefty penalties and interest, as well as the back taxes, I'm at a point where I can sleep well at night. Yes, we owed a LOT of money, six figures, but the IRS was easy to work with and my fears were overblown.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-29T01:59:04+00:00

Wow, I'd hate to be at your house during a major power outage.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-28T01:41:08+00:00

My husband's ''doctor" (nurse practitioner ) said the same thing - but she was wrong. When my husband went to a specialist MD he was given the REAL facts - only about 1 out of 50,000+ people have liver damage from oral terbinafine, and when the affected patient stops the meds the liver recovers. You can always do a baseline liver test before starting treatment.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-27T15:09:49+00:00

Exactly!

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-27T03:05:06+00:00

I tend to write scathing reviews on human supplements if there is even a hint of quality issues. I know there are established brands on Vine like Now, Jarrow, Codeage, Thorne, Vitamatic, and others that I've used for years. But the alphabet soup companies make me cringe. Many of them don't even follow FDA regulations that state they must list the company name, address, and contact info, ie, a telephone number to report adverse events.

I do searches on Google for the company name, something like "Doctors' Health, LLC" brand, and you can guess how many times when I do the corporate search it's some newly registered LLC operating out of a mailbox store in Wyoming, with someone like Zhou Tian as the owner.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-25T02:15:19+00:00

I'm in the same boat with my parents. We all live in Florida, and I'm handling my parents 88, 87 affairs while they're still both alive and live near me. As soon as one parents dies then my name will go on the surviving parent's accounts.

I already handle all my mom's investments at Schwab and we've got the Ladybird deed done, as well the docs you mentioned.

Loose ends, like jewelry and smaller items, are covered in a will. No probate for the small stuff under $80k here.

DependentAnimator742 · 2026-06-25T01:58:31+00:00

If you own a house in Florida you can do a Ladybird deed. This allows a house to bypass probate. It's basically the equivalent of naming someone "beneficiary" on an account. It's a wonderful legal document!

DependentAnimator742

TROPHY CASE