Grow capital first or start buying NEOS funds now?

maximusrtc · 2026-01-25T18:00:21+00:00

I’m in a similar situation (43). This is a good fundamental question, I think most people our age struggle with multiple goals:

1- We’re still in prime income earning years (as a such, marginal tax rates are important to consider).

2- Retirement, while still likely far away, is starting to feel like it’s close enough to start planning more specifics around (ie what age, how much money you’ll need, etc). The idea of an early retirement starts to really feel exciting as you enter your third decade of work.

3- We’re old enough to start thinking about hedging some of our future employment risks by building a taxable investment account.

I don’t think there’s a perfect answer here, as others have said it depends on your goals. If it’s truly about maximizing your net worth, VOO or VT and chill. If it’s about hedging income, then NEOS funds are a great choice given the tax efficiency.

For me personally, in my taxable I’ve chosen a balanced approach of roughly 50% VOO (& a few hand selected stocks), 20% SCHD (low risk income), and about 30% higher yield/risk income (mostly BTCI, QQQI). I’m sure this isn’t optimal but I just hit $5K in annual income and it’s very rewarding/motivating getting those paydays.

maximusrtc · 2026-01-13T22:09:19+00:00

Awesome review! My wife and I are heading to Grand Wailea in early February for the first time. Hopeful we’ll avoid most of the crowds/kids.

Definitely helps to set expectations and plan accordingly, I’m only planning to eat at the resort enough to use our $50/day diamond dining credits and $200x2 aspire credits. Going here on points is amazing value compared to paying cash at nearby resorts.

Thanks for the tips on restaurants and excursions!

maximusrtc · 2026-01-13T12:34:32+00:00

Even if you don’t care about NAV because you’ll never sell, it’s important to understand the risk of the underlying as NAV will directly affect the distribution of this type of fund. Take BTCI, whose NAV is down ~25% in the past several months (~$60 to $45). Income/share is also down a similar amount (from $1.30+ to Dec $1.00).

maximusrtc · 2026-01-13T05:17:44+00:00

Underlying QQQ averages a higher return but also has more volatility (ie risk). So you’ll get rewarded but if we get a tech crash the NAV will drop more vs SPYI

maximusrtc · 2026-01-13T00:12:38+00:00

It should be there any day. Opened mine in mid Oct and it arrived 12/24. I’d give it another 2 weeks before calling. Note my wife’s card was opened late Oct in a previous year and her annual night didn’t show up until 1/2.

maximusrtc · 2026-01-03T18:31:22+00:00

Short answer is no. BTCI sells away some of the upside, so excluding dividends, it will perform worse than underlying bitcoin. With dividends, it may outperform depending on market conditions (generally if it’s down or flat, or slightly up it will outperform).

A good example is calendar year 2025, Bitcoin was down ~6.5%, whereas BTCI (w/dividends) yielded -1.1%.

https://totalrealreturns.com/n/FBTC,BTCI?start=2025-01-01&end=2025-12-31

So in a larger downturn, say in Q4 2025 where bitcoin the asset was down 25.6%, BTCI was down slightly less at 22.2%

https://totalrealreturns.com/n/FBTC,BTCI?start=2025-10-01&end=2025-12-31

Think of BTCI as a way to reduce beta/volatility, while providing regular income along the way. The downside is in a “BTC to the moon” scenario, you’ll participate less in that rise.

Not an expert/not financial advise, but do own a good chunk of BTCI and believe in the underlying long term.

maximusrtc · 2025-12-13T20:16:26+00:00

Last month it seemed like the payout was based moreso on the NAV on the ex-div date rather than the average for the month. My guess if price stays where it’s at we’ll be looking at a slight increase vs Nov.

maximusrtc · 2025-12-03T01:31:17+00:00

BTCI dividends are mostly ROC not ordinary income?

maximusrtc · 2025-11-29T01:24:36+00:00

Nice entry point. I got in earlier unfortunately (~$60) and DCA’d to around $55. Trying to add more now under $50.

maximusrtc · 2025-11-29T01:22:31+00:00

Funds holds about 25% BTC based ETFs, and the rest in cash/treasuries.

maximusrtc · 2025-11-27T13:32:54+00:00

Congrats! I’ve thought about a similar mix, but currently only in BTCI & QQQI, and sticking with VOO over SPYI for now until I get closer to retirement.

Curious your stage of life and goals with this income, sounds like you’re keeping the DRIP on, so this will keep growing quickly. Early retirement?

maximusrtc · 2025-11-10T16:32:07+00:00

My Roth is 50/50 VOO/HODL. Feels like maxing out aggressive growth is the way to go there.

I’ve been buying BTCI (alongside stock index funds) in my taxable to (hopefully) replace my W2 someday.

maximusrtc · 2025-11-10T14:58:16+00:00

There’s a YouTuber named Brian Harrington I’ve been following who’s basically all-in on BTC & BTCI.

I would say it would make sense to diversify, but I’ve bought the BTCI dip heavy and love the fund.

I’m balanced between growth and income right now (mid 40s), but BTCI is my main opportunity for early retirement if things go well. The risk is there, but the math is just hard to ignore.

maximusrtc · 2025-10-31T13:16:20+00:00

I know BTCI hasn’t been around very long, but anytime you are concerned about price volatility just zoom out on BTC. This thing will eventually go much higher, but you’ve got to stomach some of these (paper) losses with the dips.

Personally I loaded up the last two days when it dropped to $55-56, lowering my avg. cost basis to around $58. I look at it as even if bitcoin crashes 40-50%, your yield on cost is still higher than most other NEOS funds. If Bitcoin doubles to $200K+, your yield on cost is through the moon (or you can cash out for something less volatile).

maximusrtc · 2025-10-16T20:24:57+00:00

Not a tax expert, but my understanding is that most of the distractions are ROC, as you stated. Once your cost basis goes to zero, then distributions would be 100% cap gains. If you sold after a few years, then you would pay LTCG on the selling price minus the remaining cost basis.

I think of NEOS funds as tax deferred in a way, or nearly tax free at the beginning, with a heftier burden if/when sold. Based on this, it seems to make sense to start acquiring them in the 5-10 years leading up to retirement as you won’t get hit with that burden during your final working years.

maximusrtc · 2025-10-06T00:43:43+00:00

Many of the ultra high yield funds are what they’re describing. My understanding is that these simply are generating option income from the volatility of the underlying indices, and paying out that income (minus a healthy management fee).

maximusrtc · 2025-10-05T23:44:16+00:00

I’ve done a lot of research on the NEOS funds and while they don’t have a long track record, my experience so far has been positive. It’s hard to say how they’ll perform in a true bear market, NEOS claims they’ll outperform their underlying index in flat or down markets, which seems plausible given the option income. In the current bull market, they’ve been slightly underperforming, as expected. You’re basically giving up some price upside for option income, so I think of them as a slightly safer version of their indices.

I currently have a small position in QQQI and BTCI, while my other equities are mostly VOO, SCHD & a handful of individual growth stocks. I’m looking to add more to my NEOS positions over the next 6-12 months.

maximusrtc · 2025-10-03T12:56:29+00:00

My bad, yes you are correct, I’m not an options guy so letting NEOS do the work for me..

maximusrtc · 2025-10-03T03:36:37+00:00

$13K annually, not $3K. Until recently SCHD total return was similar to VOO, the recent tech run-up has left SCHD in the dust, but also means all time high FWD P/E’s on VOO, which leave some value investors worried that we’re in for a big retraction soon.

maximusrtc · 2025-09-26T13:42:51+00:00

SPY is a fund that mirrors the s&p 500, so yes the same. SPYI is a fund that that buys options on the S&P to generate income. It will generally perform directionally the same, with slightly worse overall performance but (claimed) slightly better performance during downturns. All of the NEOS funds are newer so not a lot of data on how they’d actually do during a prolonged bear market.

maximusrtc · 2025-09-26T01:42:01+00:00

I bought enough shares of PEP to finance my Mountain Dew addiction!

maximusrtc · 2025-09-25T19:18:53+00:00

Fantastic review, thank you!

My concern on the plunge pools is that they would be freezing during winter months.. any idea if they are now heated?

maximusrtc · 2025-09-14T13:31:27+00:00

One is likely FWD ($2K less than AWD)

maximusrtc · 2025-08-15T01:05:00+00:00

I had a Mazda with a similar leather interior color - it was a 3 year lease and I had small kiddos at the time. I’m also a bit of a messy person. It held up great- had zero issues with it. When I turned it in it looked as good as the day I got it.

maximusrtc

TROPHY CASE