The Easy Way to Build a "Retirement Portfolio"

The recipe: quality dividend growers, high-dividend defensives, and... ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to Behind the Markets. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please unsubscribe here. Prefer to view this content on our website? Click here. Five ETFs That Can Provide a Reliable Retirement Paycheck After decades of saving and compounding, retirement investing becomes less about chasing maximum returns and more about turning a portfolio into a repeatable cash-flow system. That shift introduces a few real-world constraints: Market swings can force untimely sales if cash flow depends on liquidation. Inflation can quietly shrink purchasing power if income doesn't grow over time. Sequence-of-returns risk can do damage early in retirement when withdrawals collide with drawdowns. Income-focused ETFs can help address those constraints by emphasizing dividends, defensive factor screens, and—more recently—option-premium strategies that seek to convert volatility into distributable cash flow. None of these tools are risk-free, and distributions are never guaranteed. But a diversified income mix can reduce the portfolio's dependence on perfect timing. Below are five ETFs that can serve as "paycheck" candidates—each with a different income engine and risk profile. 1) Quality dividend growers at a low cost ETF: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SYM: SCHD) - Quality-focused U.S. dividend equity exposure, screened for dividend consistency and fundamentals. SCHD is often treated as a core building block for retirement income because it blends dividend yield and dividend quality—not simply the highest yield available. The fund tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and has a low stated expense ratio of 0.06%. Recent yield figures vary depending on calculation method (SEC yield vs. trailing yield vs. forward-looking distribution rate), but current market data has placed SCHD's yield in the mid-3% range. Why it can fit retirement income Emphasis on established dividend payers rather than speculative yield Low fee drag supports long-run compounding Quarterly distributions can pair well with a "cash bucket" approach Primary risk Equity risk still applies; dividend growers can decline during broad market drawdowns. RAD Intel Guess Less. Win More. Marketing moves faster than ever. Winning hasn't gotten easier -- it's just gotten louder. RAD Intel helps brands and agencies understand what's likely to work before they spend a dollar, turning guesswork into repeatable outcomes. The platform now supports recurring seven-figure Fortune 1000 contracts and has grown rapidly year over year. As demand expanded, RAD adopted a holding company structure designed to keep execution focused while multiple businesses scale on the same AI foundation. $60M+ raised. 15,000+ investors, backed by Fidelity funds and venture investors, selected by the Adobe Design Fund, and joined by early operators from Google, Meta, and Amazon. NASDAQ ticker reserved: $RADI. Invest at $0.85 per share before the price changes March 12. DISCLOSURE: This is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel's Reg A+ offering and involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.radintel.ai. 2) High dividend + low volatility screen (a classic "defensive tilt") ETF: Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SYM: SPHD) - High-dividend S&P 500 exposure filtered for lower realized volatility; typically defensive-sector heavy. SPHD targets two things retirees often want simultaneously: income and smoother price behavior. The strategy is rules-based and is designed to select higher dividend payers while avoiding the most volatile names within the S&P 500 universe. Recent dividend-yield estimates have hovered around ~4%. A simple illustration shows why SPHD-style yields get attention: a $400,000 allocation at a 4% distribution rate equates to roughly $16,000/year, or about $1,333/month. That's a math example—not a promise—and monthly distributions can change based on market conditions and fund payouts. Why it can fit retirement income Defensive factor tilt can help in choppy markets Monthly distribution cadence can support predictable budgeting Primary risk Sector concentration can creep in (often utilities, staples, REIT-like exposure), creating regime risk if rates rise or defensives underperform. 3) Monthly "premium income" from an options overlay (broad equity) ETF: JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (SYM: JEPI) - Large-cap equity portfolio paired with an options-premium strategy, designed to generate monthly income. JEPI has become a mainstream retirement-income tool because it doesn't rely solely on dividends. It seeks to generate income from a combination of stock dividends and option premiums (via equity-linked notes), with the goal of delivering a monthly income stream. Multiple sources list JEPI's expense ratio at 0.35%, and recent yield estimates have generally fallen in the high-single-digit range—though the exact figure can swing based on volatility, distributions, and NAV. Why it can fit retirement income Option premium can help support distributions when markets chop sideways Monthly payouts align well with retirement cash-flow needs Can reduce reliance on selling shares in weak tape Primary risk Covered-call style income can cap upside in strong bull runs, and distributions can vary month to month. Trade Algo Activate your "Dark Pool" SMS alerts Elon Musk dropped a bombshell. A massive "Space Data Center" for SpaceX. The media went into a frenzy. Almost immediately, the usual suspects (Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace) started to surge. Retail investors are piling in. They are chasing the headlines. They are buying the hype. And they walked right into a trap. These stocks plunged after the WSJ published an article on Dec. 10 about Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's race to bring data centers into space. The real money isn't made by following the herd on CNBC. Traders need an edge – namely, signals that show themselves before they reveal themselves in the public. One way is by watching the "Shadow Market." Click here to enter your phone number and start receiving free Dark Pool SMS alerts. 4) Monthly "premium income" with a Nasdaq tilt (higher income potential, higher tech exposure) ETF: JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (SYM: JEPQ) - Nasdaq-100-leaning equity exposure paired with an options-premium approach, aiming for monthly income. JEPQ is similar in concept to JEPI but leans toward Nasdaq-100 constituents for the equity sleeve. It also uses equity-linked notes tied to the benchmark to generate option premium. Recent market data has shown yields around ~10% at times, with an expense ratio listed at 0.35%. (Yield is variable and can change quickly.) Why it can fit retirement income Higher option premium potential often translates into higher distribution potential Exposure to large-cap growth can support total-return resilience in certain regimes Primary risk More sensitivity to tech and growth factor rotations; upside can still be capped by the options overlay. 5) Traditional high dividend core exposure (no options mechanics) ETF: iShares Core High Dividend ETF (SYM: HDV) - High dividend U.S. equities screened for financial health; quarterly distributions. HDV is a more traditional dividend solution—focused on established U.S. companies with relatively high dividends. iShares lists the fund's expense ratio at 0.08% and distribution frequency as quarterly. HDV can be useful as the "plain vanilla" complement to premium-income funds: no options overlay, no engineered income—just high dividend exposure. Why it can fit retirement income Lower fee structure than many option-income funds No call-writing cap on upside Often skewed toward mature cash-flow sectors (which can help in risk-off regimes) Primary risk High-dividend portfolios can become sector-heavy (energy, defensives) and may lag in growth-led markets. How to think about mixing these funds A practical retirement-income framework often blends dividend durability with premium income: Core dividend quality: SCHD + HDV for diversified dividend exposure and lower fees Defensive monthly cash flow: SPHD for a high-dividend/low-vol screen and monthly cadence Income "accelerators": JEPI + JEPQ for option-premium-driven distributions The goal isn't to maximize headline yield. The goal is to reduce the probability of being forced to sell assets at the wrong time while maintaining a portfolio that can still grow over multi-year horizons. 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Our mailing address is: Behind the Markets, LLC 4260 NW 1st Avenue, Suite 55 Boca Raton, FL 33431 Copyright © 2024 Behind the Markets, LLC, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email as part of your subscription to Behind the Markets. For more information about our privacy practices, please review our Privacy Policy or our Legal Notices. We are issuing this disclosure in compliance with Section 17(b) of the Securities Act, which requires us to disclose any compensation received or expected to be received in cash or in kind in connection with the purchase or sale of any security. We would like to inform you that this is a paid advertisement for RAD Intel's Reg A offering and we have received or expect to receive compensation in connection with the disbursing this communication for RAD Intel. The compensation consists of up to $500 and was received/will be received from Investing Media Solutions. 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