Redditor In Late 50s Who Earns $15,000 in Dividends Annually Shares His Portfolio: Top 5 ETFs And Stock Ideas

Reddit has a thriving community of dividend and income investors eager to share their experiences and learn from each other. About a year ago, someone ran a poll on the r/Dividends subreddit (with close to 570,000 members) to find out how much people were earning in dividends.

A dividend investor responded to the poll by sharing his portfolio and experience. He is in his late 50s and plans to retire in about 12 years. He claimed he made about $15,000 in dividend income per year. 

While the dividend investor shared his portfolio, he did warn investors, especially those who still have a lot of time before retirement, about the caveats of dividend investing.

"In the long run, over a period of decades, you will always make more money investing in an S&P 500 fund or a total stock market fund – VOO and VTI. So, if you’re younger than 50, don’t do what I do."

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Let's take a look at this Redditor's dividend portfolio.

The ETFs and stocks mentioned in the article are purely for informational purposes and are based on a detailed income report shared by an investor on Reddit. These are not recommendations or investing advice. 

Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF

Invested Capital: $54,000

Dividend Income: $6,500

Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF QYLD is a notable ETF that earns money by selling covered call options on the Nasdaq-100 Index. The fund was started in 2013 and has since paid monthly income to investors. The fund yields about 12%. Some of the top holdings of the ETF are Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Broadcom.

The Redditor who shared his portfolio claimed he invested about $54,000 in the ETF and earned roughly $6,500 annually. However, he said investing in the ETF was a "small mistake" and that he was waiting for QYLD to get back to $19 so he could sell. That was one year ago. Over the past 12 months, QYLD has been up just about 3.4% and is trading at $17.85 as of August 19.

JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF 

Invested Capital: $76,000

Dividend Income: $7,800

The Redditor who shared his portfolio details said he invested about $76,000 in JEPI and earned close to $7,800 per year. JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF JEPI makes money by investing in some of the most notable large-cap U.S. stocks and selling call options. JEPI is ideal for those looking for exposure to defensive stocks. JEPI usually underperforms during bull markets and protects investors against huge losses during bear markets since most of its portfolio consists of large, defensive equities like Trane Technologies PLC TT, Southern Co SO, Progressive Corp PGR, among many others.

 The fund pays a monthly dividend and yields about 7%.

JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF

JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF JEPQ is another high-yield covered call ETF that distributes monthly dividend income. The ETF invests in Nasdaq companies and generates extra income by selling call options. As of Aug. 19, JEPQ yields 9%. The Redditor said JEPQ accounts for a small portion of his dividend portfolio.

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Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF 

The Redditor earning $15,000 per year in dividends said he invested a small amount in SCHD but plans to add more. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and gives you exposure to some of the top dividend stocks trading in the U.S., including Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Verizon, Lockheed Martin, Pepsi, and AbbVie, among many others. Since SCHD's holdings are mostly conservative dividend payers, it's suitable for investors close to retirement looking for consistent dividend income.

Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF

Invested Capital: Not Disclosed

Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF DIVO is an income ETF that invests in companies with strong dividend growth records and sells covered calls to generate monthly income for investors. Some of the top holdings of the ETF include UnitedHealth, JPMorgan, Caterpillar, Home Depot and Procter & Gamble. The ETF has over $3.4 billion in assets and has gained much popularity on Reddit. A Redditor did some backtesting in November 2022 and found that a $10,000 investment in the ETF at its inception in 2016 would have increased to $19,970 vs $19,614 for SPY with dividends reinvested. This return is solid since DIVO provides downside protection and monthly income during market downturns. As of Aug. 19, the ETF yields about 4.5%.

REITs, BDCs and Canadian Dividend Stocks

Invested Capital: $7,000

Dividend Income: Not Disclosed

The Redditor said he has invested about $7,000 in REITs, business development companies (BDCs) and Canadian dividend stocks and plans to keep adding to them.

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