Income-ETF education
Short, plain-English explainers for income investors. The durable library behind the newsletter — how these funds actually work, where the yield comes from, and the traps the marketing skips.
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Latest Aug 15, 2026 Core Topic 78
Eleven Days From "Bloodbath" to All-Time High — Why the V Is the Worst Shape for a Covered-Call Fund
The index round-tripped to even within days. The fund writing calls on it didn't — and that gap is the strategy working exactly as designed.
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Intro
3 explainers Start here — the foundations Intro Topic 1
Covered-Call ETFs, Explained Without the Jargon
A fund holding the same kind of stocks as the S&P 500 can pay eight times the dividend. Here is where that money actually comes from, and what you give up for it.
Intro Topic 18
The Yield Trap: Why the Biggest Number Is Rarely the Best Fund
Your eye goes straight to the biggest yield. But the highest-yielding fund in a category is rarely the one that builds the most wealth, and behavioral biases are why we still click.
Intro Topic 5
Does Cadence Matter? Weekly vs. Monthly vs. Quarterly Income ETFs
Getting paid 52 times a year feels better than four. The math — and the operating model underneath these funds — says the cadence barely moves your return.
Core
16 explainers The working knowledge Core Topic 71
The Healthy-Fund Screen, All the Way to What It Actually Pays You After Tax
Sort income ETFs by what's real income rather than your own money coming back, and something awkward happens — nearly every fund gives the same answer.
Core Topic 55
Buying Yield at a Stretched Valuation: Does a Covered-Call Sleeve Actually Help?
With the Shiller CAPE near dot-com levels, a 10% covered-call yield looks like a defensive move. Here's what it actually protects — and what it doesn't.
Core Topic 40
Magic Money Tree? Stress-Testing the Weekly-Pay Funds Against Just Owning SPY
A 40% 'yield' that pays every Friday sounds unbeatable — until you measure total return against a boring index fund. The gap is where these funds quietly lose.