Quit Your Job, Live Off an ETF?

What if an exchange-traded fund could help you quit your job and travel the world? Self-described “dividend nomads” are trying to do just that, using derivative-income ETFs to generate the cash they need to live abroad. The funds can offer eye-popping yields — sometimes well into the double digits — and the category has recently exploded in popularity. But generating that much income comes with tradeoffs, and making the nomad math work can be more complicated than it looks.

On this episode of Trillions, Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber are joined by Bloomberg Money’s personal investing reporter Zijia Song and financial adviser Mark Moberg of Green Ocean Global Advisors. They discuss the rise of derivative-income ETFs and some of the people using them, whom Song recently documented in her story “The ‘Dividend Nomads’ Investing Their Way Out of the 9-to-5.” They explain how funds such as the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) and YieldMax COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (CONY) generate their payouts, what investors may sacrifice in exchange for all that income, and the risks of building a lifestyle around them. They also wrestle with a bigger question: How much future financial security is worth trading for the freedom to live a little more now?

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