SCHD

micha_allemagne

That’s a solid start, especially for your age, but you’re basically double-stacking US large caps. QQQ and VOO overlap a ton, so you’re not getting real diversification, just more tech risk. SCHD adds a bit of value tilt, but you’re still 100% US. If you want “decades” of growth, throw in some international or small caps. Here’s a breakdown of your portfolio: https://www.insightfol.io/en/portfolios/report/1e2dc1debe/

Primary_Art_8351

I'm happy with a mix of VOO and SCHD.

FutureCandidate74

That would be my choice. SGOC is a great choice for that as well. But if you're under 50, and still want to be conservative, maybe go into VDC or more SCHD

tmrch

Target %: VOO: 40 % VXUS: 20 % Stocks: 15% SCHD: 10 % AVUV: 10 % VNQ: 5 % Any feedback?

MDJR20

But VTI or VOO and also SCHD. Thank me later.

RedHyena_1

Stay calm buy the dip, Santa Claus is coming to town. If your nervous buy a little bit of bonds, SCHD, or maybe a buffer etf. You'll be ok.

FutureCandidate74

I agree with this response. Always check the weight of a given stock in ETFs you own. Your real percentage of those individual tech stocks is higher. But that doesn't mean your portfolio is bad or that you should sell those stocks. Maybe direct new money into different areas. More SCHD maybe. Or a Bond ETF if you want to be conservative, maybe a consumer defensive ETF like VDC.

gatorjim5

HDV and SCHD but it's one green day in a sea of red days for these ETFs lately

drew-gen-x

I sold half my $SQQQ position today when the $QQQ hit 600. We will most certainly have a relief rally. The question is whether we will put in new ATH's. I believe we already had a blow-off top once $NVDA hit $5T market cap last week. You could also mark J-Pow not promising a December 025 bps cut as the blow-off top. I will be waiting to add to $SQQQ and once again short $NVDA once the bulls start burning their cash BTD in this Sam Altman AI bubble. If you are a long term buy and holder, DCA into $SCHD, $TLT, or $GLD. Even $RSP would be a better choice than the $SPY or $QQQ. But stay away from reddit's fave Sam Altman stocks.

Vartell

Schwab ETFs are great for you. They did a split on their ETFs so they are going for about $25 to $30. SCHV, SCHG, SCHD, SCHX. My only point is that just because a stock price looks cheap it could be really expensive for what it is.

Nibbles1348

Keep SCHD, if you want the dividends. Put the other ETFs into an all world or VOO if you want US only (an all world ETF is still 60% US)

ricdota

I’m fairly new to investing, started about 6 months ago. I’m 30, with a low-to-medium risk appetite, and looking to invest with a 15–20 year horizon in mind. After that, I plan to shift to a lower-risk profile as I approach my target retirement age. For context, I’m not based in US. I’ve invested around USD 10k so far, and plan to contribute about USD 1k monthly. My current portfolio allocation is: VOO: 30% QQQM: 20% VXUS: 20% SCHD: 10% DBS/D05: 10% BND: 5% GLDM: 5% I’m wondering if this setup is too safe as I don't have any high volatility or small cap stock? It's mostly large cap ETF and some dividend stocks. I have also received feedback that my portfolio is too risky as my 5% bond allocation and 5% gold will not save me if the AI bubble bursts. I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions for improvement. I'm happy to share more details behind my choices if you’re curious!

ricdota

I’m fairly new to investing, started about 6 months ago. I’m 30, with a low-to-medium risk appetite, and looking to invest with a 15–20 year horizon in mind. After that, I plan to shift to a lower-risk profile as I approach my target retirement age. For context, I’m not based in US. I’ve invested around USD 10k so far, and plan to contribute about USD 1k monthly. My current portfolio allocation is: VOO: 30% QQQM: 20% VXUS: 20% SCHD: 10% DBS/D05: 10% BND: 5% GLDM: 5% I’m wondering if this setup is too safe as I don't have any high volatility or small cap stock? It's mostly large cap ETF and some dividend stocks. I have also received feedback that my portfolio is too risky as my 5% bond allocation and 5% gold will not save me if the AI bubble bursts. I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions for improvement. I'm happy to share more details behind my choices if you’re curious!

Spiritual-Desk-9176

that's why I buy only SCHD these days. growth ETFs are overvalued as duck as market pricing the future gains.

Zombyte_12

Morning all I’m new to investing and plan to deposit $100 each month into my IBKR account. I’m a non-US resident so my question is: Should I just put all $100 into VOO, or split it like • $60 VOO • $20 VGT • $20 SCHD Or maybe something else ? My goal is long-term growth and I’ll gradually increase the monthly amount whenever possible.

unchainedpride

JEPI is interesting but SCHD may be better for me to invest in since I am only 27 right now. Long term SCHD would be the better play.

Ok-Wolverine-4223

Save yourself and buy SCHD!!! Go all in!

alone-in-the-chat

my defensive UNH and SCHD are killing me..

No-Afternoon-4528

What are the plans for the cashed out 3.1 mil? Conservative cash position like SGOV, or less aggressive yet dividend generating positions like SCHD? Or something else? Just looking for inspiration ~

CompetitionCurrent77

what did you buy? I bought shet load of SCHD, I am down 10% soooo.

EmpathyFabrication

Why did you move the SCHD goalpost from 4 years ago to 2024? Lol. I'm gonna stick with my own put/buy write strategies and you stick with whatever tf YM is doing

EmergenCDickInAGlass

> YM options strategies don't add up even when you argue RoC makes up for NAV erosion. It still outperforms SCHD from inception 🤷‍♂️ YMAX outperforms SCHD by 18%. https://totalrealreturns.com/n/USDOLLAR,ULTY,SCHD,YMAX,PBP

Various_Couple_764

Instead of SCHD I would go with QQQI. Many like SCHD for its growth and it also adds a little bi to sweetness from its dividend. VTI and VT are better for growth. leaving just the dividend which is small. QQQI has a dividend yield of about 13% about 3 times. higher. Eventually QQQI will produce more the 7000 a yard of income. As much or more than your yearly deposit into the roth. The dividends have no effect on the depoist limit. And ther is no limit on the ammount of dividend cash flow into the Roth acount. The ammount of money you need invested to $7000 in dividends is : QQQI 54K. VTI 614K. VT 414K. You can see it takes a lot less money in the to get a lot of dividend from QQQI compared to the other 2. Most of the growth during the firs 15 years comes from the money flow into the account. Not the growth from your growth funds. I would put all of your deposits into QQQI for the first 5 years to get it to produce 7000 a year. then use the dividends and your yearly deposits to build the other two funds as well as QQQI and any other dividend or growth funds you might like. fund you might like. I am nearing retirement and my right now gets 30K of dividends a year plus you have 7000 deposit limit for a total inflow of 37K a year. If you just used VT and VTI it would take a lot longer to get to 37K of cash inflow a year without QQQI.

EmpathyFabrication

Well yeah. Even just investing $2000 into SCHD 4 years ago would be $2000 + dividends today. I would have maintained my principal and recieved distributions on top of that. $2000 into ULTY on the day it started trading would be $470 today lol. Down to a measly $8 per week per round lot. YM options strategies don't add up even when you argue RoC makes up for NAV erosion. If a fund can't maintain NAV it has no business making distributions.

EmergenCDickInAGlass

Put write on SCHD? Seriously? Have you seen the performance the last 4 years?

TestingLifeThrow1z

Remove SCHD, young people don't need dividends unless there's a large sum of money you can invest in. Dividends are immediate income and not growth focused. VTI and FXAIX are overlapped for the SandP500. 40% VTI, 30% VXUS, 20% QQQM.

EmpathyFabrication

Well why not? There's similar RoR for doing a basic putwrite strategy on SCHD and I end up with a good ETF if assigned, and similar net yearly distributions. Doing a basic buywrite strategy on KO beats or matches for example ULTY. In fact just buying and holding KO and collecting the .51 dividend probably beats ULTY. The only question YM fanboys need to answer is why YM funds can't maintain NAV while also failing to beat the CBOE buywrite.

EmergenCDickInAGlass

No one wants the write thinly traded options on SCHD buddy. You don’t know the strategy they use. They actually do laddered OTM credit spreads 95% of the time. As others have said, some people don’t have $100k for Netflix shares (pre-split) if they want to do a similar strategy.

misscarlasue

I’m 67 and recently retired in Texas. 30+years in public education. I’m looking for passive income through dividends. I’m currently looking for a new job so I can aggressively add to my portfolio and pay off my house. Right now I’m invested in KO, PG, MO, and KMI for growth and ETFs O, SCHD, JEPI, SPYI, ULTY, and QYLD. I literally just started in September and have gotten almost $40 in dividends to reinvest so far. I have a long way to go but I hope I’m on the right path. Any suggestions, critiques, comments, or anything else is welcomed!

misscarlasue

I may have to check some of those out. I just started a portfolio for dividends because I want to be prepared to replace social security if needed. I have SCHD; SPYI; JEPI; O; ULTY; plus KO, MO, PG for growth. Only have a few thousand in since September but so far I’ve reinvested around $40 lol. So I guess off to a good start.

RoyalDrake

Look at SCHD

Anonymity_pls

SCHD

alanwazoo

SCHD for the long haul, SGOV for the short

Digital-Doc-777

Combination of funds that pay dividends. Look at VYM, VIG, SCHD, and JEPI.

rep3t3

QQQ is an arbitrary index and by definition excludes anything trading on the NYSE. If the next NVIDIA trades (or is already trading) on the NYSE you wont own it SCHD is a dividend fund and will limit your growth in the long term. Dividends are the wrong thing to focus on

leaning_on_a_wheel

Unsure why you think QQQ is ex-US, it’s not. Buy VXUS if you want international exposure. And I would indeed ditch SCHD entirely, you’re missing out on growth by having money in a dividend fund like that

methylaminebb

SCHD holders like "AI is a BuBbLe"

admu_throwaway

SCHD – 22.8% VWRA – 22.6% SHLD – 13.4% XLP – 12.2% BMRN – 11.1% VTI – 9.1% QQQ – 8.7% This is my attempt to reduce AI exposure to protect against a potential bubble.

LelainaP

Looking for a review/advice for my soon-to-be portfolio. Just starting to self-direct invest on Wealthsimple. 45 years old, Canadian, want to retire in 10-15 years (loosely - will still freelance PT,  just want out of the corporate machine). I have $100k to invest now,  and will have double that in the relatively near future due to an inheritance. I also intend to invest $2k a month of my income for as long as this ride lasts. Cost of living is $4k/month, and I have a six month emergency fund sitting in my savings account at my bank. No debt, no plans to buy a home, no kids. I have moderate to high risk tolerance, just also trying to be a little cautious because my window to invest is good, but not that of a 20 year old. The breakdown: - 60% VOO (S&P US) - 20% XEQT (Diversification of markets) - 10% SCHD (defense likely to grow) - 5% AVUV (small cap) - 5% GLTR (precious metals because the world is on fire) I intend to invest fully in my RRSP until I max it out. After that, I'll transfer my almost maxed out TFSA from the bank and swap from VOO to VFV and possibly XEQT to XGRO. Then I'm in non sheltered accounts. Would also like to put my 6 mo emergency fund into a HYSA but I don't see that as an option on Wealthsimple - maybe it's a non sheltered etf like CASH? Thank you!

mvhanson

You might consider a bit of DIY dividend portfolio investing, though that takes a bit of homework and is something of a project. But basically, long-term diversification is all... [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1hofu1z/building\_a\_dividend\_portfolio\_and\_the\_rule\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1hofu1z/building_a_dividend_portfolio_and_the_rule_of/) One way to think about it is "Moneyball for Dividends." While the big funds (SCHD, JEPI, JEPQ, and others) are absolutely the right fit for a lot of people (set it and forget it), [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1omobcw/big\_dogs\_part\_ii\_an\_analysis\_of\_the\_top\_25/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1omobcw/big_dogs_part_ii_an_analysis_of_the_top_25/) it's also kind of fun to put together your own team. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1nnwbj8/moneyball\_for\_dividends\_a\_way\_to\_think\_about/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1nnwbj8/moneyball_for_dividends_a_way_to_think_about/) You might try some YieldMax for fun (people say bad things about YM, but some of their products actually have held water pretty well). Here's a breakdown of everything YieldMax offers in terms of yield + capital gain: [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1olgg01/yieldmax\_yield\_capital\_gain\_analysis\_10312025\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1olgg01/yieldmax_yield_capital_gain_analysis_10312025_is/) And if you want weekly payers (though it's behind a paywall): [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1oixurn/weekly\_payers\_yield\_capital\_gain\_analysis/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1oixurn/weekly_payers_yield_capital_gain_analysis/)

bawireman

I have a similar concept in my portfolio. Mine is 45% VOO, SCHD and BRK.B; 33% good tech companies that I believe in, 18% really good companies in other sectors and 4% in two smaller higher risk companies that could explode over the next 10 years.

MrSnow702

Hey r/investing! Complete noob here with $1000 burning a hole in my pocket. Never invested before but finally ready to stop being scared and jump in. Been lurking here for weeks and keep seeing that 40/30/10/10/10 split everyone talks about. So I'm thinking: 40% VOO 30% SCHD 10% SGOV 10% VXUS 10% SOFI (yeah I know, single stock is risky but I'm weirdly bullish) After that, planning to DCA $11 daily. Want to eventually work QQQ up to 25% but honestly terrified of being too heavy in tech. Like what if AI hype crashes and burns? Is this totally stupid for a beginner? Should I ditch the SOFI pick and play it safer? Really don't want to mess this up since it took me forever to save this money. Any advice appreciated, thanks!

runmeupmate

>DGRO or SCHD You cannot buy these in europe. There may be no good alternative. I am assuming you are in europe because you reference UCITS

duper12677

SCHD

DosManosBurrito

Just look at PE ratios. PEG also. If a company is growing 50% a year and trading at a current PE of 50, it doesn’t mean it is ‘overvalued’. If you want to lower downside risk, buy some conservative value or dividend ETFs like SCHD or OAKM among plenty of other value offerings out there. You probably won’t hit it out of the park but you probably won’t lose your shirt in a correction either. Good luck.

SlackBytes

SCHD investors

SnS2500

\> why we should have both QQQM and VOO when they overlap Your second share of VOO 100% overlaps your first share. Overlap is a useless concept. \> Wouldnt it be better to have VOO, SCHD, and VT? What are you trying to do, have different stuff or make money? Don't focus on the meaningless stuff. Look for investments that satisfy your forward expectations and risk levels.

Money_Spread7379

Unironically, SCHD, lol.

Responsible_Split242

Thank you for this. This may be a stupid question but can I switch your option 3 to 70% VOO/30% VXUS instead? Switching VTI to VOO basically just means Im skipping the small-cap segments in the US right? So it’s slightly less diversified but also slightly more stable. I think i’ll skip on SCHD and QQQM as per your recommendation and just keep it simple with VOO + VXUS.

hymie-the-robot

VOO is S&P 500; VTI is US total market, which essentially subsumes VOO. SCHD + VOO will double you up on companies in SCHD, and similarly for QQQM. you could consider VT to be equivalent to a combo of VTI and VXUS, so you could buy, say 60 VTI, 40 VXUS or 75:25, depending on your preference, instead of VT. note that, unless you need the income, SCHD will tend to give you less total return (dividends plus capital growth) than VT et al., so I recommend folding it into VT. by the way, I was constantly confusing VT and VTI when writing this, so take great care to pick the right one. (I wish Vanguard would rename VT and VTI to lessen this confusion.) I would consider changing your three options to: 1. 60 VTI, 20 SCHD, 20 VXUS (and preferably 80 VTI, 20 VXUS) , noting that this doubles you up on SCHD stocks; 2. 40 VTI, 20 QQQM, 20 SCHD, 20 VXUS, noting that this doubles you up on both SCHD and QQQM, and hence 80 VTI, 20 VXUS is preferable; 3. 70 VTI, 30 VXUS (or simply 100 VT). since you prefer safe growth, consider avoiding QQQM. VTI is already packed to the gills with tech stocks, and it may be a good time to exercise restraint in that realm. good luck.

MrSnow702

I’m curious as well cause I keep hearing the same thing and my portfolio looks like option 2 40% VOO 30% SCHD 10% SGOV 10% SXUS 10% SOFI

EarthquakeCrater

Guys why do always buy into to top of the echo chamber crap: Fell for SCHD, then JEPI, now BMNR. Every single time.

fisho0o

Thanks, I'll look at DIVO! I don't think there's a lot of overlap between that and SCHD so why not have both?

Margaritashoes

10k in SCHD? DCA and DRIP for the next 50 years or so.

TestNet777

What’s the benchmark for being bad? Not every fund is trying to outperform the S&P 500. Some funds are in the business of generating income, others trying to minimize drawdowns, others focused on shorting. Point is, the funds usually exist for investors to choose their approach and let someone else do the work in that approach…e.g. I think tech is overvalued so I want to invest in SCHD or VTV to capture potential upside in non tech names while also potentially shielding myself from an AI “bubble” event. I don’t expect SCHD or VTV to outperform the S&P 500 in a bull market, but that’s not why I bought it. Just an example.

justcurious3287

Some of my favorite individual stocks: TSLA, MSFT, GOOGL, AAPL, HD. Some of my favorite ETFs: VOO and VTI for the growth, SCHD for the dividends. My favorite cryptocurrencies: BTC and ETH. You can't go wrong picking one of those.

Fine-Needleworker364

Buy 45% QQQM, 30% SPLG, and 25% SCHD and set a timer for 20 years

RavynGirl

If you just want it to grow without stress, open a Roth IRA or regular brokerage and buy an S&P 500 ETF like VOO or SCHD. Set up automatic buys each month and forget it.

mvhanson

You might consider a bit of DIY dividend portfolio investing (if you are looking to diversify a bit), though that takes a bit of homework and is something of a project. But basically, long-term diversification is all... [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1hofu1z/building\_a\_dividend\_portfolio\_and\_the\_rule\_of/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1hofu1z/building_a_dividend_portfolio_and_the_rule_of/) One way to think about it is "Moneyball for Dividends." While the big funds (SCHD, JEPI, JEPQ, and others) are absolutely the right fit for a lot of people (set it and forget it), it's also kind of fun to put together your own team. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1nnwbj8/moneyball\_for\_dividends\_a\_way\_to\_think\_about/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1nnwbj8/moneyball_for_dividends_a_way_to_think_about/) You might try some YieldMax for fun (people say bad things about YM, but some of their products actually have held water pretty well). Here's a breakdown of everything YieldMax offers in terms of yield + capital gain: [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1ofjkzn/yieldmax\_yield\_capital\_gain\_analysis\_10242025\_is/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1ofjkzn/yieldmax_yield_capital_gain_analysis_10242025_is/) And if you want weekly payers (though it's behind a paywall): [https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1oixurn/weekly\_payers\_yield\_capital\_gain\_analysis/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dividendfarmer/comments/1oixurn/weekly_payers_yield_capital_gain_analysis/)

Wickrest

SCHD is ded

ImpossibleJoke7456

SCHD, ADT, F Option B

EffectivePoet4572

for all the reasons above they are a tech company. Try SCHD for non tech.

xconnor759

I know boomers buying SCHD for safety

leaning_on_a_wheel

Drop SCHD entirely

micha_allemagne

Option 2 looks cleaner - using VTI and VXUS covers the whole world without overlapping funds. SCHD on top is fine if you really like dividends, but honestly it just tilts you toward large cap value and adds complexity. You're pretty US-heavy but still reasonable. I'd skip SCHD and keep it simple. Here's a breakdown of your portfolio: https://www.insightfol.io/en/portfolios/report/5499bbff94/

amongtheimposters

I would go with option 2. No reason to be so heavily invested into SCHD at your age. Add more SCHD later.

Tallpaul1989

That doesn't sound fun. But if I had that kinda money it would be sitting in SCHD lol

Living-Fruit-4577

Sell SCHD and replace with DIVO.

greenpride32

>With stocks at all time highs and probably overvalued and an AI bubble forming, am I crazy If you really believed this, then why aren't you liquidating your FZROX SCHD QQQM? They would bound to tank if such event happened, especially QQQM. If I only had a penny for every "I have $1m in the stock market today, but it's way overvalued and bound to tank, how should I invest this new $100k cash I have available?". I'd be asking "what should I do with the 1m invested?".

RegularHistorical494

VYM and VYMI are more volatile than SCHD and SCHY.

DennyDalton

SCHD is likely to hold up better than the market if it tanks because I think that it has a 10% exposure to tech versus 35% in the S&P 500. I highly doubt that you can put on a 2 year collar at 90%/130% with a net cost of less than 1%. Apart from the width disparity, dividends increase the cost of puts relative to calls. Having retired young, my goal is different than most here. After years of aggressive growth, my focus changed to keeping my money and having some potential for growth. rather than full exposure to growth. That's means hedging. My game is keeping my nest egg so I'm willing to leave both tails to others. They can have the big gains and the big losses. I'll accept more modest gains with no killer losses (see 1987, 200, 2008, 2020). Every few years after large market increases (or when there's adverse market news), I buy IWM or SPY put LEAP spreads 10% OTM and 10% wide with a cost of about 1.5% of the proceeds being hedged. Because I'm comfortable shorting equities, 10% OTM gives me modest protection and between the two, I can offset a decent amount of portfolio loss. With a normal cooperative market during the year, I cover and re-sell the short puts and/or roll the long leg down, lowering the cost of the position of to a net outlay of half a percent or better. If the market is higher after 6-9 months or time decay has eroded the short puts, I close them, ending up with long protective puts which then provide full protection below their strike price. How effective they are depends on the index's current price. If the long puts have any decent salvage value, sometimes I roll them out to the next hedge to avoid the increased theta decay during the last few months before expiration. In 2020, I had a lot of leftover long March SPY puts worth 15 cents two weeks before expiration. When the market tanked due to Covid, I rolled, selling them for $15 to $21. I rolled them down 2-3 more times that month. Between these leftover puts and individual position hedges, I was down less than 10% when the market dropped 35%. Reasonably easy to recover from. And this was despite owning several 1,000 share positions in large caps that lost more than 50% during the drop (CCL, DOW). This year, the tariff talk troubled me. In early February, I bought Sep '25 and Jan '26 IWM $210 puts outright and I rolled them down 3 times to $175, putting a nice gain in my pocket. The Jan $175-s are highly likely to expire worthless but I booked a nice gain from the process. Personally, I wouldn't do a 2+ year collar. Yes, the cost per day is less than 1+ years but if the market rises, they become ineffective. Let's assume (a guess) that a 2027 10%/30% is 2/3 the cost of 2028. If the market drops, your collar does what it's supposed to do. If VTI rises nicely, you can deploy that 1/3 cost savings into a collar at higher strikes, establishing more effective protection. Another advantage of the 1= year collar is that later in the cycle, it will be easier to roll the short call up and out for a credit, avoiding assignment and a taxable event. A 2+ year collar will retain much more time value and rolling will be more costly. If you don't understand some of this, ask for clarification.

DennyDalton

SCHD is likely to hold up better than the market if it tanks because I think that it has a 10% exposure to tech versus 35% in the S&P 500. I highly doubt that you can put on a 2 year collar at 90%/130% with a net cost of less than 1%. Apart from the width disparity, dividends increase the cost of puts relative to calls. Having retired young, my goal is different than most here. After years of aggressive growth, my focus changed to keeping my money and having some potential for growth. rather than full exposure to growth. That's means hedging. My game is keeping my nest egg so I'm willing to leave both tails to others. They can have the big gains and the big losses. I'll accept more modest gains with no killer losses (see 1987, 200, 2008, 2020). Every few years after large market increases (or when there's adverse market news), I buy IWM or SPY put LEAP spreads 10% OTM and 10% wide with a cost of about 1.5% of the proceeds being hedged. Because I'm comfortable shorting equities, 10% OTM gives me modest protection and between the two, I can offset a decent amount of portfolio loss. With a normal cooperative market during the year, I cover and re-sell the short puts and/or roll the long leg down, lowering the cost of the position of to a net outlay of half a percent or better. If the market is higher after 6-9 months or time decay has eroded the short puts, I close them, ending up with long protective puts which then provide full protection below their strike price. How effective they are depends on the index's current price. If the long puts have any decent salvage value, sometimes I roll them out to the next hedge to avoid the increased theta decay during the last few months before expiration. In 2020, I had a lot of leftover long March SPY puts worth 15 cents two weeks before expiration. When the market tanked due to Covid, I rolled, selling them for $15 to $21. I rolled them down 2-3 more times that month. Between these leftover puts and individual position hedges, I was down less than 10% when the market dropped 35%. Reasonably easy to recover from. And this was despite owning several 1,000 share positions in large caps that lost more than 50% during the drop (CCL, DOW). This year, the tariff talk troubled me. In early February, I bought Sep '25 and Jan '26 IWM $210 puts outright and I rolled them down 3 times to $175, putting a nice gain in my pocket. The Jan $175-s are highly likely to expire worthless, but I booked a nice gain from the process. Personally, I wouldn't do a 2+ year collar. Yes, the cost per day is less than 1+ years but if the market rises, they become ineffective. Let's assume (a guess) that a 2027 10%/30% is 2/3 the cost of 2028. If the market drops, your collar does what it's supposed to do. If VTI rises nicely, you can deploy that 1/3 cost savings into a collar at higher strikes, establishing more effective protection. Another advantage of the 1= year collar is that later in the cycle, it will be easier to roll the short call up and out for a credit, avoiding assignment and a taxable event. A 2+ year collar will retain much more time value and rolling will be more costly. If you don't understand some of this, ask for clarification.

thetreece

> I think tech is going to be revolutionary in 10 years so that’s a no brainer to invest in that Literally everybody thinks that. That's why tech prices have been bid up as much as they have, and why tech is dominant sector in QQQ and VOO. In order for your bet on tech to pay off, it doesn't just have to do well. It must do EVEN BETTER than what all the market/investment experts think. This is a high bar. There are no sectors with risk premium. Tech is not a magic sector that always has high returns. Tech has been transforming our lives for thousands of years. It has it's turn in the sun just like every other sector. That's it. SCHD is an emotional trick for people that like to pretend dividends are free money (they're not). There's no reason to prioritize dividends. Yes, total market funds are a good idea. VTI+VXUS is great.

DaemonTargaryen2024

>Wanted to set up another retirement account so I decided on a Roth IRA for the tax benefits. Good idea >I have a hysa and an emergency fund account already. Great job >I’m leaning towards QQQ but seen QQQM has a lower expense ratio. QQQ and QQQM are the same thing. So the lower ER is better. However... >I think tech is going to be revolutionary in 10 years so that’s a no brainer to invest in that. Kindly challenging this viewpoint: what do you know that the rest of the market doesn't? And some advice, anytime you hear yourself saying "no brainer" with investing, stop and take a step back. SCHD was essentially a fad ETF; it underperforms broad market funds like VOO, so isn't desirable for a 20-something. If you're unsure of what to do, owning the whole market is never a *bad* idea. We've been on a \~15 year bull run with large cap growth outperforming peers, but that hasn't always been the case, and won't be the case forever. Mid and small caps outperformed large cap from 2000-2010. International crushed large cap from that time period.

French-Flyes

This man could have bought Walmart, SCHD, or O and just chill

Senior-Preference678

VOO and chill works if your only risk is market volatility, but not if the risk is political or currency instability. VOO = 100% U.S. large caps, so you’re fully tied to the U.S. economy and the dollar. If you actually want political-risk protection, diversification matters: - VOO (40%): U.S. growth core - VXUS (20%): global exposure outside the U.S. - GLDM / IAU (15%) – gold hedge - BIL / SHV (10%) – cash & liquidity - STIP / TIP (10%) – inflation-protected bonds - SCHD / JEPI (5%) – dividend income buffer That mix keeps upside exposure but cushions geopolitical shocks. Not financial advice, just risk management 101.

Senior-Preference678

VT is definitely a solid one ETF solution, globally diversified, 60% US and 40% international, covers nearly 9,000 stocks, and yields around 2%. But for real political-risk protection, it’s still 100% equity exposure. If the goal is to hedge instability, I’d still mix VT with: GLDM or IAU: inflation & crisis hedge BIL or SHV: cash-like stability STIP or TIP: inflation-protected bonds SCHD or JEPI: dividend income & lower volatility So maybe 60% VT + 40% hedges for a balance between growth and protection. Not financial advice, just fundamentals talking.

pizzasandcats

I would like to buy a luxury watch. I can afford it. However, I will likely have to wait 6 months to a year to actually purchase the watch. Maybe longer. I’d like to just park the funds in a separate brokerage account while I wait. However, I don’t mind taking some risk since it can wait. Rolling a couple of options in my head. I considered a lower-beta index ETF, something like SCHD. Another alternative is to just mimic a TDF allocation for say, 2027. Would consider a bond fund or even using the money (about $8k) to run some wheel strategies. I really don’t want to just have the cash sitting there in a MMF or HYSA since I’d rather not miss the opportunity cost of being totally out of the market than not miss the watch. All my serious savings/retirement is in global index ETFs. I’m an experienced investor just looking for some opinions!

dbasea

Nice mix, but there’s heavy large-cap overlap (RSP/SCHD/QQQM) and no small-cap or emerging exposure, so decide if those tilts fit your risk and consider either a simpler cap-weighted core (total US + total ex-US) or adding EM/bonds. Set target weights, write a short IPS with a yearly rebalance rule you can stick to, and if you want a checklist you can find more at mr-profit com.

SteevieJanowski

I’d ditch RSP and SCHD. If you don’t wanna use an S&P 500 index fund, I’d go w VUG to cover growth and SPYV or VTV to cover value. FNDX and FNDF have great track records if you want to mix in fundamental analysis ETFs, but their OER is a bit higher at 0.25% if you’re cost conscious.

Wilecoyote84

I'm in a similar position and have been transitioning to VYM. It has little to no exposure to the Mag 7, little tech, long track record of good returns and dividend. Better diversified over SCHD. imo. Also recently bought VYMI for a little international exposure.

Daily-Trader-247

Do ETFs less worries, more diversification. Depending on income needs there are much better choices then SCHD for income. SPYI was a good start

grammarsalad

1. I think it greatly depends. Living with your parents with few expenses? Maybe 1-3 months. Are you the only breadwinner in a family of 5? Maybe 1 year at least.  2. I put about 10% of my investments in XHLF for this exact reason in my brokerage. If you do put some aside to 'buy the dip', I suggest you have it in _something_ gaining you interest in the interim. On the other have, nothing wrong with dollar cost averaging into investments you feel confident in.  3. Depends. I have a traditional IRA, a Roth, and a brokerage each with different goals. My Roth is just GLDM, AMZN, and VGT, about equal shares of each. I should add VOO, and probably SCHD, but I don't have much in there ATM. The goal here is just growth with some preservation. My IRA is mostly dividend assets I believe in, including SCHD, though with some growth and preservation in there as well (even a bit of TQQQ for some spice). This will likely be my main source of income in retirement, and I'm really just focused on that. My brokerage is mixed, with individual stocks I believe in (e.g. AEM, AMAT) and high income yielding ETFs that I might lean on in hard economic times (e.g. QQQI).  But, this is just me. It's _essential_ you think about what you want out of these products before deciding how to invest.  4. I basically listen to Buffett and instigate stocks he has confidence in to see if they will work for me.  5. Real Estate if you have the money and patience to deal with tenants.

EmpathyFabrication

Had to look up the distributions for YM Tesla fund. Avg about $50 a month on an $850 investment in a fund that I have zero confidence in the managers to maintain the share price. Meanwhile buywrite TSLA $44k investment to collect $3k premium right now on the ATM 30DTE 442.5 call. I'll argue that all these stocks you mentioned (and all the stocks YM offers) are not really that good for doing a buywrite strategy. Maybe msft and goog if you want to own the stock. Compare YM distributions to premiums on boring stocks that have pretty low "risk of cratering." SCHD $2700 investment collect $15-50 premium on the ATM 30DTE 27 call. KO $7000 investment collect about $115 premium on the ATM 30DTE 71 call. Look at something with an awful spread like GSK. Way OTM 30 delta I can collect $70 for the 30DTE 46.5 call and I would invest $4500. Plus you collect a dividend on all these stocks and skip writing the call that month. You don't even have to do anything. Decent chance of capital appreciation on all these stocks.

arcademachin3

SCHD hasn’t been so good for me this year.

Etchasketch55

I've been with SCHD for a few years and recently added some JEPI to the mix. SCHD gives me steady growth while JEPI kicks out higher monthly income. Had to start with about $500K to hit close to your target. Not gonna lie, building that nest egg took me a decade of aggressive saving, but now it's pretty sweet watching the dividends roll in without touching the principal. Don't sleep on JEPI if you want that monthly payout.

Fapados

SCHD currently pays a 3.82% dividend. $2000 * 12 / 0.0382 = $628k

Fapados

SCHD currently pays a 3.82% dividend every 3 months. $2000 \* 3 / 0.0382 = $157k

Sea_Life4

SCHD

hymie-the-robot

compare your holdings to 100% VT and there is little difference in performance. also: SCHD + QQQM performs more or less like 100% SPY. regarding terminology, as *Investopedia* notes, a barbell is "a mix of high-risk and no-risk assets ... ignoring the mid-range of mildly risky assets." this is not the case with SCHD + QQQM. barbell assets typically are not highly correlated, also not the case here. RSP performs notably poorly in terms of risk vs return.

emussmell

This is actually a really well-thought-out portfolio 👏 You’ve done a great job blending growth, quality, and international diversification while keeping simplicity and balance. The barbell approach between QQQM and SCHD is smart — it captures momentum without leaning too heavy on tech. RSP also does an underrated job of mitigating top-heavy risk from the S&P 500, so nice call there. If I were to tweak anything, it’d just be small refinements: 1. Consider a small-cap or emerging markets slice (like AVUV or VWO, maybe 5–10%) to capture long-term factor diversification and global growth outside developed markets. 2. Think about tax efficiency and rebalancing frequency. SCHD throws off solid dividends, so if this is in a taxable account, just make sure that aligns with your tax strategy. 3. IDEV is fine, but VXUS or IXUS could give you slightly broader exposure if you ever want emerging markets automatically included. Overall though — simple, diversified, logical, and low-cost. This is the kind of setup most investors would benefit from sticking with for decades. Nicely done

Key-Boat-7519

If you want to retire in three years and keep principal for your kid, start de‑risking now by building a 3–5 year income bucket and letting the rest stay in stocks. What’s worked for me: estimate the Roth’s annual discretionary need, then park 2 years in short T‑bills or a rolling ladder and the next 3 in short/intermediate Treasuries or a TIPS ladder. Keep the equity sleeve broad (S&P 500) and, if you want smoother cash flow, add a slice of VYM or SCHD, knowing they’re still equities. Automate dividends/coupons into cash, rebalance annually or at 5% bands, and spend from the cash/Treasury bucket during downturns so you’re not forced to sell stocks. I use Vanguard’s Target Retirement Income for a simple 30/70 mix and Fidelity’s Treasury ladder tool for 5‑year rungs; for a slice of guaranteed yield in the fixed bucket, gainbridge.io’s fixed annuities have been a set‑and‑forget option. Bottom line: secure 3–5 years of cash flows now, let the rest compound, and refill the cash bucket on good years.

Mahmeuver

I’m 39 years old single with no kids, looking to start investing in the stock market. Due to bad spending habits, I have no savings and just started to have a different mindset about money and started to save and invest. My goal is long-term gains: 10 -15 years. I am in a third-world country and I work as a freelancer and I get paid in USD, however, my income in USD is small. I can invest on monthly basis around 150-200$ I started with physical gold and silver. And looking for a portfolio like this: SPLG. 20% SCHG. 20% VXUS. 20% SCHD. 15% ARKK. 5% Gold/silver. 20% With continuous investment with every paycheck based on this income split: Needs. 30% Wants. 20% Invest. 30% Cash. 20% Your advice and opinion are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

truautorepair000

Not index but best buys for me have been WPAY, SCHD, SCHG, FBTC, FUTY, and JEPQ

PidgeySlayer268

Bonds, also SCHD is a healthy mid point to mix in. I would do 60% S&P 500, 25% SCHD, %15 Bonds. Also, I prefer to buy actual bonds, not a fan of the bond ETFs.

Batboyo

SCHD?

Wooden_Buffalo_7475

Hello fellow traders! This has been a fun place to spend a lil $$$. Made sum losses. Made sum gains. But I've realized I can't remain exclusive to stocks in pennyland (which should've been obvious from the start). I'm diversifying elsewhere to assets with more bulk n steam (APLD, MP, ONDAS, SOFI, UAMY). Plus an ETF to start with (SCHD). Still holdin onto DFLI, PSTV, SCWO, MOBX n ATCH for a bit longer, as I believe they'll follow suit gradually. Have a nice weekend y'all!

Heres10bux

i would have thrown half into SCHD and half into any S&P 500 etf. and let it ride. ez returns

Hoffman_

This seems like a good place for somebody to tell me how SCHD is bad and I’m dumb for buying it.

alone-in-the-chat

SCHD what a 🤡!!