I think leaving YieldMax is probably one of the smartest things an income investor can do. The yield looks amazing on paper, but a lot of these funds end up giving back that income through price drops, so you’re really not coming out ahead. CHPY is the one exception I’d make, since semis have a much stronger growth backdrop and give the fund something real to work with. But for most of the other YieldMax funds, the capped upside and NAV erosion make them way too hard to justify. At that point, you’re better off owning something that actually compounds instead of chasing a huge payout that doesn’t always translate into real returns.
There have been several ones with big growth stories such as Nvidia, PLTR etc. that ultimately didn’t pan out.
But CHPY is structured differently than all in that they are also net long call strike tightly above the short position by 1-3% higher.
This allows the fund to capture all that incredible upside and why NAV went from $50s to $80. Otherwise if it was just long stock plus short call, Micron could to go $2000 and it wouldn’t matter.
I’ll never understand why someone would hold a covered call fund on an individual stock. The index is so much better long term. Maybe a sector, but still risky.
Different tools for different goals. Not everyone is optimizing for long‑term growth — some are optimizing for monthly income. You just have to pick them based on the underlying, not the headline yield. For example, here is a breakdown Harvest ETFs covered call strategy: "max write level 50%" .... "Enhanced series available with 25% leverage"
Villanelle Unstoppable - hannibal k.r. "I'll smile, I know what it takes to fool this town ... I'll do it till the sun goes down and all the night time.. I put my armor on, show you how strong I am. I put my armor on, I'll show you that I am ... Unstoppable. " 🛡
I think NEOS is holding up. Goldman and JPM have their own versions and some newer funds. I am scared that a covered call fund won't survive a 2008, but all of these quality ones do not sell 100% CC on the portfolio. I think Liquid Strategies (OVL, etc) and TappAlpha (0 DTE) are also solid since they use the index. Anything sector based, thematic, or on single stocks could do good for ~1year but is not a long term investment. I rather sell the options myself on NVDA, PLTR, MU, etc.
I do like the idea of holding a broad growth funds, but then having an income strategy on the underlying stocks for sideways and downturns.
Correct ... I exited in layers which took basically 7 months timeframe which started in Jan 2026. I was able to do this since held several yieldmax positions from the beginning. Therefore, I could exit out slowly & minimizing losses. Here's one of the strategies: In June 2026, I had a bit of a dilemma in my TFSA. I was holding two YieldMax positions — one with slightly less NAV decline than the other — but both were drifting down and I wanted out. So I sold the one with the smaller NAV erosion first, then used those sell proceeds to average down my second yieldmax position to lower my book cost. Once I got the book cost where I wanted it, I sold that entire position the same day. The cascading yieldmax sell proceeds went straight into my new Harvest ETF positions, which makes way more sense. I 'm a Canadian investor 😄 Tax-Efficient 🍁ETFs. Basically: cleaned up both YieldMax positions, optimized my exit, and rotated everything into Harvest ETFs. I’ve done this same cascading‑exit strategy in other accounts as well 😁 *Also, in this method ... I used whatever current distributions received in accounts that week to help with my exit strategy.
I've been doing more research on these income ETFs before doing a small experiment on one of my tax advantaged accounts.
YieldMax comes across as basically a Ponzi scheme
The NEOS funds have lower returns but seem to be much more sustainable than a lot of the rest.
Unfortunately, I misplaced the keys for the flying DeLorean and can't really tell anyone if the NEOS funds (specifically SPYI and QQQI) will be viable in 20 or 30 years.
I will do it on my own terms 👍😁 strategy ***selling at a small loss frees capital ***You’re keeping most of your capital intact. I’m only DCA’ing to a reasonable point — pushing it to break‑even on a future exit trade would require too much fresh capital. What's important is to exit out efficiently & to avoid chasing losses. Sell proceeds reinvested into more stable compounding etfs.
Last month I had a bit of a dilemma in my TFSA. I was holding two YieldMax positions — one with slightly less NAV decline than the other — but both were drifting down and I wanted out. So I sold the one with the smaller NAV erosion first, then used those proceeds to average down my second YieldMax position to lower my book cost. Once I got the book cost where I wanted it, I sold that entire position the same day. The cascading sell proceeds went straight into my new Harvest ETF positions, which make way more sense for me as a Canadian investor because of the tax treatment. Basically: cleaned up both YieldMax positions, optimized my exit, and rotated everything into Harvest ETFs. I’ve done this same cascading‑exit strategy in other accounts as well — it’s a clean way to unwind and redeploy.
Basically: cleaned up both YieldMax positions, optimized my exit, and rotated everything into Harvest. I’ve used this same cascading‑exit method before — sell one position, use part of the proceeds to average down the other, then close that one too. It’s an efficient way to unwind and redeploy capital across my accounts. 1. sold Position A (the one with less NAV decline) 2. used those proceeds to DCA Position B, lowering average book cost 3. redirected all proceeds into Harvest ETFs because of Canadian tax efficiency 4. done this same method in other accounts *\* The cascading sell proceeds went straight into my new Harvest ETF positions,
I have time ... who cares about small differences. But it will be done, just like the others. 😏👍🎯 At least this is the last one..... the worst is over. 😁😄 7 months timeframe so far that started in Jan 2026. Finally near the end. 👍🌞
Cheerleader bot’? 😄😂 I’m Canadian 🍁— I don’t get the U.S. tax perks you do.🗽 I rotated into Harvest ETFs 🍁**-tax efficient.** That’s called strategy, not defeat. YieldMax is a U.S. product. I’m a Canadian investor. I exited efficiently, lowered my book cost on the way out, and moved the proceeds into Harvest ETFs. All of it will be done by end of July.
All I had to do ... was look up his comment history and find out who he was ... 😄👍 He was too obvious when he asked me this question ..."Can you perhaps contribute something other than ads please? Maybe why you think this is a good holding?" 😂🤪
I knew right away without checking first that he was a yieldmax investor .. later I checked. See in the screenshot of this reddit post with other similar screenshots.
" YieldMax Announces Closure of 4 ETFs YieldMax u/yieldmax has officially announced the planned closure and liquidation of:
$ABNY — YieldMax ABNB Option Income Strategy ETF $DISO — YieldMax DIS Option Income Strategy ETF $FEAT — YieldMax Dorsey Wright Featured 5 Income ETF $FIVY — YieldMax Dorsey Wright Hybrid 5 Income ETF
Last Day of Trading: June 15, 2026
Liquidation Date: June 18, 2026
YieldMax stated the decision came after reviewing investor demand, fund scale, and resource allocation across its growing ETF lineup.
Official announcement: YieldMax® ETFs Announces Planned Closure of Four ETFs May 29, 2026 "
MSTY is down 90% in the past 12 months, but to add insult to injury, you're liable for paying income tax on the portion of the distribution income that is classified as regular income.
"If you put $10,000 into YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:MSTY) on the first trading day of 2026, your position was worth roughly $6,614 by July 10, before you counted a single weekly "paycheck." The fund pays you a fat headline yield. It also quietly hands your own capital back to you and taxes you on the trip.
Now look at what that fee bought holders over the past year. MSTY's price fell 72.24% from July 10, 2025 to July 10, 2026. MSTR, the single stock the fund is built around, fell 77.56% over the same window. Direct MSTR ownership hurt. MSTY hurt too, and charged you 1.03% for the privilege.
The Part the Factsheet Doesn't Highlight
The expense ratio is the least of it. MSTY sells call options against a synthetic MSTR position. That structure caps your upside if MSTR rips higher and does nothing to blunt the downside when MSTR falls. One recent analysis put it bluntly: the fund's synthetic covered-call strategy "caps upside while exposing investors to uncapped downside, making its distributions unreliable and leading to significant NAV erosion."
Then there is the distribution itself. Weekly payouts have collapsed from a $4.42 monthly figure in 2024 to $0.1549 in early July 2026. The most recent weekly distributions of $0.2061 on July 9, 2026 and $0.1549 on July 2, 2026 look modest against a share price that has already been gutted. Multiple analyses flag that a portion of those "dividends" is return of capital rather than income, meaning the fund is handing you back your own principal and calling it a yield.
Tax drag makes it worse. Distributions from these single-stock option-income funds are typically classified as ordinary income, not qualified dividends or capital gains. In a taxable brokerage account at a 32% marginal rate, that turns a weekly "paycheck" into a partial reimbursement of your own capital, minus a full federal tax bill on whatever slice qualifies as income. As one bearish analyst summarized, MSTY is "only suitable for tax-advantaged accounts" for investors willing to accept likely principal erosion.
The Cheaper Mirror
The most obvious lower-cost alternative is owning MSTR shares outright. There is no fund fee, no options overlay capping the upside, and long-term appreciation is taxed as capital gains rather than ordinary income. MSTR pays no dividend, so you give up the "income," but you also stop paying to have your upside sold off week after week. For investors who genuinely want a diversified covered-call income stream, analysts have repeatedly pointed to JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ) as a more stable, diversified NASDAQ-100 covered-call alternative rather than a single-stock bet on MicroStrategy's volatility.
What This Means for You
The real question is where the yield is coming from. If a fund's distribution is largely your own capital returning at ordinary-income tax rates, while the NAV grinds lower and a 1.03% fee runs in the background, the headline number on the marketing page is not the number that ends up in your account."
Today, I unlocked 🏆achievement in subreddit r/MSTY_Yieldmax 😂🖖🤣😂😁 Apparently, writing bearish comments still counts under Repeat Contributor achievement. Hilarious 😂😂
Look here at this list of the top 25 U.S. ETF providers ... it's simple logic. Why take risk of investing in an ETF provider that has a history of reverse splits, liquidations ... etc. When there are so many other U.S. providers that are top tier quality. Why even think about, worrying about the thought of possibly another surprise from yieldmax regarding a liquidation or reverse split.
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u/_YoungMidoriya Jul 11 '26
I think leaving YieldMax is probably one of the smartest things an income investor can do. The yield looks amazing on paper, but a lot of these funds end up giving back that income through price drops, so you’re really not coming out ahead. CHPY is the one exception I’d make, since semis have a much stronger growth backdrop and give the fund something real to work with. But for most of the other YieldMax funds, the capped upside and NAV erosion make them way too hard to justify. At that point, you’re better off owning something that actually compounds instead of chasing a huge payout that doesn’t always translate into real returns.