Did the Math on What $100,000 Earns in the 5 Most Popular Income ETFs and the Gap Is Enormous

A $100,000 investment behaves very differently across five popular income ETFs aimed at retirees: JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI), JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ), Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD), NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (SPYI), and Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF (PFFA). Using trailing 12-month distributions versus current share prices, the article estimates JEPI at about $7,949 per year, while SPYI could generate roughly $11,644—an annual cash gap near $3,700 between funds often treated as interchangeable. It attributes yield differences to the mechanisms: covered-call option premiums for four funds, versus coupon-like dividends from preferred securities for PFFA, with the 10-year Treasury yield near 4.69% adding pressure on preferreds.