One of the biggest challenges that investors face as they head into retirement is ensuring that their portfolio can generate consistent income without taking on unnecessary risk. That’s why it’s so crucial that investors are thoughtful about which dividend stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) they choose for their portfolio.
Of course, all investors want to generate as much income as possible. With that said, though, it’s far more important for retirees to ensure their capital is tied up in safe, reliable investments in order to avoid catastrophic losses.
So, although there are plenty of high-quality Canadian dividend stocks to buy, there’s no question that some of the best and most reliable investments for retirees will be dividend ETFs.
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Why are dividend ETFs some of the best investments for retirees?
Investing in monthly-paying dividend ETFs offers investors a ton of advantages. For example, because you gain exposure to a basket of stocks, they offer instant diversification.
That’s essential for two reasons. It helps to mitigate against volatility, ensuring that your investments don’t lose too much value in a down market. Furthermore, they diversify your income.
Individual dividend stocks can sometimes see massive cuts to their dividends, or suspensions altogether. With an ETF, though, even if a few companies in the portfolio cut their dividends, the entire payout of the fund will only slightly decline.
In addition to the valuable diversification that you get from investing in dividend ETFs, you also gain exposure to a professionally managed portfolio. And when the fund holds high-quality stocks and pays a monthly dividend, you can count on that income being steady and reliable.
And while there are tonnes of different ETFs to consider that can help boost your passive income, one of the best types of ETFs to buy is covered call ETFs.
ETFs that use a covered call options strategy are ideal because they generate more income than they would by simply holding the underlying stocks. Instead, the fund sells call options on the stocks it owns and collects premiums from those options. Those premiums are then paid out to investors as extra income.
Therefore, although this strategy slightly limits the upside potential if stock prices surge, it boosts the income you receive each month and helps cushion returns in volatile or sideways markets, which is why they’re some of the best dividend ETFs retirees can buy.
So, with that in mind, if you’re looking to boost the passive income your portfolio generates with reliable monthly dividend ETFs, here are two of the best to buy now.
Two of the best investments for reliable passive income
When it comes to buying high-quality and reliable ETFs that offer an attractive dividend yield, two of the top picks are BMO Canadian High Dividend Covered Call ETF (TSX: ZWC) and BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (TSX: ZWB).
Both of these funds have similar strategies, but as its name suggests, the ZWB ETF diversifies its funds across just the Big Six banks in Canada. It’s an excellent way to gain exposure to the sector as a whole, a sector that produces some of the best dividend stocks on the TSX, while still mitigating a ton of risk.
And while no Canadian bank stock pays out a higher dividend yield than 4.8%, and a few yields are as low as 3%, the ZWB currently offers a yield of more than 5.7%. So, even with a management expense ratio (MER) of 0.72% investors are still earning higher income with more diversification than they would owning a single Canadian bank stock.
Because Canadian bank stocks are some of the best dividend generators on the TSX, they’re actually also some of the top holdings of the ZWC ETF as well. However, it also holds a wide mix of energy stocks, industrials, telecoms, and much more.
Furthermore, while it charges the same MER of 0.72%, it offers a higher dividend yield of 6.1%.
Nevertheless, both of these dividend ETFs are among the best investments retirees can buy. And while they won’t deliver explosive capital gains, they can help reduce risk and turn market volatility into steady, reliable income.
