In my Dividend Hunter newsletter service, I recommend a portfolio of high-yield stocks and ETFs. I tell my subscribers to measure results by tracking quarter-to-quarter dividend income.
I frequently talk about several reasons why an income-focused strategy works best for many investors.
- Dividend income is predictable. Stock prices go through both bull and bear markets, with the latter often showing up at the worst times. Managing high-yield investments, as I recommend, will produce an income stream that grows every quarter.
- Managing a portfolio to grow your income makes it easy to live through market downturns. When stocks go down, income-paying investments go “on sale,” allowing dividends to be reinvested at higher yields, growing income even faster.
- Investing to build an income stream makes it easy to determine how much you can pay yourself in retirement. When you stop working, you start drawing a portion of your dividends, knowing exactly how much you can pay yourself out of your retirement savings. I get many notes from subscribers saying their retirement income is much higher than they planned for.
I follow my own advice with my retirement savings. I have a self-funded solo 401 (k) account and a self-funded Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) account.
I stopped contributing to the Solo 401 (k) at the end of 2023. I started the SEP at the beginning of 2024. The 401(k) account is 100% invested in the Dividend Hunter-recommended portfolio. Since I have not made any contributions for over two years, I have accurate return results using my own retirement savings.
The 2024 first quarter marked the start of tracking returns without any additional capital. Dollar value gains have varied significantly from quarter to quarter. However, with nine quarters in the books, the account has not posted a negative quarter. At the end of the 2026 first quarter, the account was up 23.3% from the end of 2023.
Income growth has been much stronger. By the end of 2025, quarterly income grew by 29.0%. That’s almost 30% over two years.
My dividend income for the first quarter of 2026 can only be described as crazy— in a good way. Over the previous four quarters, the income grew by an average 13% year over year. The 2025 first quarter income was up 41% compared to the 2025 fourth quarter.
I think the income gains primarily came from large dividends on the variable-dividend investments in the portfolio. The UBS ETRACS Silver Shares Covered Call ETN (SLVO), which started the year at about $100 per share, paid more than $17 per share in dividends.
Now I am curious how the second-quarter income will do. After the big first-quarter gains, I would be fine with flat earnings for a quarter or two. Either way, I know my retirement plan income will grow year after year.
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