Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B)

[bar1080]

I've often bashed "Made For Old Geezer" income "products." I prefer investments that pay sustainable market rate dividends over those paying showy rates that can exceed 10%, and amount to sucker bets: Easily sold "products" that are money-makers for brokers, but not the best investment for clients.

Only one of my stocks is high yield, ATT at 4.7%. Most pay about 1.5% to 2.5% which has been about the sweet spot for total return in recent years. So I'm leery of anything that purports to provide a juiced yield... even a good Vanguard "product" like SDY.

Compare div aristocrat SDY that yields 2.4% with plain vanilla, SPY that pays about 2%. The TOTAL yield of both funds is about the same over long periods. SDY has a much higher portfolio turnover (about 32%) than SPY at just 3%.

SPY vs SDY? It probably matters little. Just understand you're giving up some growth and incurring some additional trading friction to get that slightly higher dividend.