The Cecil

Understanding Bond ETF Yields

It's much more complicated than a single blog post could contain. The various financial sites don't always report the same numbers for dividend and yield. Computing yield to maturity yourself with a calculator or a spreadsheet is a good but very frustrating way to learn. You really have to read the prospectus of the Fixed Income ETF to understand how they really work for a buy and hold investment. If you're trading then you pay attention to different information.

Playing Defense with ETFs and Preferred Stocks

I have to echo the advice to really understand what that preferred ETF holds. You can get some rude surprises if you don't know (been there). The price movements of individual preferred shares and ETFs doesn't always fit the pattern of bonds vs equities. It's a different world and it it is getting crowded with folks paying nosebleed prices over par to get some yield.