Social Security Won’t Make It To 2032, Buy These Income ETFs as Insurance

It’s an unfortunate truth that far too many people will have to navigate the potential shortfall of Social Security, which is expected to begin as early as 2032. With the trust fund that provides money for more than 70 million Americans coming up short, it’s safe to say that other options will be necessary to make it through retirement.

As a result of the concerns with Social Security, the answer can be found in a variety of different investment opportunities. For some people, the answer might be in dividends, while others will look at the opportunity presented by income ETFs to help make up any Social Security shortfall.

What Is an Income ETF?

The simplest definition of an income ETF is that it is a publicly traded fund that holds, unsurprisingly, income-producing assets, such as dividend-earning stocks and/or bonds. There is definitely an opportunity to buy an income ETF that exclusively holds one or the other, while those looking for a little more diversity can find income ETFs that offer both stocks and bonds in one investment opportunity. The reason most people invest in an income ETF is that it offers both stability, even during market volatility, as well as cash flow. These two things are going to be critical for those worried about a Social Security shortfall.

JEPI

If the time comes when Social Security benefits are cut, having a steady, rules-based cash stream on your side that doesn’t require selling off shares in a down market is going to come in handy.

Owning JEPI (NYSE:JEPI) is going to help generate income by providing you with a single ETF that focuses on large-cap U.S. stocks and selling covered calls. This means that the checks are going to keep coming no matter what.

With names like Mastercard, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, and more helping to carry the weight of this ETF, you are seeing solid returns of around 5.2% year-to-date. However, where the real key comes in isn’t the potential growth of this stock, it’s the steady 32-40 cent dividend check you receive monthly for every share owned. There is no question that these dividend payments are going to help make up some of the missing cash in your life from Social Security payment shortfalls.

SCHD

A very popular dividend-friendly ETF right now, SCHD (NYSEARCA:SCHD | SCHD Price Prediction) is enjoying some big headlines thanks to plenty of trading volatility, no doubt boosted by plenty of Reddit conversation in r/dividends.

At its best, SCHD introduces an opportunity to bring lower current yields into your portfolio while increasing dividend growth and the durability of a solid investment. The replacement check that SCHD is going to write you every month in the form of an approximately 22-26 cent dividend is going to help provide you with plenty of peace of mind.

On the downside, SCHD isn’t a major growth ETF, so you aren’t investing here to make money on that end. Instead, the emphasis is on the regular and steady dividend check that hits your bank account every month to make sure you can do everything you wanted to if Social Security checks were arriving at 100%.

Pairing SCHD with the higher-yield JEPI gives you the best of both worlds in the face of a benefits cut.

QQQI

A Reddit favorite, QQQI (NASDAQ: QQQI) is currently paying somewhere in the 60-cent range with its dividend, with a dividend yield of approximately 13.55% as of early October 2025. While this party isn’t likely to last indefinitely, even if the yield drops by 50%, you’re still going to make plenty of dividend returns to help counteract a loss of Social Security benefits.

As an income ETF, QQQI squeezes cash flow thanks to investments in the Nasdaq-100 plus its options strategy, and you don’t need as much capital as you would for other income ETFs to really see the benefit of your investment.

The challenge here is that QQQI is another income ETF that isn’t as focused on growth as it is on return-of-capital, so its strengths are based on its dividend yield, not its year-to-date growth.

JEPQ

The pairing of JEPI and JEPQ (NASDAQ:JEPQ) in the same income ETF portfolio might raise some eyebrows, and that’s okay. The goal here is to gain all of the upside from both ETFs with technology-heavy investments, but JEPI is far less technology-focused than JEPQ.

With almost 54% of its current portfolio as of early October 2025 focused on names like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet, you get all of the benefits of the growth of these stocks. On the plus side, they are growing, and if you had invested in NVIDIA a few years ago, you might not have needed to worry about Social Security altogether.

The other good news is that JEPQ is going to boost those monthly checks you receive thanks to its cozy dividend, which has ranged between 44 and 62 cents per share in 2025. The combination of JEPQ and other dividend-friendly income ETFs in any portfolio is undoubtedly going to help make up for Social Security shortfalls in both the near-term and long-term.