Personal Finance

Top ETFs Baby Boomers Should Consider for a Secure Retirement

Ian Cooper

Published: January 28, 2025 7:33 pm

If you’re ready to retire and want to diversify your portfolio, or even generate passive income, you may want to consider some of the leading exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In most cases, dividend ETFs offer solid diversification, low expense ratios, and tax efficiency.

Key Points About This Article

• If you want to keep your investment portfolio safe and generate income, you should strongly consider dividend-paying exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
• Dividend ETFs offer solid diversification, low expense ratios, and tax efficiency.
• Also: Take this quiz to see if you’re on track to retire ^(Sponsored)

For example, the Global X Super Dividend U.S. ETF (NYSE: DIV) offers investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of respected companies that have a history of paying dividends, which can provide that steady stream of income you may be hunting for.

With an expense ratio of 0.45%, the DIV ETF yields about 5.58%.

If that’s what you’re looking for, here are just a few of the top dividend ETFs to buy today.

JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Equity Income ETF

With a yield of 9.76% and an expense ratio of 0.35%, the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Equity Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ) generates income by selling options and investing in U.S. large-cap growth stocks. All of which allows it to deliver a monthly income stream through options premiums and stock dividends.

The ETF also gives you access to 105 holdings, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Broadcom, and Meta Platforms to name just a few. Technically, it’s been in a strong uptrend since bottoming out in late 2022. Granted, there were some pullbacks, but that’s to be expected in a volatile market.

JPMorgan Equity Premium Income Fund

We can also look at the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income Fund (NYSE:JEPI).

With a yield of 7.06% and an expense ratio of 0.35%, this ETF generates income through stock dividends and options premiums. Some of its 130 holdings include Trane Technologies, Meta Platforms, Southern Co., AbbVie, Mastercard, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and ServiceNow.

Technically, it’s been trending higher since 2020. Starting at $33.45, it’s now up to $59.29.

Fidelity High Dividend ETF

Next up is the Fidelity High Dividend ETF (NYSE:FDVV).

This one yields 2.81% and has an expense ratio of 0.16%.

It also tracks the Fidelity High Dividend Index, which is designed to reflect the performance of stocks of large- and mid-capitalization dividend-paying companies that are expected to continue to pay and grow their dividends.

That includes heavyweights such as Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Exxon Mobil, Procter & Gamble, and Philip Morris. That’s in addition to 100 other holdings.

Much like the other ETFs on this list, the FDVV ETF has been trending higher since its early inception, with some hiccups along the way. But since 2016, the FDVV ETF ran from about $18.89 to a recent high of $50.88.

Invesco QQQ Income Advantage ETF

With a yield of 10.3% and an expense ratio of 0.29%, the Invesco QQQ Income Advantage ETF (NASDAQ:QQA), which operates as an option-focused ETF with exposure to the NASDAQ-100. Some of its top holdings include Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, Amazon, and Tesla to name just a few of its 105 holdings.

In addition, as noted by Seeking Alpha, “According to the fund’s overview, the current dividend yield sits at about 10.3%, enabling investors the possibility of creating a sizeable income stream while still maintaining exposure to high-quality large-cap companies.”

This is also a newer fund, which started trading in July.  To date, it ran from an August 2024 low of $42.33 to a recent high of $51.71. Now back to $49.93, it’s a safe bet with a solid yield.

Vanguard Real Estate ETF 

We can also look at the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSE:VNQ).

With an expense ratio of 0.13%, a recent monthly dividend payment of just over 85 cents per share, and about 160 stocks, VNQ is another safe, long-term opportunity. Some of its top holdings are in real estate investment trusts (REITs), including Prologis, Equinix, American Tower Corp., Welltower, Digital Realty Trust, Simon Property Group, and Public Storage.

Making it even more attractive is the recovery in commercial real estate. According to analysts at Deloitte, the CRE market is showing signs of recovery in 2025, with some predicting a generational opportunity, as noted in Deloitte’s 2025 Commercial Real Estate Outlook.

In addition, Deloitte’s 2025 commercial real estate outlook survey also found that 88% of the 880 global respondents “now report they expect their company’s revenues to increase going forward, a substantial shift from the 60% who expected further declines last year,” as also highlighted in Deloitte’s 2025 CRE Outlook.