AAII Cleveland Ohio Chapter

I have some "safe money" in T-Bills at 3.7%.  I would like to make more on these funds.  Investment guys say Bonds and I must accept more risk if I want higher returns.

I am thinking about 75% in T-Bills and 25% in QQQI (paying 13.89% TTM right now)  That would increase my risk but move my returns to about 6%

 Am I missing something here?  Go ahead and "burst my bubble" 

This is the answer from Claude.ai. It can make mistakes and non of this is personal advice, but I queried your qqqi choice.

QQQI (NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF)

Pros

• Section 1256 tax treatment on its index options activity - gains/losses get the 60/40 long-term/short-term blend. Materially better after-tax yield than ordinary-income covered call ETFs.
• High distribution rate (typically running ~14%+ annualized), paid monthly - useful for income smoothing in retirement cash flow planning.
• Nasdaq-100 underlying exposure tethered to large-cap growth/tech, so you're not giving up all upside the way some yield-maxxing products do.
• Active management of the call overlay - NEOS adjusts strikes and laddering rather than running a static at-the-money program, which has historically helped capture more upside than rigid covered call ETFs.
• ROC-heavy distributions in many months, which defers taxes (reduces basis rather than triggering current income).

Cons

• Capped upside in strong Nasdaq rallies - the call overlay will always lag QQQ in melt-up environments. Worth comparing 1Y total return vs. QQQ 
• Relatively short track record - launched January 2024, so you don't have a full cycle including a sustained bear market to stress-test the strategy.
• NAV erosion risk if distributions outpace total return over time. Monitoring NAV trend quarterly is the right discipline.
• Concentration risk - Nasdaq-100 is top-heavy in the Mag 7. 
• Expense ratio ~0.68% - not egregious for an active options-overlay ETF, but higher than passive equivalents.
• Distribution variability - monthly payouts fluctuate with volatility regimes. In low-VIX environments, premium income compresses and distributions can dip.
• If you ever want to diversify the call-write exposure away from Nasdaq concentration, SPYI (S&P 500 version, same NEOS family, same 1256 treatment) is the natural complement.