How a 73-Year-Old Collects $5,450 a Month From Just Three Tickers: SCHD, VICI, and ARCC
At 73, the IRS forces your hand on withdrawals, but one retiree found a way to make the account pay for itself using just three tickers spanning an ETF, a casino REIT, and a lending giant.
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Retirees with a traditional IRA hit a turning point at 73, when the IRS stops letting them decide when to take money out. It is best known as the age at which required minimum distributions kick in, with the applicable denominator for age 73 set out in IRS Publication 590-B. Each forced withdrawal reduces the account balance, pushing many retirees toward holdings that generate cash on their own so the principal can stay invested.
High-yield dividend payers can fill that role. Here is what a $310,000 holding across all three high-yield names would generate in annual income: a combined $930,000 investment making more than $65,400 a year, or about $5,450 a month on average. All three pay quarterly, so payments fall unevenly across the calendar. Each yield below is a forward figure based on the latest declared payout.
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF
- Stock #3: Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD)
- Yield: 3.10%
- Shares for $310,000: 9,022.1
- Annual Passive Income: ~$9,617.58
SCHD tracks a rules-based index of US companies screened for dividend quality and sustainability, and it rebalances once a year. The yield comes from the portfolio’s construction. The fund owns established payers and passes through their dividends, mostly as qualified dividends, without using leverage. It held $94.9 billion in net assets as of May 31, 2026. QUALCOMM (6.74%), Texas Instruments (5.90%) and UnitedHealth Group (5.09%) were its largest positions.
Coverage rests on the combined dividends of about 100 holdings, so a cut at any one company has a limited effect. Payouts do move from quarter to quarter, with the latest being $0.2665, up from $0.2525, bringing the trailing 12-month total to $1.0541 and the annualized forward rate to $1.066.
VICI Properties
- Stock #2: VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI)
- Yield: 7.80%
- Shares for $310,000: 13,141.2
- Annual Passive Income: ~$24,179.74
VICI owns 103 experiential assets, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand, and the Venetian. These assets are leased on long-term triple-net terms to 16 operators at 100% occupancy, with a weighted-average lease term of 39.6 years. Most leases carry 2.0% annual increases. Tenant concentration is high: Caesars accounts for about 38% of rent, and MGM about 32%.
As a REIT, VICI must distribute at least 90% of its taxable income. Shares are down 11.65% year to date, pushing the yield into ultra-high-yield territory. Full-year 2026 AFFO guidance is $2.45 to $2.47 per diluted share. The $1.84 forward dividend is about 75% of the midpoint. Second-quarter GAAP EPS of $0.48 included a $271.1 million non-cash credit loss charge that AFFO excluded. On September 3, 2026, the board raised the quarterly payout to $0.46.
Ares Capital
- Stock #1: Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC | ARCC Price Prediction)
- Yield: 10.26%
- Shares for $310,000: 16,559.8
- Annual Passive Income: ~$31,794.87
Ares Capital is the largest publicly traded BDC. It lends mostly through senior secured loans to middle-market companies, with $29.3 billion spread across 619 portfolio companies as of June 30, 2026. About 71% of the book is floating rate. BDCs pass at least 90% of taxable income through to shareholders, and that interest income is taxed as ordinary income.
Coverage is tight, as second-quarter core EPS came in at $0.47, against the $0.48 quarterly dividend. Management said, “Over the last 12 months, core earnings have exceeded our regular dividend,” and pointed to excess income of $1.38 per share. Non-accruals rose to 2.4% at cost, and NAV slipped to $19.35. Ares Capital has held its regular dividend stable or higher for 68 consecutive quarters. It also launched the BDC sector’s first commercial paper program.
Three Tickers, One Income Stream
| Name | Yield | Annual Dividend Income |
|---|---|---|
| Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF | 3.10% | $9,617.58 |
| VICI Properties | 7.80% | $24,179.74 |
| Ares Capital | 10.26% | $31,794.87 |
| Total | 7.05% | $65,592.19 |
Together, these three holdings produce $65,592.19 in annual income on a $930,000 investment, a combined yield of 7.05%. Ares Capital contributes $31,794.87, VICI adds $24,179.74, and SCHD chips in $9,617.58.
Liquidity is a big part of the appeal for a retiree managing withdrawals. You can sell listed shares in exact fractional amounts to cover a required distribution, a tax bill, or a medical expense, while the rest of the position keeps paying. Owning rental real estate offers no comparable way to sell a small piece when you need cash. That is the whole point of a dividend ladder: living off the checks without touching the shares, and we laid out how to build one in a free guide here.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
