Social Security cuts a check that looks fine on paper and thin at the grocery store. The average benefit sits at $2,082 a month, and the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment came in at 2.8%. Meanwhile the Consumer Price Index climbed from 322.169 in July 2025 to 332.568 in June 2026, and the typical U.S. household spent $78,535 in 2024. The math is unforgiving. That is why four income ETFs deserve a look: NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF (CBOE:SPYI), iShares Core High Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:HDV), Global X U.S. Preferred ETF (NYSEARCA:PFFD), and WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (NASDAQ:DGRW).
The Gap You Are Actually Trying to Close
A $2,082 monthly benefit works out to roughly $25,000 a year. The average household spends more than three times that. Even a 1.68% national average 12-month CD barely covers the rounding error on your grocery bill. You need cash flowing every month, and you need at least one holding that grows faster than inflation so your future self is not stuck in the same corner. These four funds attack that problem from four different angles.
SPYI: Monthly Income From the S&P 500
SPYI owns the S&P 500 and layers a call-option strategy on top to generate premium income. The fund has grown to roughly $6.9 billion in net assets and carries an expense ratio of 0.68%, meaning you keep about $9,932 of every $10,000 working for you each year. It pays monthly. The July 2026 distribution was $0.53 per share, and the fund has paid out $6.31 per share over the trailing 12 months, with a forward annualized rate of $6.36. On a recent price of $52.26, that is a high-single-digit yield that lands in your account every month.
The tradeoff is participation. Covered calls cap upside, so SPYI gained 15.71% over the past year while SPY returned 16.41%. You are trading a slice of appreciation for a fatter monthly check. For a retiree, that is often the right trade.
HDV: Blue-Chip Dividends, Defensively Tilted
HDV holds $13.57 billion in older, cash-generating names. The top of the book reads like a retiree’s shopping list: Exxon Mobil at 8.42%, Chevron at 6.43%, Johnson & Johnson at 5.68%, AbbVie at 5.44%, and Procter & Gamble at 4.46%. Energy, healthcare, consumer staples, and utilities dominate. Those sectors sell things people buy in every economic weather.
The fund is also pulling its weight on total return, up 22.41% over the past year and 18.70% year to date. Concentration is real: the top 10 holdings represent roughly 51.8% of assets, so a bad quarter for Big Oil can sting.
PFFD: Preferred Stock as a Cash Machine
PFFD holds more than 200 preferred stock positions across roughly $2.25 billion in assets. Preferreds sit above common stock in the capital stack and typically pay fixed distributions. Translation: less growth, more predictable income. PFFD has paid $0.10 per share every month in 2026, for a $1.20 annualized rate on a share price of $18.39. That is a mid-single-digit yield delivered like clockwork.
Top exposures include Boeing at 4.64%, Albemarle at 3.00%, and heavy positions across Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and NextEra Energy. Preferreds move with interest rates, which is why PFFD is up just 0.38% year to date. You are buying it for the coupon.
DGRW: The Inflation Answer
DGRW screens U.S. companies for return on equity, return on assets, and expected dividend growth. Its monthly distributions have compounded into real numbers: a trailing 12-month payout of $1.22 per share and a $1.92 forward annualized rate. The share price sits at $95, and total return has been the point: up 12.20% over one year, 69.02% over five years, and 252.88% over 10 years. That is the fund whose job is to keep your purchasing power ahead of the CPI.
The Real Tradeoff
None of these funds are riskless. SPYI’s covered calls will lag in a raging bull market. HDV concentrates in a handful of mega-caps. PFFD moves with interest rates and can drift sideways for years. DGRW pays the smallest current yield of the four. Owned together, though, they cover the bases a Social Security check cannot: monthly cash flow, defensive dividends, fixed-rate income, and long-term growth. For a retiree watching bills outrun a 2.8% COLA, that combination is worth the homework.
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