I’m 17 and Considering ULTY. Is This Investment Too Risky for My Future?

Key Points

Young, ambitious investors may be lured by the ULTY ETF’s eye-catching distribution yield.
A teenage investor can give ULTY a try, but cautionary guidelines should be followed.
It sounds nuts, but SoFi is giving new active invest users up to $1k in stock, see for yourself (Sponsor)

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By David Moadel Published Sep 9, 2025 at 9:47 AM EDT

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I’m 17 and Considering ULTY. Is This Investment Too Risky for My Future? — © Canva: Ben Gingell from Getty Images and PublicDomainPictures from pixabay

It’s normal for a teenager to be eager, ambitious and a little bit rebellious. Hence, it’s easy to see why a mega-yield exchange-traded fund (ETF) like the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:ULTY) might capture the attention of a youthful investor.

At least one teenage Reddit user, it seems, is going all-in; according to a posting, he’s investing his entire $9,300 account in shares of the ULTY ETF. He told the Reddit community that he’s 17 years old and asked, “y’all think this is too risky?”

He might get the last laugh if his account’s value doubles or triples. On the other hand, even with its massive yield, there are drawbacks to the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF. Hopefully, he’ll take some risk-mitigation measures to avoid potential problems down the road.

Does He Know What He Owns?

An old saying in the financial markets says, “Know what you own.” This leads us to the question of whether the 17-year-old Reddit poster really knows what’s inside of the ULTY ETF.

I just checked the holdings list of the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF and found that it holds stock shares and/or option positions on 21 stocks. That’s a decent amount of diversification, but there’s a high degree of risk involved because many of the stocks on ULTY’s holdings list are fast movers.

Some of the stocks included in the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF are IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), new S&P 500 member Applovin (NASDAQ:APP), Reddit (NYSE:RDDT), Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB), Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) and Oklo (NYSE:OKLO). Does this young investor realize how volatile these stocks can be?

Maybe yes, or maybe no. One might also wonder whether the Reddit poster knows how that the ULTY ETF uses options-trading strategies to generate income. For example, the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF may sell covered calls and/or covered call spreads for income.

Big Income Comes With Big Risks

What he probably does know is that the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF advertises a substantial annual dividend/distribution yield. Just recently, the ULTY ETF featured an expected annualized distribution rate of 85.09%.

Additionally, the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF delivers its cash distributions to the shareholders on a weekly basis. With regular reinvestment and through the compounding effect, it might be possible to achieve 100% or better returns with ULTY.

Or at least, that’s what the teenage Reddit poster might assume. However, YieldMax could reduce the ULTY ETF’s distribution at any time in the future.

Furthermore, the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF requires that the shareholders must pay operating fees. Specifically, the fund automatically deducts 1.3% of the share price per year (after a fee waiver is applied).

On top of that, the same covered call selling strategies that allow the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF to generate huge income can also limit the share price’s potential upside. The 17-year-old Reddit poster may eventually discover that the ULTY ETF’s share price could decline quickly in some scenarios.

As of Sept. 8, 2025, the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF’s share price declined 46.41% over the preceding 12 months. This would have offset some of the gains made through ULTY’s weekly cash distributions.

Start Young and Be Smart

Some of the folks on Reddit congratulated the teenage ULTY investor for starting his journey to prosperity at an early age. I will echo that sentiment, but I would also claim that there are smart ways to invest in the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF.

I wouldn’t want a 17-year-old investor to get into the habit of going all-in on one fund, especially if it’s a high-risk ETF like ULTY. A smart move for the long term would be to diversify into at least a few relatively low-risk funds, such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) and the Vanguard Value ETF (NYSEARCA:VTV).

Next, apply the “Know what you own” principle by thoroughly investigating the holdings lists of the ETFs in your account. If you don’t believe strongly in the stocks in the holdings lists, then you shouldn’t own those particular ETFs.

Then, consider looking outside of Reddit for financial guidance. There’s nothing wrong with seeking an experienced real-life mentor, such as a licensed financial advisor.

One final note: you’ll definitely want to select a high-quality broker to trade the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF and other funds and stocks. A good broker will provide access to tools to maximize your profit potential and expand your knowledge base, which certainly can’t hurt when you’re a young investor.