Quick Read
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A 67-year-old couple needs roughly $2.02 million invested at a 6.2% blended yield to generate $10,500 monthly without selling shares.
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Split evenly between FDL (3.7% yield, $37,400/year) and EOS (8.8% yield, $88,600/year), EOS carries most of the income load.
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EOS's payout history shows cuts are possible, and a reduction in its $1.83 annual distribution would quickly widen the monthly income gap.
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A 67-year-old couple sits down with their statements and asks one question: can this money pay us $10,500 a month without running dry? That's $126,000 a year. If they split the money evenly between two income funds, they'd need about $2.02 million. That figure assumes a blended yield of roughly 6.2%, based on prices and payouts pulled in late October 2026.
Most couples this age also collect Social Security. It usually covers part of their monthly spending, so many only need a portfolio to fill the gap. In this example, the portfolio must cover the full $10,500 on its own.
Neither fund guarantees its payout, and the income can rise or fall from year to year. Here, "for life" means a portfolio built to keep paying from its distributions, so the couple doesn't have to sell shares to cover their bills.
First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund
First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund( NYSEARCA:FDL ) is an index fund of U.S. companies picked for a record of dividends they look able to keep paying. It weights companies by the dollars they pay in dividends, so the biggest payers get the biggest weight. The fund has about $7.3 billion in net assets.
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It gets half the portfolio, or about $1.01 million. The share price is near $52, and the fund paid $1.94 per share over the last 12 months. That's a trailing yield of about 3.7%. If you annualize the latest quarterly payment instead, you get about 3.9%. Using the trailing figure, FDL adds roughly $37,400 a year.
Concentration is the thing to know about this fund. Its two biggest holdings, Chevron( NYSE:CVX ) and Verizon Communications( NYSE:VZ ), made up 7.4% and 7.2% of the fund in its June holdings report. After those two, it leans on utilities, tobacco, packaged food, drug makers, and banks.
The quarterly checks also bounce around. The latest one was $0.51 per share, while the March payment was $0.40. First Trust posts the expense ratio and the 30-day SEC yield on its fact sheet, and the SEC yield is a standard measure of the last month's income after fees.
Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund II
Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund II( NYSE:EOS ) is a closed-end fund. It has a fixed number of shares and trades on the exchange like a stock. Investors buy and sell those shares among themselves, so the price can drift above the value of what the fund owns (a premium) or below it (a discount). That underlying value is called net asset value, or NAV.
The fund owns large-cap growth stocks and sells call options on them. A call option gives someone else the right to buy a stock at a set price. The fund gets paid up front for selling that right. That adds to its income, but it gives up some of the gain when stocks jump.
EOS gets the other half, about $1.01 million. It pays $0.1523 per share every month, or $1.83 a year. At a price near $21, that's a distribution rate of about 8.8% on the market price. At this size, EOS brings in roughly $88,600 a year.
This payout has changed before, and that's the one thing to know about EOS. It was $0.1373 a month in 2021 and 2022, then dropped to $0.1152 from 2023 into early 2024. The share price is down about 5% over the past year.
Eaton Vance issues distribution notices that estimate how much of each payout is a return of capital, meaning part of the payout is simply invested principal being returned. Those notices, along with the fund's NAV and its premium or discount, show whether the payout is being earned or partly paid out of principal.
Risks Inside a Two-Fund Income Plan
Two funds make a concentrated portfolio. EOS supplies most of the income, and option income moves with market volatility. Calm markets usually mean smaller option payments. A closed-end fund bought at a premium can also lose value if that premium shrinks, even when its holdings stay the same.
The plan takes about $2.02 million. The FDL half pays the steadier income because it comes straight from company dividends, and its share price is up about 26% over the past year. The EOS half pays the bigger check, but that check can change more.
The one number to track each year is EOS's annual distribution per share, now $1.83. If it gets cut, the gap toward $10,500 a month widens quickly. Our free Paycheck Portfolio Method guide covers the mix, timing, and withdrawal order for building a payout calendar from regular savings.
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