Forget About COLA Increases, These High Yield ETFs Will Do More For You

If 2025 has taught investors thing astir investing, it's that the markets person a caput of their own. Even erstwhile the bulls look to dominate, the bears person had the fortitude to wrestle backmost control, leaving the markets successful flux and investors scrambling to support up. While perks similar 2026 COLA increases tin help, precocious output ETFs could instrumentality you further ahead.

For 2026, the Social Security Administration is penciling successful conscionable a 2.8% COLA, based connected the alteration successful the CPI-W betwixt the 3rd 4th of 2024 and the 3rd 4th of 2025. Meanwhile, ostentation continues to emergence astatine a faster clip of astir 3%. Retirees are looking astatine a humble bump that whitethorn hardly support gait with terms increases connected the astir basal of items, which is precisely wherefore galore income-focused investors are turning to high-yield ETFs to bash the dense lifting instead.

In that case, we person spotted a brace of high-yield ETFs that are poised bash much for you than COLA increases successful 2026. These see the State Street Blackstone High Income ETF (HYBL), paying monthly, and the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (SPYD), making quarterly distributions.

• Social Security’s 2.8% COLA for 2026 trails ostentation moving adjacent 3%.

• HYBL offers a 7.2% output with monthly distributions and has raised its yearly payout for 2 consecutive years.

• SPYD tracks the 80 highest dividend-yielding S&P 500 stocks and charges conscionable 0.07% successful fees.

• A caller survey identified 1 azygous wont that doubled Americans’ status savings and moved status from dream, to reality. Read much here.

With astir $545 cardinal successful assets nether management, the State Street Blackstone High Income ETF (HYBL) tops our list. With a dividend output of 7.2%, HYBL acold outpaces Uncle Sam's humble 2.8% COLA increase. The HYBL ETF, managed by State Street and Blackstone, strategy is to make beardown full returns with precocious income portion keeping volatility little than the broader enslaved and recognition markets implicit time. To bash so, it spreads investments crossed high-yield firm bonds, elder loans, equity and U.S. CLO indebtedness tranches utilizing criteria specified arsenic macroeconomic trends, marketplace conditions, fundamentals and its ain recognition analysis.

Top holdings see State Street Blackstone Senior Loan ETF, Fair Isaac Corp 4%, JetBlue Airways Corp / JetBlue Loyalty LP 9.875% and Cloud Software Group/Balboa/Citrix, among others. With wide assemblage allocation, this ETF reflects economical diversification with an accent connected beneath concern people recognition prime assets. In 2025, HYBL's NAV is up 7.1%.