Ep. 103: The Yield Is Only Half the Story — Total Return, NAV Erosion & What You Actually Keep

6 sources on one throughline — the headline yield is only half the story; what does the investor actually keep after total return, NAV erosion, and taxes? (1) Our XOM vs CVX featured piece — the lower-yielding, better-covered name (XOM 2.82% yield, 64% payout) delivered the HIGHER 1yr total return (~+31% vs CVX ~+25%) despite CVX's 3.83% yield and 107% payout. (2) ETF Trends — only 21% of active funds beat their index over 10yrs and active corp-bond success cratered to 4% in 2025, but a few active fixed-income ETFs earn their fee: NSCI (+2.30% vs 0.98% index), FUSI (5.14% vs 4.12%), FSYD, IROC. (3) OVF Overlay Shares Foreign Equity ETF — ~10% monthly distribution, 0.83% ER, 'no price decay' claim to pressure-test on NAV path vs ACWI ex-US. (4) Millrose Properties (MRP) — new REIT spun from Lennar, 9%+ (near-11%) yield, ~12% discount to book, pays out essentially all AFFO (~$3.30 target 2026), 3.2x leverage. (5) Pipelines EPD (6%, 27yr growth), ET (7%, Oracle data-center deals), KMI (4%, C-corp 1099 vs MLP K-1) — durable contract-backed income riding LNG+data-center demand. (6) JEPQ vs QQQI — same ~14% headline Nasdaq income, but QQQI's Section 1256 60/40 + ROC beats JEPQ's ordinary-income ELN structure in taxable accounts; edge disappears in an IRA where JEPQ's 0.35% fee wins.