Turning $170k Into a Weekly Income Machine With YieldMax

Can an investor take a six-figure account and transform it into a weekly paycheck generator? I wanted to test this out, so I looked to YieldMax for its high-yielding exchange traded funds (ETFs) that offer distributions every single week.

Even though some commentators don’t like YieldMax’s funds, I still wanted to jump headfirst into the mega-yield pool with my $170,000 account. Within a matter of days, I already saw weekly cash distributions in my investment account, courtesy of YieldMax’s ETFs.

After a while, however, I started to notice that those cash payments weren’t “free” or risk-free money. High yields and frequent payouts come with certain risks, and investors should consider both the advantages and the possible problems with YieldMax’s weekly-paying funds.

Finding YieldMax ETFs That Pay Each Week

I didn’t want to put all of my eggs in one basket, so I decided to divide my $170,000 account into three equal allocations of $56,666 or $56,667. Each of the following weekly-paying YieldMax ETFs would get one-third of my $170,000 account:

• The YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:ULTY): 86.04% annual distribution rate; 1.3% annualized operating expenses (automatically deducted from the share price) after fee waiver
• The YieldMax Magnificent 7 Fund of Option Income ETFs (NYSEARCA:YMAG): 53.42% annual distribution rate; 1.12% annualized operating expenses
• The YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs (NYSEARCA:YMAX): 88.53% annual distribution rate; 1.28% annualized operating expenses

The operating fees of these three YieldMax funds are somewhat high, but I figured that the monster yields would make up for the operating expenses. My primary concern was that the three weekly-paying YieldMax ETFs should provide sufficient diversification. 

To start off, the ULTY ETF currently holds stock-share and option-contract positions in 25 stocks (by my count as of August 15, 2025). These stocks include Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB), Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM), IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), Applovin (NASDAQ:APP), Oklo (NYSE:OKLO) and Reddit (NYSE:RDDT).

Seeking Further Diversification

Those stocks can be quite volatile, so I wanted to find other weekly-distributing YieldMax funds with different holdings for more diversification. After doing some digging, I discovered the YMAG ETF.

I thought that I could reduce the volatility factor with YMAG because its constituent ETFs hold share and option positions on the Magnificent Seven mega-cap names. These seven blue-chip businesses are Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Then, to diversify even further, I committed one-third of my $170,000 account toward the YMAX ETF. This is a “fund of funds” that holds share positions in a variety of YieldMax funds. Some of these are the YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:PLTY), the YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:APLY), the YieldMax JPM Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:JPMO) and the YieldMax Gold Miners Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:GDXY).

Discovering the Risks

I must admit, it felt good to collect cash distributions week in and week out with these three YieldMax ETFs. At first, I felt like there’s no way to lose with a $170,000 account divided equally into ULTY, YMAG, and YMAX.

Over time, however, I learned that these YieldMax funds involve certain risks. First of all, the aforementioned annual operating expenses will drag down the share prices of the three YieldMax ETFs.

Second, there’s no guarantee that the currently advertised annual distribution rates of these three YieldMax funds will continue into the future. At any moment, YieldMax could reduce the yields of one, two, or all three of the ETFs I’ve mentioned.

Additionally, there’s the risk that the YieldMax funds’ share prices could decline. YieldMax’s ETFs often use covered call option trading strategies that limit the funds’ potential share-price upside; in some instances, the share prices can decline sharply. 

I found this out firsthand with the three YieldMax funds in my $170,000 account. While I was busy collecting weekly distribution paychecks, I observed the ULTY ETF losing around 48% in share-price value during the past year.

Meanwhile, the YMAG ETF’s share price took a 19% haircut over the past 12 months.

During the same time frame, the share price of the YMAX ETF declined by nearly 28%.

Weighing the Pros and Cons

Between ULTY, YMAG, and YMAX, it’s definitely possible to achieve broad diversification with a $170,000 account. These three YieldMax ETFs collectively cover dozens of stocks and/or options, including the famous Magnificent Seven names; this should reduce the risk of share-price volatility somewhat.

Besides the diversification aspect of this investment strategy, I was also able to collect weekly distributions and capture high yields. That’s all fine and well, but I eventually discovered that these YieldMax funds involve risks.

Even though the weekly cash payouts felt great, it wasn’t enjoyable to watch the share prices of ULTY, YMAG, and YMAX fall over the long run. It also concerned me that the distribution rates of the three YieldMax ETFs fluctuated and could possibly get cut in the future. 

Due to these risks, I chose to take profits and sell the YieldMax funds in my $170,000 account. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t own these ETFs, though. Just be sure to conduct your full due diligence on ULTY, YMAG, and YMAX, and don’t invest too hastily like I did.

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