Explore Public Nests

Look, most of us have money sitting in our checking account doing absolutely nothing. Banks love that — they lend it out and make money while you earn $0. This nest flips that. It's 75% US Treasury bills (the safest investment on the planet — literally backed by the government) and 25% short-term bonds and international dividend stocks for a little extra juice. You're not gonna get rich off this. That's not the point. The point is your $2,000 sitting idle could be earning $7-8/month instead of $0. It's like finding money in your couch cushions, except it happens every month. Set a 2-3% threshold and let it do its thing. Worst case? You basically break even. Best case? Your money finally stops being lazy.

No fancy options strategies. No complex derivatives. Just ownership in hundreds of the best dividend-paying companies on earth at the lowest cost possible — 0.09% total fees. That's 91 cents a year on every $1,000 invested. SCHD gives you 100 top US dividend growers. VYM adds 500+ more. VYMI and SCHY take you global across 40+ countries. And 10% sits in Treasury bills as a cushion. These companies — think Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Toyota — have been paying dividends through recessions, pandemics, and everything else. The returns here come more from stock prices going up over time than from big monthly payments, so set a 5% threshold and give it 5-8 months. If you want to keep things dead simple and cheap, this is your nest.

This is for people who are comfortable with some ups and downs in exchange for real income. We're talking 6 ETFs spread across US tech income (JEPQ), defensive income (JEPI), quality dividend growers (SCHD, VYM), and international markets (VYMI, SCHY). JEPQ alone pays over 10% a year in monthly distributions — that's real cash hitting your account every single month regardless of what the market does that week. Combined with JEPI's 8%, the distributions alone push you toward your threshold even in flat markets. Yes, this nest can drop 6-12% in a bad quarter. That's the trade-off. But historically it bounces back, and those monthly payments keep stacking while you wait. Set a 5-7% threshold. Be patient. The math works if you give it time.

I built this nest because I wanted something that actually pays me every month without keeping me up at night. Half the money goes into safe stuff — Treasury bills that basically can't lose value. The other half goes into JEPI (which pays ~8% a year through a smart options strategy), SCHD (100 of the best dividend companies in America), and international stocks through VYMI and SCHY so we're not betting everything on one country. Every month, JEPI and the Treasury ETFs pay out. Every quarter, the dividend stocks kick in. It all adds up. At a 5% threshold, you're looking at a payout roughly every 5-7 months. Not instant, but way better than watching your cash earn nothing. This is the nest I'd tell my friends to start with.

This nest tracks the Nancy Pelosi stocks investments