Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF: its payout record since 2020, the income it would have paid someone living on it, and the amount a monthly income takes at today’s yield.
12.34%yield, last 12 months
monthlypayments
$97,200for $1,000 a month
Oct 27, 2026data as of
Since April 2019, RYLD’s price fell 38.7% while it paid out 68.5% of its starting price in distributions: with every payout spent, $10,000 became $6,130 in shares plus $6,850 in cash.
Over the last 12 months RYLD paid $1.89 a share, a 12.34% yield at today’s price, in 12 monthly payments. At that yield, $1,000 a month before taxes takes about $97,200 invested.
From 2020 to 2025 its yearly payout per share fell 5.6% a year, against 4.5% inflation: down 9.6% a year in today’s dollars.
The payout fell by 5% or more from one year to the next in 4 years: 2022 (−16.2%), 2023 (−16.2%), 2024 (−6.6%), 2025 (−7.6%).
$100,000 invested at the start of 2020 with every payout spent paid $9,572 that year and $7,414 over the last 12 months (down 40.4% after inflation); the shares are worth $60,097 today.
What RYLD kept: price against payouts
High payouts can come partly out of the share price. “Price change” is what the shares did; “paid out” is the distributions as a share of the starting price; “income spent” is the two together, what someone living on the payouts got. An ETF’s price stays close to its net asset value (NAV), so the price stands in for NAV.
The amount invested that would have paid each monthly income over the last 12 months, at RYLD’s 12.34% trailing yield, before taxes. Yields move, so the second column uses its lowest calendar-year yield of the last five years (10.31% in 2022).
Monthly income
At today’s yield
At the 2022 yield
$500 a month ($6,000 a year)
$48,600
$58,200
$1,000 a month ($12,000 a year)
$97,200
$116,400
$2,000 a month ($24,000 a year)
$194,500
$232,800
$5,000 a month ($60,000 a year)
$486,200
$582,000
Income on $100,000, year by year
What $100,000 invested at the start of each year would have paid during that year, and the same income in today’s dollars. Years with a payout at least 5% below the year before are marked.
Income in each calendar year on $100,000 invested at the start of that year.
Year
Per share
Income on $100K
In today’s dollars
Price that year
Total return
2025 ↓
$1.83
$11,190
$12,750
-6.4%
+5.5%
2024 ↓
$1.98
$11,845
$12,698
-2.2%
+10.4%
2023 ↓
$2.12
$11,279
$12,449
-10.9%
+0.4%
2022 ↓
$2.53
$10,314
$11,853
-23.3%
-13.5%
2021
$3.02
$13,496
$16,750
+9.1%
+23.3%
2020
$2.44
$9,572
$12,435
-11.4%
-0.3%
Payouts per share; full calendar years only. Today’s dollars use the consumer price index (CPI-U).
If you had lived on it since 2020
$100,000 invested in RYLD on Jan 2, 2020, every payout spent and nothing reinvested.
Income in 2020$9,572$12,435 in today’s dollars
Income, last 12 months$7,414down 40.4% after inflation
Shares worth today$60,097price -39.9%
Income collected$60,803since 2020
The shares’ value (lower line) and the shares plus the income collected so far (upper line), month by month.
Payments and taxes
When it pays
Every month. Payment dates shift a little from year to year; the fund announces each one shortly before it is paid.
Option premiums and dividends
Most of the payout comes from selling options. That part does not qualify for the lower dividend rate: it is usually taxed as ordinary income, and some funds pay part as return of capital, which lowers your cost basis instead. The fund’s year-end tax form (1099-DIV) splits it. Inside an IRA or 401(k), none of it is taxed until you withdraw.
Yield is not a promise
The yield here is what the fund paid over the last 12 months, divided by today’s price. Future payouts depend on what the fund earns, which for option-income funds follows market volatility.
The rest of the record
Fees, holdings, returns and downturns are on the RYLD page.
Turn your savings into a monthly paycheck
ReadyAimRetire builds a month-by-month income plan from all your accounts, Social Security and pensions, and shows how long it lasts, before and after taxes.
About $97,200, at its 12.34% yield over the 12 months to October 2026, before taxes. Yields move: at its lowest calendar-year yield of the last five years (10.31% in 2022) it would take $116,400.
How often does RYLD pay?
Every month.
Has RYLD ever cut its payout?
Yes. Its yearly payout per share fell by 5% or more in 2022 (−16.2%), 2023 (−16.2%), 2024 (−6.6%), 2025 (−7.6%), among the full years 2020–2025.
Did RYLD’s payout keep up with inflation?
No: from 2020 to 2025 the yearly payout per share fell 5.6% a year while prices rose 4.5% a year.
How is RYLD’s income taxed?
Most of the payout comes from selling options. That part does not qualify for the lower dividend rate: it is usually taxed as ordinary income, and some funds pay part as return of capital, which lowers your cost basis instead. The fund’s year-end tax form (1099-DIV) splits it. Inside an IRA or 401(k), none of it is taxed until you withdraw (and in a Roth, not then either, if the rules are met).
Does RYLD have NAV erosion?
Since April 2019 its price fell 38.7% while it paid out 68.5% of the starting price. The payouts returned more than the price lost, but someone spending them was left with fewer dollars invested. (An ETF’s price stays close to its net asset value, so the price stands in for NAV.)
How these figures are built
Payouts: every distribution on record from May 22, 2019 to Oct 27, 2026, per share. A few payments in our data are rounded to the cent, which barely changes yearly totals.
Yield: distributions over the last 12 months divided by the latest price.
Income on $100,000: the shares $100,000 bought at the first price of each year, times that year’s payouts. Prices start Apr 22, 2019 in our data.
Today’s dollars: adjusted with the consumer price index (CPI-U), by calendar-year average.
Cuts: a calendar year whose payout per share was at least 5% below the year before.
Price kept: the share price without distributions; an ETF’s price stays close to its net asset value.
For education only, not a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. Past payouts do not predict future payouts.
