Treasuries Pay 4 Percent. These 3 ETFs Pay Nearly Double and You Can Sell Them Any Day You Want.

SJNK, ANGL, and VRP offer substantially more income than short-term Treasuries while preserving daily liquidity. The tradeoff for yields approaching the 6% to 7% range is credit and market risk that Treasury investors do not face.

SJNK and ANGL take two different approaches to high-yield bonds. SJNK limits interest-rate sensitivity with shorter maturities, while ANGL targets higher-quality "fallen angels" that were investment grade before being downgraded.

VRP offers a different route through floating-rate preferred securities. Its structure can benefit when short-term rates stay elevated, but falling rates can reduce distributions, and its heavy financial-sector exposure adds another source of risk.

With the 1-year Treasury yielding about 4% and the 6-month bill just under 4%, income investors face a familiar dilemma. Lock money up in a CD or an individual bond and you know your coupon, but you give up flexibility. Reach for higher yield in credit, and you take on default risk. The three ETFs in this piece, SPDR Bloomberg Short Term High Yield Bond ETF ( NYSEARCA:SJNK ), VanEck Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF ( NASDAQ:ANGL ), and Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF ( NYSEARCA:VRP ), each throw off distribution income in the neighborhood of double the short Treasury benchmark while trading on major exchanges any minute the market is open.

That liquidity is the secondary hook. A five-year Treasury or a bank CD punishes you for exiting early. These funds settle in two days and price continuously. The tradeoff is real credit risk, which Treasuries do not carry.

SJNK: Short-Duration Junk With Less Rate Whiplash

SJNK holds high-yield corporate bonds that mature inside five years, tracking the Bloomberg US High Yield 350mn Cash Pay 0-5 Yr 2% Capped Index. That short maturity is the whole point. Standard junk-bond funds carry duration in the four-year range, which means a rate spike can carve a meaningful chunk out of principal. SJNK's shorter profile absorbs less of that hit while still pocketing the credit spread over Treasuries.

What Happens After A $1,000,000 Retirement?

How do you continue to grow a seven-figure portfolio in retirement? The last thing you want is to run out of money, you want your money to generate lasting income while you enjoy your life.

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