Welcome to OppenFolio, my personal attempt to build a fusion nuclear reactor using the stock market.

Okay, maybe a better description is: a data-driven, semi-automated, high-dividend portfolio using a class barbell design to manage risk.

Or maybe it’s just: Can we extract enough real cash from YieldMax ETFs before their NAV erosion catches up?

Or, fine, Can we earn money from the market faster than we lose it?

However you want to frame it, this is an experiment. And yeah, it’s my real money on the line. You can check oppenfolio.com right now to see exactly how much, the whole thing is fully public, from structure to a detailed trade audit log. But this still isn’t something you should blindly try at home. This post is my attempt to introduce the project and explain why I’m doing it.

The Fusion Core and Its Containment Shell

OppenFolio really is designed like a nuclear fusion reactor. There’s a shell, mostly made of high-income, relatively stable ETFs like JEPI, VRP, and PFFA. And then there’s the reactive core, volatile, high-yield beasts like NVDY that power the whole machine.

Let’s back up.

What Are ETFs?

An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is like buying a slice of someone else’s portfolio. Vanguard, for example, builds tons of them. If you’ve ever had a 401k, you probably own some. They execute a strategy, publish their risk docs, and let you buy shares in the whole portfolio.

Those shares trade just like stocks. You can look up VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF) on any broker and it’ll sit there next to AAPL or TSLA. But you’re not buying a company. You’re buying a seat in someone else’s ride.

Some ETFs pay dividends, like companies do, monthly, quarterly, or even weekly. These are actual cash payouts you can withdraw or reinvest.

Why Monthly Payouts?

OppenFolio isn’t trying to “buy and hold until retirement.” It’s not chasing long-term growth. It’s asking:

What can I buy right now that pays me actual money in the shortest timeframe possible?

It’s closer to owning a cash-flow rental property than a 30-year IRA. But instead of fixing toilets, I just run a script and buy what it tells me to.

Enter: The YieldMax Monsters

Let’s talk about NVDY, one of the core holdings.

This thing is wild. Your broker will probably show you red warnings just for looking at it. And you should take those seriously.

Its expense ratio is 1.27%. That means for every $100, YieldMax keeps $1.27 annually just for managing it. Compare that to VUG’s 0.04% and yeah, it sounds insane.

But NVDY isn’t just passively holding assets. It’s actively writing covered call options on Nvidia, using leverage, meaning it borrows against your money to amplify the returns. You’re not leveraged. They are.

For this, you get an annual dividend yield around 94%. Some YieldMax ETFs push 150%+.

Yes, more than double your investment annually, on paper.

Is it risky? Incredibly. That’s why you don’t do it yourself. You let them eat the risk and pay them 1.27% to do it.

But What About NAV Decay?

The danger is NAV decay, the net asset value falling as underlying assets get eroded.

When these ETFs write options and lose, they often have to sell safe assets (like treasury bonds) to keep writing new calls. Over time, this can destroy NAV, dragging the price toward penny-stock territory. Think MRNY, it collapsed from ~$20 to $2.

You can still earn income at that level, but if you bought in high, you’re unlikely to recover.

The OppenFolio Thesis

So here’s the gamble: If the total dividends earned while holding something like NVDY outweigh the NAV drop by the time we sell, we win.

That’s the whole game.

We ride these volatile assets until the NAV decay crosses a threshold, then rotate into new ones. Sometimes we take profits. Sometimes we don’t. But the goal is to stay net positive on cash flow, not paper gains.

Why Not Just YOLO YieldMax?

Because it’s a one-way ticket to blowing up your account.

That’s why OppenFolio uses a protective shell, about 80% of the portfolio, made up of stable, income-focused ETFs that yield 6–9%. No leverage. No insanity. Just ballast.

This shell contains the blast radius of the core. It keeps the whole structure from falling apart.

Humans Are the Problem

NAV drops. People panic. They sell.

OppenFolio doesn’t do that. It waits. It monitors. It calculates. And it only acts when the math says to act.

All of this is driven by Python scripts and real data. Every few days, when dividends hit the account, the system runs:

  • Should we rotate anything out?
  • What’s the best asset to add?
  • Or should we sit and wait?

That’s the Reactor.

A high-yield dividend engine powered by calculated decay.

YieldMax symbols are the fuel. The shell is the structure. The system is transparent, real-time, and updated constantly.

If this fascinates you, follow along. We’ll be posting more about how the scripts work, how we track NAV decay, how we define “safe,” and whether this experiment is even sustainable.

This is OppenFolio.

You can always reach me at [email protected] if you want to go deeper.

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and reflects personal opinions, not financial advice. OppenFolio is not an investment advisory service. See site disclaimer for full details.