Liz,

The following needs to be double checked. But it suggests why being able to do the math is important. Schwab's scanner returns 89 ETFs that pay a monthly div and have an SEC 30-day yield greater than 6%. Of them, three focus on emerging market debt. Schwab reports their yields as follows:

EMLC, 6.88%
FEMB, 6.85%
ELD, 6.78%

Nearly 7% might seem attractive. But let's dig a bit deeper. When you pull the past 12 months' of dives and divide the sum by the current price of the ETF to estimate annual yield, you get a different projection:

EMLC, 5.71%
FEMB, 6.11%
ELD, 5.10%

Now comes the real killer. The 17-week T-Bill is offering 5.216% and its interest is state-tax exempt. I can't find my state tax rate on divs, but let's assume 15%. Therefore, for an ETF to match the T-bill, it would have to offer 6.14%, and the ETF is subject to market risk, and the price could easily go down, down, down, meaning, more could be lost on price than than gained from divs.

NO THANKS. I'll pass. However, some of the other ETFs report divs in excess of 10%, and they might be worth considering. It all depends on their math, their charts, their prospects, and one's tolerance for risk.

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