Retirement Fortress vs Test Aaron

How $10,000 would have grown in each — compared across total return, income, NAV, and risk.

Compared over their common history since Jan 2023.

Judge on

Window

WinnerRetirement Fortress

Low riskLow reward

2.4%

yield · $20/mo per $10k

Test Aaron

High riskMedium reward

7.7%

yield · $64/mo per $10k

Retirement Fortress wins on total return (2–0, full common history).

Growth of $10,000 (dividends reinvested)

Retirement FortressTest AaronDistributions reinvested · hypothetical, fixed weights

Total Return2–0

53.5%

Total Ret.

52.0%

13.6%

CAGR

13.2%

Income0–3

2.4%

Yield

7.7%

$20

Income

$64

0.51

Steadiness

0.33

Principal / NAV0–2

39.6%

NAV

41.2%

-12.5%

Max DD

-11.4%

Riskeven

10.5

Risk-Adj.

4.0

1.64

Sortino

1.91

12.2%

Volatility

10.1%

1.9

Safety

3.6

Holdings overlap

20% overlap

Retirement Fortress only

VYM 25%DGRO 20%VIG 15%DVY 10%

Shared

SCHD 30%

Test Aaron only

JEPI 40%QQQH 40%

The risk-first read

Retirement Fortress wins. Test Aaron dangles a bigger 7.7% headline yield, but after NAV erosion its total return (52.0%) trails Retirement Fortress's 53.5% — and at a higher risk tier (3.6 vs 1.9). The classic yield trap.

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Run your own matchups

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Growth is a hypothetical, fixed-weight backtest with distributions reinvested at ex-date since Jan 2023 — no fees or taxes; past performance doesn't predict future results. How these numbers are computed. Not investment advice.