Retirement Fortress vs The Middle Path 269

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

Compared over their common history since Jan 2026.

Judge on

Window

WinnerRetirement Fortress

Low riskLow reward

2.4%

yield · $20/mo per $10k

The Middle Path 269

Medium riskLow reward

3.4%

yield · $29/mo per $10k

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

Growth of $10,000 (dividends reinvested)

Retirement FortressThe Middle Path 269Distributions reinvested · hypothetical, fixed weights

Total Return2–0

9.0%

Total Ret.

5.7%

26.8%

CAGR

16.5%

Income1–2

2.4%

Yield

3.4%

$20

Income

$29

0.07

Steadiness

0.76

Principal / NAVeven

8.4%

NAV

4.5%

-5.6%

Max DD

-4.0%

Risk3–1

10.8

Risk-Adj.

5.1

4.25

Sortino

3.30

10.9%

Volatility

8.5%

1.9

Safety

2.5

Holdings overlap

0% overlap

Retirement Fortress only

SCHD 30%VYM 25%DGRO 20%VIG 15%DVY 10%

Shared

No shared holdings

The Middle Path 269 only

FDL 13%SCHH 13%BKLN 13%CGCP 13%IDV 13%JAAA 13%VNQ 12%IYR 12%

The risk-first read

Retirement Fortress wins. The Middle Path 269 dangles a bigger 3.4% headline yield, but after NAV erosion its total return (5.7%) trails Retirement Fortress's 9.0% — and at a higher risk tier (2.5 vs 1.9). The classic yield trap.

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Growth is a hypothetical, fixed-weight backtest with distributions reinvested at ex-date since Jan 2026 — no fees or taxes; past performance doesn't predict future results. How these numbers are computed. Not investment advice.