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Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:49:29 +0000
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As Buffett Ends His Legendary Career, These Were His 5 Best Investments
Fri, 18 Sep 2026 11:49:29 +0000
The post As Buffett Ends His Legendary Career, These Were His 5 Best Investments appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..
“Father Time always wins.” That was Warren Buffett’s line, according to The New York Times, on September 18, 2026, the day he announced he was stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. The New York Times reported he named his son to replace him, identified by Yahoo Finance as Howard. The Australian Financial Review noted he is stepping down at 96.
Berkshire got a new operator about a year ago, when Greg Abel became chief executive, and reporting on September 2, 2026 noted from finance.biggo.com that Berkshire shares barely budged in his first year. Chairman was the last title Buffett held, which is what makes today the actual close of one of the longest runs anyone has ever had at this job.
What follows is a walk through the five largest positions on Berkshire’s most recent 13F, disclosed as of June 30, 2026 and filed August 14, 2026. That filing describes what Berkshire held at the end of June and disclosed in August, so it is a portrait of a moment rather than a live account of what sits in the portfolio this morning. It also covers only US-listed equity. Some of Buffett’s finest calls, GEICO, See’s Candies, BNSF, do not appear here at all, because he bought the entire company rather than a slice of one. The filing captures half of what he built.
Apple, the Position That Rewrote the Book
The largest disclosed position was Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), at 227,917,808 shares worth $65,950,296,923, representing 22.038266729497398% of the disclosed portfolio and 1.561703418760081% of Apple itself, according to Australian Financial Review. Apple designs the iPhone, the Mac, and the services stack that now hangs off both.
Fundamentally, Apple sits at a P/E of 44 with ROE of 171.4%, and its fiscal Q3 2026 report showed EPS of $2.02 versus $1.89 expected on revenue of $109.42B, up 16.4% year over year. Nine-month buybacks ran to $62.09B through June 27, 2026. Tim Cook told analysts Apple had its “strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment.” That Buffett let a single technology company grow into more than a fifth of the disclosed book is itself the point.
American Express, the Position That Started in the Salad Oil Scandal
American Express (NYSE:AXP) was second at 151,610,700 shares valued at $51,282,319,275, or 17.136745146261052% of the portfolio. Amex runs the closed-loop card and network that anchors the premium payments franchise Buffett has admired since the 1960s, according to Australian Financial Review.
Q2 2026 delivered EPS of $4.53 against $4.40 expected on revenue of $19.64B, with billed business of $455.8B, up 9%. Management raised FY26 revenue growth guidance to 10% and maintained EPS guidance of $17.30 to $17.90. CEO Stephen Squeri described the premium proposition this way: “a great premium value proposition is not just a product. It’s a multifaceted relationship between the brand and the customer.” The quarterly dividend has climbed to $0.95 per share. Six decades on, the thesis still reads like the same one.
Coca-Cola, and Owning a Tenth of the Company
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) is the position that best captures the Buffett method. Berkshire disclosed exactly 400,000,000 shares worth $32,508,000,000, a stake equal to 9.296814516232121% of the entire company, according to Australian Financial Review. He owned close to a tenth of Coca-Cola.
The business earned it. Q2 2026 delivered adjusted EPS of $0.97, revenue of $13.38B up 6.7%, and management raised FY26 guidance to comparable EPS growth of 9% to 10% and free cash flow of ~$12.4B. The quarterly dividend has climbed from $0.16 in 1999 to $0.53 today. New CEO Henrique Braun described the machine as “the strength of our total beverage portfolio” operating across “more than 200 countries and territories.” A brand held since the late 1980s, still compounding.
Alphabet, the Regret That Became a Holding
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) came in at 78,791,167 Class A shares worth $28,157,599,351, or 9.40927810657434% of the portfolio. Berkshire’s filings historically report GOOGL and GOOG separately, and both classes represent the same company. Buffett had publicly called missing Google early one of his regrets, and eventually a position was established.
The fundamentals now look like a Buffett stock. Alphabet trades at a P/E of 15 with operating margin of 32.1% and ROE of 35.7%. Q2 2026 revenue was $119.80B, up 24.2%, with Google Cloud revenue of $24.77B, up 82%. Sundar Pichai told analysts “nearly 90% of the Fortune 100 using Gemini Enterprise.” The consensus analyst target sits at $428.07, with 13 strong buy, 45 buy, and 5 hold ratings. Better late than never.
Bank of America, the Warrant Deal That Became Common Stock
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rounded out the top five at 483,394,015 shares valued at $27,543,790,975, or 9.204164963158451% of the portfolio, according to Australian Financial Review. The position originated in Buffett’s 2011 preferred and warrant deal, later converted into common stock.
Q2 2026 was one of the better quarters the bank has printed: EPS of $1.21 versus $1.12 expected, revenue of $31.56B, and net income of $9.07B, up 27.5% year over year. Global Markets sales and trading came in at $7.2 billion, up 33%, with equities revenue at a record $3.6 billion, up 70%. CEO Brian Moynihan framed it plainly: “Our results show organic growth, operating leverage, and efficiency ratio improvement in every business segment.” A crisis-era rescue turned into a decade-plus core bank holding.
What the Top Five Says About Buffett’s Approach
Concentration is the through line. One consumer electronics company held 22.038266729497398% of the disclosed portfolio, one card network held 17.136745146261052%, and one soft-drink maker was owned at 9.296814516232121% of its entire share class, according to Australian Financial Review. The sector tilt is unmistakable: two financials in Amex and Bank of America, one branded consumer staple in Coca-Cola, and two dominant technology platforms in Apple and Alphabet. Behind the top five sat energy exposure, with Chevron at $13,986,141,890 and Occidental Petroleum at $12,868,205,304. Holding periods span from the 1960s salad oil trade in Amex to a recent Alphabet build, according to Australian Financial Review. Different decades, same pattern: a business he understood, held with unusual patience, sized with unusual conviction.
Arithmetic of a Life
A 96-year-old handing the chair to his son, with the company already in an operator’s hands, closing out one of the longest runs anyone has had at this, according to Australian Financial Review. The 13F is a backward-looking disclosure and none of this is investment advice. What it shows is a book built by someone who thought in decades and treated position size as a form of speech. He said what he thought about Coca-Cola by owning nearly a tenth of it. He said what he came to think about Apple by letting it grow into more than a fifth of the disclosed portfolio. Father Time gets everyone eventually. Very few get to hand off a body of work that reads like this one.
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Red October Sell-Off Could Be Coming: 5 Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Are Safe Havens
Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:50:02 +0000
The post Red October Sell-Off Could Be Coming: 5 Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Are Safe Havens appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on December 31, 2025, after six decades leading the conglomerate he transformed from a struggling textile mill into a $1 trillion empire. The “Oracle of Omaha” left his successor, Greg Abel, with a very concentrated portfolio: more than 71% of Berkshire’s $365.5 billion portfolio is invested in just seven stocks. Abel, who has served as vice chair overseeing non-insurance operations, officially took over as CEO on January 1, 2026. At 96, Buffett isn’t fully retiring. He remains board chair and comes to the Omaha headquarters as much as before. However, he has stated he will be “going quiet” and leaving all decision-making to Abel.
One thing that Abel has been careful about, as he has started some rearrangement of the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) portfolio, is to carefully maintain some of the longest-held stocks at Berkshire Hathaway, and with good reason. Some key holdings have not only been outstanding performers this year, but also pay dependable dividends, which are often reinvested or added to the gigantic $365 billion cash pile Buffett has been accumulating over the last five years. Berkshire Hathaway generates a stunning $4.37 billion in dividend income each year, and an additional $12 to $16 billion in risk-free interest income.
While Buffett and Abel patiently wait to put some of the cash to work, they may not have to wait long, as the stock market could be poised for a 10% to 20% correction, and it could be coming right around the corner. With the potential for higher interest rates, a massive $40 trillion national debt, a tired and overbought stock market, and fading artificial intelligence momentum, all the ingredients for a big correction are lining up. Toss in the potential for more geopolitical fallout, especially if the fighting in the Middle East expands, the sellers, and especially the short sellers, could have their fingers on the sell button.
Five of Berkshire Hathaway’s premier holdings are a good place to shift capital now, and all pay reliable dividends that, in some cases, are raised every year. Top Wall Street firms rate all as Buys, and they make sense for worried investors now.
Why Do We Cover Berkshire Hathaway Stocks?
Few investors have the results and reputation Buffett has earned over the past 60 years. Though he has stepped away from the CEO chair, his impact and investment guidelines are likely to remain in place long after he is gone. While investing has evolved since Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, buying good companies with globally recognized products and services that pay dividends will remain a timeless approach.
American Express
American Express (NYSE:AXP) is a bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation specializing in payment cards, and it pays a 1.09% dividend. This globally integrated payments company operates card-issuing, merchant-acquiring, and card-network businesses. The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.82 to $0.95 between January and April 2026.
The company offers products and services to customers worldwide, including consumers, small businesses, midsized companies, and large corporations. Its segments include:
U.S. Consumer Services, which offers travel and lifestyle services, as well as banking and non-card financing products.
Commercial Services offers payment, expense management, banking, and non-card financing products.
International Card Services provides services to international customers, including travel and lifestyle services, and manages certain international joint ventures and its loyalty coalition business.
Global Merchant and Network Services operates a payments network that processes and settles card transactions, acquires merchants, and provides multichannel marketing programs, capabilities, services, and data analytics.
Berkshire Hathaway owns 151,610,700 shares, 22.2% of American Express’s float, and 14.1% of the portfolio.
Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating with a $405 target price.
Bank of America
Buffett has trimmed his Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) position over the past two years, selling a whopping 50 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2025 and another 30 million shares in Q2 of 2026. This quality financial giant remains an exceptional long-term holding with a solid 1.79% dividend yield. The dividend was raised from $0.26 to $0.28, then to $0.32 per quarter, with two increases over the past 12 months. Bank of America is a bank holding company and financial holding company that reported impressive Q2 results. Berkshire Hathaway still owns 483,394,015 shares, or 7.9% of the portfolio and 6.9% of the float, despite the massive sales.
Its Consumer Banking segment offers a range of credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth & Investment Management segment comprises two businesses:
Merrill Wealth Management offers tailored solutions to meet clients’ needs through a comprehensive suite of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products.
Private Bank provides comprehensive wealth management solutions.
Its Global Banking segment offers a range of lending-related products and services, including integrated working capital management and treasury solutions, as well as underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment offers sales and trading services, as well as research services, to institutional clients across fixed income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity markets.
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $75 target price.
Chevron
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) is an American multinational energy company primarily focused on oil and gas. This integrated giant is a safer option for investors seeking a position in the energy sector. It pays a substantial 3.26% dividend, which was raised by 5% earlier this year, and has a 39-year streak of dividend increases. Chevron operates integrated energy and chemicals businesses worldwide through its subsidiaries. Berkshire Hathaway owns 84,375,856 shares, which equals 4.2% of the float and 4.7% of the portfolio.
The company operates in two segments. The Upstream segment is involved in:
Exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas
Processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas
Transportation of crude oil through pipelines, and transportation and storage
Marketing of natural gas, as well as operating a gas-to-liquids plant
The Downstream segment engages in:
Refining crude oil into petroleum products
Marketing crude oil, refined products, and lubricants
Manufacturing and marketing renewable fuels
Transporting crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car
Manufacturing and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives
It also involves cash management, debt financing, insurance operations, real estate, and technology businesses.
Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating with a $243 target price.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It remains one of Buffett’s longest-held holdings. Berkshire owns 400 million shares, which represent 9.3% of the float and 9.3% of the portfolio. The stock pays a dependable 2.36% dividend. The raised to $0.53 per share in May 2026, marked the 64th straight year of dividend increases.
Coca-Cola is the world’s largest beverage company, offering consumers more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, the company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, including:
Diet Coke
Coca-Cola Light
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
Caffeine-free Diet Coke
Cherry Coke
Fanta Orange
Fanta Zero Orange
Fanta Zero Sugar
Fanta Apple
Sprite
Sprite Zero Sugar
Simply Orange
Simply Apple
Simply Grapefruit
Fresca
Schweppes
Dasani
Fuze Tea
Glacéau Smartwater
Glacéau Vitaminwater
Gold Peak
Ice Dew
Powerade
Topo Chico
Minute Maid
Globally, it is the top provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, juices, and juice drinks. Through the world’s most extensive beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the company’s beverages at a rate of over 1.9 billion servings per day. And the company owns 19.5% of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), which continues to deliver strong financial results.
UBS has a Buy rating and set a target price of $104.
Occidental Petroleum
After years of building this position, Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are finally in the money on this company, which pays a 1.63% dividend. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) is an international energy company with assets primarily in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. The company is an oil and gas producer in the United States, including the Permian and D.J. basins and the offshore Gulf of America. Occidental’s most recent dividend increase was on February 19, 2026. The board raised the quarterly dividend by more than 5%, from $0.24 to $0.26 per share. That bumped the annualized rate from $0.96 to $1.04.
Berkshire Hathaway has a large position in the company, owning 264,941,431 shares, representing 26.6% of the float and 4.3% of the portfolio.
Occidental’s oil and gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil (including condensate), natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The midstream and marketing segment purchases, markets, gathers, processes, transports, and stores oil (including condensate), NGLs, natural gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), and power. This segment provides flow assurance, maximizes the value of its oil and gas, and optimizes the company’s transportation and storage capacity. It also invests in companies that do similar activities, including low-carbon ventures.
A notable development was Occidental’s decision to sell its OxyChem subsidiary to Berkshire Hathaway, with the bulk of the proceeds expected to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and further concentrate its business on oil and gas. The move was notable because Buffett had reportedly long coveted OxyChem, and Berkshire now owns the business outright. Berkshire Hathaway completed its purchase of OxyChem from Occidental on January 2, 2026. That gives Buffett full ownership of the chemicals business while providing Occidental with $9.7 billion in cash to reduce debt and sharpen its focus on energy.
Wells Fargo has an Overweight rating on this stock and an $82 price objective.
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Warren Buffett’s Portfolio Has Half Its Stock Money in Just 3 Names. Here Is What They Are
Wed, 09 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000
The post Warren Buffett’s Portfolio Has Half Its Stock Money in Just 3 Names. Here Is What They Are. appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) filed its latest 13F for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, disclosed on August 14. The most striking feature of the disclosure was three names carry roughly half of the entire reported equity book by weight.
Those three are Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), American Express (NYSE:AXP), and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO). All three are long-standing Buffett anchors (we sorted Berkshire’s holdings by valuation and pulled the seven cheapest dividend payers into a free report here: 7 Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy Now). All three are consumer-facing franchises with pricing power. And all three sit inside a disclosed portfolio that gets more concentrated the closer you look.
One critical framing point before the numbers: a 13F covers US-listed long equity only. It excludes Berkshire’s cash and Treasury holdings, its wholly owned operating businesses like BNSF, GEICO, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and any non-US-listed exposure. So these three names are roughly half of the disclosed stock portfolio, not half of Berkshire’s money, net worth, or fortune. Berkshire is a holding company, not a fund. Positions are shown as of quarter end and may have shifted since.
Apple: The Anchor Position
Berkshire disclosed 227,917,808 shares of Apple at quarter end, representing 22.04% of the disclosed portfolio. Apple designs the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Wearables, and the fast-growing Services business that layers a high-margin subscription annuity on top of the installed base.
Buffett has publicly framed Apple less as a technology bet and more as a consumer franchise with switching costs, and the fundamentals support the read. Apple trades at a P/E of 42 with a ROE of 171.4% and ROIC of 53.3%. The June quarter delivered revenue of $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year, with EPS of $2.02 versus a $1.89 estimate, and Tim Cook called it the company’s “strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment.” Apple bought back $62.09 billion of stock in the first nine months of FY26, which mechanically lifts Berkshire’s ownership stake without a single share being traded.
Our 24/7 Wall St. model sees upside of 15.31% at high confidence (0.9), with a base one-year target of $368.95 from a current $319.97. Wall Street’s consensus target is more measured at $323.86, with 6 strong buy, 19 buy, 14 hold, 3 sell, and 2 strong sell ratings. Our model is meaningfully more constructive than the Street here, driven by sector momentum and earnings acceleration; the analyst community is closer to fair value. Predictions are as of publication; the 13F snapshot is as of quarter end.
American Express: The Longest-Running Bet
Berkshire’s disclosed American Express stake stood at 151,610,700 shares, or 17.14% of the disclosed portfolio. American Express operates a closed-loop payments network and card business skewed to premium, high-spend customers.
This is the oldest of Buffett’s blue-chip anchors, and it keeps compounding. Q2 revenue reached $19.64 billion with EPS of $4.53 versus $4.40 expected, and CEO Stephen Squeri highlighted “another excellent quarter, with 10 percent revenue growth, EPS of $4.53, and Card Member spending growth of 9 percent, the highest rate we’ve seen in three years on an FX-adjusted basis.” Management raised full-year revenue growth guidance to 10% and maintained EPS guidance of $17.30 to $17.90. The quarterly dividend has climbed from $0.60 in 2023 to $0.95 in 2026, and diluted share count is running down.
Our model projects upside of 9.05% at high confidence (0.9), with a base target of $355.67 from $326.16. Interestingly, the Street is more optimistic than we are: consensus target is $375.96, with 5 strong buy, 10 buy, 14 hold, 1 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings. The disagreement is worth noting given AXP has fallen 11.12% year to date against a 33.94% run in Apple.
Coca-Cola: The Dividend Compounder
The Coca-Cola position was disclosed at 400,000,000 shares, or 10.86% of the disclosed portfolio. That share count is a well-known constant of the Berkshire book, unchanged for many years, and it means Buffett’s original 1988 cost basis produces an enormous yield on cost as the dividend keeps climbing, from $0.16 per quarter in 1999 to $0.53 per quarter in 2026.
The business is executing. Q2 delivered revenue of $13.38 billion, up 6.74% year over year, EPS of $0.97 versus $0.93 expected, and global unit case volume growth of 5%. New CEO Henrique Braun described “a strong first half of the year” and said the company was “well positioned to deliver on our RAISED 2026 guidance”, which now calls for organic revenue growth of about 5% and comparable currency-neutral EPS growth of 7% to 8%. Trademark Coca-Cola volume grew 5% during the quarter, described as its strongest volume growth in 17 years excluding COVID recovery, helped by the FIFA World Cup activation across more than 180 markets.
Our model flags upside of 10.07% at high confidence (0.9), with a base target of $96.94 from $88.07. Bull and bear cases run to $101.34 and $85.15. Consensus is closely aligned at $94.70, with 7 strong buy, 12 buy, 4 hold, 0 sell, and 1 strong sell ratings. KO trades at a P/E of 29 with a 2.32% dividend yield. Shares are up 27.67% year to date.
What the Top Three Says About Buffett’s Approach
Concentration is the story. Three tickers carrying 22.04%, 17.14%, and 10.86% of a disclosed equity book is the opposite of diversification for its own sake. The sector tilt is unmistakable: one consumer technology franchise, one premium payments network, and one global beverage brand. All three sell products with brand pricing power that survives inflation, recessions, and management changes. None of them are speculative; all three throw off cash and buy back stock. On holding period, this is the essence of the Buffett approach: the KO share count has not changed in decades, AXP has been core since the 1990s, and even Apple, added in 2016, is treated like a legacy holding rather than a trade. The absence of any hot theme, no AI pure-play, no crypto exposure, no highly cyclical bet, is itself the tell.
What to Watch Next
Studying this book, the takeaway for a reader at or near retirement centers on the discipline behind them: fewer tickers to copy, more focus on process: fewer names, higher-quality businesses, and a willingness to sit still. The next 13F, disclosed roughly 45 days after the September quarter closes, will show whether these anchors moved at all, and the next earnings reports from all three names are the near-term catalysts. 13F disclosures are backward looking. Price predictions are projections, not guarantees. And none of this is investment advice.
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OMAH Turned Buffett’s No-Dividend Portfolio Into a 15% Payout. Is It Income or Financial Sleight of Hand?
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 14:27:37 +0000
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Warren Buffett has spent decades explaining why Berkshire (NYSE:BRK-A, NYSE:BRK-B) retains capital rather than distributing it, and the VistaShares Target 15 Berkshire Select Income ETF (NYSEARCA:OMAH) exists to reverse that decision for investors who want monthly checks.
OMAH holds Berkshire itself, along with roughly 20 prominent Berkshire portfolio stocks tracked by VistaShares, and then layers an actively managed options overlay to chase a 15% annualized distribution target set by VistaShares.
Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett have no affiliation with OMAH and do not endorse or sponsor it; the 15% figure is a target the fund can meet or miss, not a guarantee, according to VistaShares.
The dividends generated by the underlying stocks do not come close to supporting a double-digit payout, so the yield gap must come from elsewhere.
How the Payout Machine Actually Works
The overlay sells short-dated call options against positions the fund already owns. Buyers pay a premium for the right to purchase those shares at a set price, and OMAH keeps the premium whether the option is exercised or expires worthless.
That cash funds the monthly distribution, most recently $0.22963 per share for the August 24, 2026 ex-date, with a trailing twelve-month total of $2.8089.
Option premium differs from dividend income. Dividends flow from corporate earnings, while option premiums come from selling away a slice of the portfolio’s own future upside. When Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) rallies past a written strike price, the fund forfeits any gains above that price.
Reading the August Return-of-Capital Estimate
VistaShares estimated the entire August distribution as a return of capital. That label is a tax classification that describes how the IRS treats the payment. A return of capital reduces an investor’s cost basis, defers the tax bill, and increases the eventual gain on sale.
OMAH’s April 2026 filing showed $748.6 million in net assets and a portfolio reflecting its Berkshire-adjacent basket, including sizable positions in Apple, Berkshire itself, American Express (NYSE:AXP), Occidental (NYSE:OXY), Alphabet, and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO).
The overlay is visibly active: the filing lists written calls on Alphabet, Amazon, Berkshire, Apple, and others, generating the premium that feeds the distribution engine.
If NAV were being steadily gutted to fund payouts, total return would show it. So far it has not, which suggests the ROC label reflects accounting more than decay.
Compared With Just Owning Berkshire
The uncomfortable comparison is with Berkshire Hathaway itself, which charges no expense ratio, pays no distribution, and has returned 80% over the past five years. Year to date, it is up about 1%, and over one year, roughly 1%.
An investor who wants monthly cash from a Berkshire-style portfolio can hold BRK.B and sell a fixed dollar amount of shares each month, paying long-term capital gains rates on the realized portion. That homemade dividend costs zero in fund fees.
OMAH charges a 0.98% net expense ratio to run the overlay, which must earn back that fee and outperform manual share selling to justify itself. Against a plain dividend ETF, the pitch is different: OMAH offers a higher headline yield and Berkshire-flavored exposure but caps upside and hands investors a tax-deferred slice of their own capital every month.
If you are weighing this against a broader income-first plan, we walked through the mix, the payment calendar, and the withdrawal order in a free guide to building a paycheck portfolio from ordinary savings.
Verdict on OMAH
OMAH is legitimate financial engineering. It suits a narrow investor: someone who wants a stable monthly check from a Berkshire-adjacent portfolio, values automation over manual share sales, and has accepted that the 15 in VistaShares’ Target 15 name will cost meaningful upside plus almost 1% a year in fees.
Anyone who wants Buffett’s actual compounding should own Berkshire directly and sell shares when cash is needed. That path is cheaper, more tax-efficient on gains, and does not require trusting an overlay to keep earning its keep.
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‘They’re Absolute Hogwash’: Ramsey Blacklists AmEx, a Stock Up 470% in 10 Years
Fri, 04 Sep 2026 01:50:00 +0000
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On the September 2, 2026 Ramsey Show, Dave Ramsey told a 64-year-old caller carrying $20,000 in credit card debt that he personally refuses to do business with three financial companies. “I don’t want anything to do with American Express…They’re absolute hogwash. I don’t want anything to do with SunTrust Financial. I don’t want anything to do with Fifth Third, ever, period.” He traced the grudge to his own bankruptcy: “I’m still, 40 years later, mad at bankers.”
The caller, Carlos, is a New York City security guard earning about $55,000 a year, with $12,000 owed to the IRS, $40,000 in a TIAA-CREF account, and a fresh prostate cancer diagnosis. For a reader in Carlos’s position, following Ramsey’s blanket boycott versus chasing points is not a philosophical debate. It is a math problem with a very clear answer.
Verdict: Ramsey Is Right for Revolvers, Wrong for Payers
Rewards financed by carried balances are hogwash. Rewards paid to transactors are free money. The break-even is not close, and it is not subtle. The average credit card APR was nearly 21%, sitting in what the Federal Reserve’s own historical range calls record territory. A typical rewards card pays 1% to 5% back. Interest at 21% eats a 2% rewards rate ten times over on every dollar that rolls to the next statement.
Apply that to Carlos. A $20,000 carried balance at roughly 21% costs over $4,000 a year in interest alone. Even a generous 3% cashback card would return roughly $600 on that same $20,000 in annual spending. The rewards do not offset the interest. They do not come close. Every month the balance sits, the issuer wins and the customer funds a stock chart. American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares are up roughly 471% over ten years and about 113% over five, recently trading near $324. That return was financed by balances exactly like Carlos’s.
The same pattern shows up at the other two names on the blacklist. Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) has returned roughly 274% over ten years. Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC), the successor to SunTrust, is up about 93% over ten years. Consumer credit is a good business for the lender, which is precisely why Ramsey warns borrowers away from the other side of the ledger.
One Variable Flips the Math: Do You Carry a Balance?
The single factor that decides whether rewards are “hogwash” or free money is whether your statement balance hits zero every month. There is no middle ground.
Scenario A, the transactor: spend $30,000 on the card in a year, pay it in full each cycle, earn 2% back. That is $600, tax-free, with no interest paid. AmEx still makes money on interchange, but the customer is not funding it out of pocket.
Scenario B, the revolver: same $30,000 in spend, bu