I've been sitting on Apple for years now, and it's become something of a portfolio monster. In my Roth IRA specifically, it's nearly 28% of everything I hold—way too concentrated for comfort. So instead of panic-selling at lower prices, I found a way to turn this into a passive income machine.

Here's what I'm doing: I own over 100 shares, which lets me write covered calls against them. I sold $280 calls expiring this May, and every time I do this, I pocket the option premium upfront. The beauty of this approach is the flexibility. If Apple stays below $280 by expiration, the calls expire worthless and I keep 100% of the income. Then I write new calls. If it climbs closer to my strike, I can roll the position forward for additional credits, or I can let the shares get called away if I'm ready to exit. Sure, there's a risk that Apple rockets past my strike and I lose the shares, but honestly, even that would beat selling at current prices.

The real genius part? I'm reinvesting every penny of that option income into dividend stocks. It's a passive way to gradually shift my account away from Apple while still collecting income. I've been running this playbook for a few years now with solid results, but I'll be honest—it requires active management. You have to monitor positions, understand options mechanics, and know when to roll or close trades.

Not everyone wants to deal with that complexity, though. That's where ETFs like the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF come in. This fund does exactly what I'm doing manually, but on autopilot. Its managers systematically write out-of-the-money call options on the Nasdaq-100 index, collecting that premium income and passing it to shareholders monthly. Apple is actually their second-largest position at 6.1%, so you're getting similar exposure with a passive income twist.

The numbers are compelling. Over the past year, this ETF has yielded 11.3% in distributions alone. Since launching in 2022, it's averaged 16.4% annualized returns when you combine income distributions with price appreciation. And you're paying just 0.35% in fees for all that passive income generation and professional management.

What I like about this approach—whether you go the DIY options route like me or choose the ETF path—is that you're not just sitting on your holdings hoping for capital gains. You're actively extracting passive income from quality companies. For someone who doesn't have the bandwidth to trade options themselves but still wants that income stream, an options-focused ETF is honestly the easiest entry point. You get the passive income potential without the active management headache.