Financial education services · Kitchener, Ontario

Build income from your investments, one clear step at a time.

One-on-one coaching for families who came to Canada to build something. Learn how passive income investing and options actually work, at your pace, with your own accounts in front of you.

Money basics first. Debt, an emergency fund and the right accounts come before any trade. Then income ETFs, then options, only when you’re ready.
Obi Oji, founder of Melius One Consulting

About your coach

Obi Oji, founder

I came to Canada to build a better life for my family, and learned the hard way that a salary alone rarely gets you there. Today my family lives on income from our own investments. I started Melius One to teach other families how to do the same, clearly and honestly.

$850KMy own invested portfolio
$15KMonthly income it pays my family
4+ yrsDelivery leadership in Canadian banking
1:1Every session one-on-one, never a group class
  • Release Train Engineer, leading large technology programmes at a major Canadian bank
  • Board member, Octopus VC
  • I live on income ETFs, and have traded the wheel and LEAPS with my own money
  • Based in Kitchener, Ontario · Sessions online or in person

Ten-year projection

Where my portfolio could be by 2036

My family lives on about $7,000 a month from the portfolio, and every dollar beyond that is reinvested. How far it grows depends on the market.

Ten-year projection of the portfolio in three market scenarios$0$500K$1M$1.5M$2M$2.5M$3M202620282030203220342036$1.2M$1.9M$2.8M$850K today

Steady markets

12% a year

Portfolio, 2031
$964K
Portfolio, 2036
$1.2M
Income, 2036
$20,400 a month

Strong markets

15% a year

Portfolio, 2031
$1.2M
Portfolio, 2036
$1.9M
Income, 2036
$33,300 a month

A repeat of the 2010s

17.6% a year, as 2010–2019

Portfolio, 2031
$1.4M
Portfolio, 2036
$2.8M
Income, 2036
$48,400 a month

How this is worked out: starts at $850,000; $84,000 a year is drawn for living costs; the income funds are assumed to return 1.25 times the market less 3% a year in costs; income is about 21% of the portfolio’s value, as it is today. Before tax. An illustration of three possible paths, not a forecast or a promise. Markets can do worse than all three.

Funds we cover

Income, dividend and growth ETFs

Approximate yields from issuer and market data, mid-October 2026. *HONE’s first payout is November 2026; EASY launched in March 2026 and has little payout history. Payouts are set by each fund and change often. For education, not a recommendation.
FundWhat it holdsTypeYieldPays
MSTEStrategy (MSTR) shares, covered calls, leverageIncome~45%Monthly
HHISUS large-cap shares, covered callsIncome~29%Monthly
HONEAll-in-one: HHIS, HHIC and HHIIIncome~21%*Monthly
EASYGlobal shares, covered calls, modest leverageIncomeNew fundTwice a month
CDAYCanadian shares, covered callsIncome~19%Twice a month
SDAYUS dividend shares, covered callsIncome~19%Twice a month
QDAYNasdaq-100, covered callsIncome~18%Twice a month
BDAYBitcoin, covered callsIncome~15%Twice a month
HDIVCanadian sector funds, covered callsIncome~10%Monthly
VDYCanadian high-dividend sharesDividend~3%Monthly
XEQTGlobal shares, all-in-oneGrowth~1.6%Quarterly
VFVS&P 500Growth~0.8%Quarterly
QQCNasdaq-100Growth~0.3%Quarterly

How it works

Three steps, no pressure

Step 1

Free intro session

Sixty minutes, just you and me. What passive income is, what it isn’t, and whether coaching fits you.

Free
Step 2

One-on-one coaching

Six private sessions working through the curriculum with your own accounts, numbers and goals.

$594 · six sessions at $99 each
Step 3

Check-ins

Monthly reviews once you’re investing: what your funds paid, what changed, and what to watch.

$75 a month

Curriculum

From your first budget to LEAPS

M1

Money foundations

Pay down high-interest debt, build an emergency fund, and set a monthly number you can live on.

M2

The right accounts

TFSA, RRSP, FHSA and non-registered accounts: what goes where, and why it changes your tax.

M3

Income ETFs

How covered-call funds pay 15–30%, what return of capital means, and why prices can drift down.

M4

Growth investing

Index funds like XEQT and VFV: low cost, full market upside, small payouts.

M5

Options basics

Calls, puts, strike, expiry, premium and the Greeks, explained with real option chains.

M6

The wheel strategy

Cash-secured puts and covered calls on stocks you’d be happy to own.

M7

LEAPS

Long-dated options as a lower-cost way to hold a stock, and the risks that come with them.

M8

Your plan

Putting it together: how much to hold where, when to reinvest, and the rules you follow when markets fall.

Strategies

Growth, income, or both

Every strategy trades something away. Here is what each one gives you, and what it costs.

Growth

Index ETFs

Examples
XEQT, VFV, QQC, VDY
Payout
about 1–4% a year
Gives you
The full market return at very low cost
Costs you
Little income now; you sell units to spend
Best for
Long horizons, TFSAs, people still earning a salary
Income

Covered-call income ETFs

Examples
HHIS, HONE, EASY, CDAY, SDAY, QDAY, BDAY, HDIV
Payout
about 10–29% a year
Gives you
Large monthly or twice-monthly cash, mostly return of capital
Costs you
Capped upside; the price drifts down when payouts exceed returns
Best for
Living off a portfolio, with the surplus reinvested
Hybrid

Income first, then rotate

How
Start in a high-payout fund; reinvest every surplus dollar into other funds
Gives you
Income now, diversification within three to five years
Costs you
Concentration in the early years
Best for
Leaving a job while still building wealth
Options

The wheel and LEAPS

How
Sell cash-secured puts, then covered calls; LEAPS for long-term exposure
Gives you
Premium income on stocks you choose, more control
Costs you
Time, discipline, and real losses when a stock falls hard
Best for
People willing to learn and manage trades every week

The tax advantage

Why most of this income isn’t taxed yet

Most of what these funds pay is return of capital, not income. Canada doesn’t tax it when you receive it. Compared with a salary of the same size, far more of each payout stays in your pocket.

1 · Return of capital

Not taxed when paid

In 2025, about 85–100% of the payouts from HHIS and the DayMAX funds (CDAY, SDAY, QDAY) were return of capital. You don’t report it as income in the year you receive it.

2 · Deferral

Taxed later, at half

Instead, each payout lowers your cost base. Tax comes when you sell, or once the cost base reaches zero, and then as a capital gain: only half of it is taxable.

3 · Accounts

TFSA: never taxed

Hold these funds in a TFSA and every payout and every gain is tax-free, for good. A non-registered account comes next, and an RRSP defers everything until you withdraw.

4 · Family bonus

Lower taxable income

Because return of capital isn’t income, your reported income can stay low. That can help with income-tested benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit.

Example · Ontario, 2026

$100,000 a year: salary vs. income funds

The same $100,000 leaves about $26,000 more in your pocket this year, and more again once workplace deductions come off a paycheque.

SalaryIncome-fund payouts
Received$100,000$100,000
Taxable this year$100,000about $10,000 (if 90% is return of capital)
Income tax this yearabout $20,500$0 (under the basic personal amount)
CPP and EIabout $5,800$0
You keep this yearabout $74,000*about $100,000

*Before workplace pension, benefits premiums and other payroll deductions, which lower a real paycheque further.

The fine print: return of capital is partly your own money coming back, so it isn’t free. It defers tax rather than cancelling it. The mix changes every year and is confirmed on each fund’s T3 slip, so keep track of your cost base. Figures are rounded and simplified, and this is general education, not tax advice. Check your own situation with an accountant. Coaching covers how to track all of this.

Try it

What could $100,000 do?

What happens to the payouts

Assumptions: index ETFs earn the market return less 0.2% and pay 2.4%; income ETFs earn 1.25× the market less 2–3% in costs and pay 19–28%. At 50%, the other half of each payout is spent. Illustration only, before tax, not a forecast.

StrategyIncome, month 1Value after 10 yearsCash taken over 10 years

My portfolio · Updated October 2026

How I invest my own money

I teach what I do with my own family’s money: a four-fund income strategy that pays us every month, plus a long-term position in Bitcoin.

Four income funds
HHIS · CDAY · SDAY · QDAY, equal parts
~80%
Bitcoin, through Strategy
MSTR · MSTE
~20%

I’ve also sold options, mainly puts and covered calls on TQQQ, in a separate, smaller account. It’s covered in the options modules.

My rules

  • IncomeLive on the payouts. Every dollar beyond what the family spends is reinvested.
  • Check-upsEvery quarter, compare each fund’s total return with what it paid. Stop adding to any fund that falls short four quarters in a row.
  • BorrowingKeep any margin loan small, and repay it from the payout on the units it bought.
  • BitcoinHold for the long run, and keep it to about a fifth of the portfolio.
  • CashKeep a reserve so a bad month never forces a sale.