Should You Invest in 0050 or 0056 for Retirement? Expert Experiment Reveals: Buying 'It' Earns You NT$4.66 Million More

Should retirement funds be invested in 0050 or 0056? This is a classic debate endlessly discussed among countless Taiwanese dividend investors. Well-known financial writer Shih Sheng-Hui has long conducted an experiment, setting up two hypothetical investors—Person A and Person B—each starting with a principal of NT$10 million, fully invested in Yuanta Taiwan 50 (0050) and Yuanta High Dividend (0056), respectively. The goal is to observe the long-term impact of these two different investment strategies on retirement assets. On the 10th, Shih released the latest seventh settlement results, showing that the total asset gap between the two has now widened to over NT$4.66 million, reigniting heated discussions among netizens.

The core of this experiment lies in comparing the practical advantages and disadvantages, as well as asset changes, between 'selling shares for cash' and 'living off dividends.' The latest settlement results reveal in detail the current asset status of both virtual participants after receiving their most recent dividend payments.

How Much Difference Between Selling Shares vs. Pure Dividend Income? Full Disclosure of 7th Experiment Numbers

According to the seventh experiment data released by Shih Sheng-Hui, Person A, who invested in 0050, had to sell 2,469 shares this settlement period to cover living expenses, reducing their holdings to 181,909 shares. Based on the closing price of NT$104.25 on the 10th, Person A’s current total asset value still reaches NT$18,963,980. This means that despite needing to sell shares periodically for living costs, the overall asset has still grown nearly 90% from the initial NT$10 million principal.

On the other hand, Person B, who invested in 0056, did not need to sell a single share this time, maintaining their holdings at 272,628 shares. Using the 10th’s closing price of NT$52.45, Person B’s current total asset value stands at NT$14,299,339. Comparing the final results, Person A’s 0050 total assets exceed Person B’s 0056 by approximately NT$4,664,641, demonstrating that market-cap-weighted ETFs still hold a clear advantage in terms of total return and asset growth speed over the long term.

Which One Grew Faster This Quarter? Comparing Single-Period Growth Against Last Quarter

Although 0050 leads significantly in long-term total assets, when looking solely at the change in asset value between the last and current quarter, 0056 showed remarkably strong catching-up momentum. Person A’s total asset value was NT$17,709,502 last quarter and increased to NT$18,963,980 this quarter—a net increase of NT$1,254,478 in a single quarter.

In contrast, Person B, who invested in 0056, saw their total asset value jump from NT$12,309,154 last quarter to NT$14,299,339 this quarter—an impressive single-quarter increase of NT$1,990,185. Although Person B’s quarterly asset growth amount and rate were higher than Person A’s, due to the significant cumulative base difference, Person A’s 0050 still firmly wins in final total asset value.

How Should Investors Choose? Netizens Debate Heatedly—'Mental Comfort' Is the Key to Retirement

After the release of these experimental results, two opposing camps immediately emerged online, sparking passionate exchanges. Some netizens analyzed from a psychological perspective: 'With 0050, the higher the profit, the harder it is to sell—you end up cutting expenses because selling feels too painful. With 0056, your shares remain intact, and receiving dividends feels like winning a lottery, making spending worry-free and joyful. So it’s not about which earns more, but which makes you happier—that’s what you should choose.' This reflects how many retirees care not only about maximizing assets but also about the sense of security from not reducing their share count.

At the same time, many experienced netizens proposed a balanced strategy combining the strengths of both: 'I think after deducting labor insurance and pension from monthly living expenses, use 0056’s dividends to cover the remaining shortfall, and invest surplus funds in 0050.' By using high-dividend ETFs to provide stable cash flow for basic living needs and allocating extra funds to market-cap ETFs for long-term capital gains, this hybrid approach has become the optimal solution for many investors facing the 0050 vs. 0056 dilemma.