ARDC
ARES DYNAMIC CREDIT ALLOCATION FUND, INC.
stock NYSE Closed Ended Fund

by picking individual stocks, YES.
Consistantly, No.
But many people tiny of stack as companes like Apple vision and Chevron. And it is hard to find the companies that will score big each year. Many don't think of ETF and CEFs as stock But they do sell stock. And these investment companies are in many ways they are similar to companies They don't often grow like companies but they do often pay a higher dividend. So you don't need to consistently make 14% or more to retire. 8% works just fine if it is consistent and you consistently by more shares of the ETF or CEF every year.
These funds pay cash dividends directly to you. So $100,000 at 8%Will pay you $8000 a year. So 1 million will earn you 80k a year of income at 8%. And right now there are funds that pay reliable 10% dividend I am currently investing in funds like QQQI 13% ARDC 12%, SPYI 11%, EIC 10%, PBDC 9% which all yield more than 8% and I am getting significant intcome from these funds.
So the key to a comfortable retirement is to invest for income. Growth can give you very large returns but it is not consistent. And when you need income you have to sell it off with lowers your future long term future earnings. Dividend give your income now without sacrificing your long term earnings. I have a mix of dividend funds and growth funds. I use the dividend funds for income. The growth is used to maintain my income and serves as an emergency fund.

I am retired and my expenses are about 50K. My income is coming from QQQI 13%, ARDC 12%, SPYI 11%, EIC 10%, PBDC 9%, SCYB 7%, UTG 7%, UTF 7%, PFFD 6%. My income is currently 5k a month and 20% of that is reinvested. I always reinvest some to minimize the effect of inflation. equally into all funds. It has only been 3 years But there have been no significant dividend cuts or any evidence of significant NAV erosion.
If you invest equally in all these funds the overall yield will be about 9% which means you would need about 700K to reach your goal. if you luquidate your growth funds to build this you would still have about 1 million in growth. I have similar growth available. I see growth in my protfolio as emergency money only. I I have a large unexpected bill I can sell some growth to cover the expense. The growth can also be used to replace any funds that have problems and have to be replaced in the future. I don't expect that will happen but if it does you have a way to fix it. Lastly if you fall behind inflation some growth can be harvested and used to increase income.
i would recommend you look at the book The Income Factory. It lists 68 funds and several example portfolios. Armchair income on youtube is a good resource. He invests the same way and list the 38 funds he uses and He does detailed detailed reviews of some of the funds he uses.

The plan is realistic in 10 years with all dividends reinvested you should have 1/2 million with about 60K yearly about 5K a month income. So in 15 years you could have a million invested with about 10K a month of income. NEOS sets up there funds to minimize NAV erosion. And so far ther is no obvious NAV erosion with SPYI and QQQI.
I am invested in SPYI and QQQI and I also have the following high yield funds that don't use covered calls for income. They are ARDC 12% yield, EIC 10%, PBDC 9%

For the american policy makers - this is $300m in lost revenue potential due to cancellations down to uncertainty. This is NOT $300m that would go to revenue for tariffs - it is lost on top of the sales tax of around 7.2% (over a billion in tax revenue), as a reduction in sales targets of up to 25% that the company is planning for, and nearly $2b lost in R&D jobs in north america with their ARDC.

I am also retired and am invested in QQQI 13% yield, ARDC 12%,SPYI 11%, EIC 10%, PBDC 9%, SCYB7%, UTF 7%, UTG 7% and PFFD. I am like you I had a lot of one stock. I have been slowly selling it and depositing money in dividend funds. You will need to estimate your taxes and and make estimated tax payments to the iRS. So once you have the tax estimate you sell the stocks then use some of the money to pay the tax and then reinvest the money, Then in april you will compare the taxes you payed with the estimate and either owe a little more or get a refund. The funds above can easily generate more income than Social security offers. Even if social security survives the mell in the capital. This income should be handy if you have to move into assisted living.

You still ow taxes on it but the money buys more shares so yourdividend increase. Personally I would reinvest the dividned into lower risk funds like QQQI13% yield, ARDC 12%, SPYI 11%, EIC 10%, PBDC 9%, SCYB7%, UTF7%, UTG 7%, PFFD6%.