Just put together a portfolio that's throwing off 10.5% in annual dividend income. Here's the thing that got me excited about this setup—you can actually build it with just three closed-end funds, and two of them pay you monthly. That's wild compared to regular stocks where you're basically waiting three months between payouts.

I've been looking at dividend increases and income opportunities for 2023, and these CEFs caught my attention because they're trading at interesting valuations right now. Let me break down what I'm looking at.

First up is PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (PDI). This thing yields 13.3%, which honestly sounds too good to be true, but the numbers check out. PIMCO's got serious pedigree—founded by the Bond King himself back in 1971. PDI's been pulling 8% annualized returns over the last decade, which matches the S&P 500. But here's what matters: you actually got those returns in cash dividends instead of paper gains. Plus it pays special dividends on top of the regular payouts. The fund's grown its dividend by 25% over ten years, so we're talking about dividend increases that actually stick around.

Then there's Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (USA). This one's holding the big names—Alphabet, Microsoft, Visa, all that. It yields 9.7% and has been returning 12% annualized. The fund trades at a discount right now, which is rare for it, so that's worth paying attention to.

Last one is Cohen & Steers Real Estate Opportunities (RLTY). Newer fund, just launched last year, yielding 8.4% monthly. It's trading at a 10.2% discount to NAV because it's still under the radar. That discount window is exactly when you want to be buying.

The real play here is watching these discount-to-NAV spreads. When you catch a fund trading at a discount, especially one that usually trades at a premium, you're setting yourself up for both the yield and price appreciation as the market reprices it. That's how you get serious gains alongside the income.

You don't need much to get started—just a brokerage account and honestly less capital than you'd think. The whole strategy is straightforward: buy and hold while collecting monthly or quarterly payouts. It's not complicated, just requires patience and knowing which discount windows to jump on.