"Gary" <gary_w1[at]hotmail.com> wrote in message
newsasnh053po19ck0to8r1vdbjeu5rteoaqi[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

There's a ton of information available from so many sources that they can't
all be named here. Quite frankly this is one of the biggest reasons most
investors who use advisors use advisors - they simply cannot keep up with
all the information available.

I'd need a bit more info before I could give you a recommendation that would
be any good at all as far as where to invest. I'd need to know how old she
is, how large her portfolio is, how much she needs each month, what tax
bracket she's in, what other income she has (SSA?, interest, dividends,
etc.) and what her expected cash needs would be in the future for other
nonrecurring type expenses - like when does she think she will need a new
car.

That being said, there are a several annuities out there that will guarantee
you a stream of income while letting you participate in the market while
guaranteeing you won't lose any of your money. Most of these annuities also
offer death benefit payouts that can match the high water mark of the
subaccounts held in the annuity and many will let you lock in your high
water mark for the purpose of annuitizing later should the market tank. One
annuity that I'm aware of allows you to either take a check for 105% of your
investment or annuitize the high water mark regardless of what the actual
account value is as long as you stay in it 10 years. This annuity will also
let you take a regular distribution from the annuity.

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of annuities, especially today's variable
annuities. They are very flexible, offer competitive returns, and have
guarantee options that you simply can't get anywhere else. I'd suggest you
find a local financial advisor and get some help.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

"Gary" <gary_w1[at]hotmail.com> wrote

- quote -

If you can tolerate some fluctuation in net asset value take a look at
Vanguard High Yield Corporate Bond Fund. It's currently paying about
$60/month/$10,000.

Gary wrote:
- quote -

You might look at immediate annuities - see
http://www.immediateannuities.com

John Cowart

In article <oasnh053po19ck0to8r1vdbjeu5rteoaqi[at]4ax.com> , Gary
<gary_w1[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

With the Fed rate at 1.5%, and CD's and Money Market paying the same
as or a little less than the inflation rate, there really isn't
much out there in the way of income right now. There are no secret
investments that give you a fixed 8% or 10% without taking on a huge
amount of risk, far more than the risk of stocks.

There are three real options at the moment...

1) Sit out the recession, and use up a bit of your principal.

2) Play the market and hope to get a good bounce when the recession
finally eases up.

3) Convert to an annuity. You may get a better rate up front, but
you will not get the major gains that should happen when the economy
starts to recover next year.

And then there are the good old standby options...

1) Leave your money where it is at, and find some other source of
income.

2) Take the 1% to 4% that the safe investments return.

3) Cut your expenses so you have a need for less income.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
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My wife (age 62) just retired from a job which offers no pension. She
has a fairly large portfolio (her finances are separate from mine) and
would like to know where to invest in order to get some income.

I tried to help with getting her some reading, but the last article I
came across was about five years old. Since then there have been
changes in tax law as well as totally new rates of return on money.

Can anyone suggest some sources of education on investing for income
in today's environment? Or do you have any specific suggestions?