There are a lot of ways that advisors could help clients generate steady income, but visitors to www.investmentadvisor.com who took the IA Poll in June say they prefer to use annuities. That was the most popular answer when we asked, "What investments are you suggesting to clients whose primary goal is steady income?"
The strong favorite, annuities, was chosen by 34% of respondents. REITs were next, with 16% of advisors selecting this real estate route to income. Dividend-paying equities mutual funds received 14% of advisors' votes, but a portfolio of individual dividend-paying equities got only 7% of the vote. Readers were almost evenly split on fixed income, with 11% of advisors picking a portfolio of individual bonds, and 10% choosing bond mutual fund(s). Only 1% of advisors say they suggest mortgage-backed securities for steady income, while 8% selected "other" but did not specify what they meant by that.
