Safe income investing is one of the best ways to generate consistent returns

An income investing strategy uses certain types of investments to create a steady stream of cashflow into your account.

Typically, your focus is on the income you get (yield), rather than how quickly the price will rise (capital appreciation).

In other words, this strategy will help you meet a goal to create a source of income from paper/financial assets.

You'll account will still grow in value, but that isn't your primary goal.

What is an Income Strategy?

As stated above, this strategy is all about creating "yield". So you're looking to create a repeating, predictable stream of income from paper/financial assets.

The interest payments you get from a savings account is a great example of this strategy.

You could also include real estate in this category, as long as you are talking about rental properties.

"Flipping" a property can be considered a growth investing strategy.

Why use an Income Strategy?

If you set a personal finance goal of creating income from an investment(e.g. an extra $100 per month), then an income strategy is a great way to go.

This strategy can also be used to "grow" your account, just like a growth investing strategy.

But you're actually trying to "make money" every month, so the goal is different. Income investments tend to be less volatile than growth investments.

This means that you must make a trade-off: the more predictable the return, the smaller in size it will be.

High yield investments (i.e. greater returns) are possible, but involve a combination of investment instruments and more advanced techniques.

Where to use an Income Strategy?

You can use an this strategy in any account type, although you access to the different investment types will be entirely dependent on the investment broker running your account.

Safe Investing Tip:
If you want to reinvest the money you make every month from dividends, use an account with DRIP's (Dividend ReInvestment Plan) and you won't be charged commissions!

How to Execute an Income Investing Strategy

I've created specific pages for some of the more common methods investors use to create a new source of income:

• Dividend Investing - Buying equities (i.e. stocks) to payout a portion of their earnings to shareholders
• Bond Investments - Buying debt (e.g. a loan) and collecting the interest payments
• CD Laddering - Using CD that mature at different types to create consistent interest income
• Bond Laddering
• Covered Call Techniques (High Yield Investments)
• A covered call is a particular type of option strategy, where you basically "rent" your stock to someone else.