Income Investing Today - by Richard Lehmann (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Income Investing Today

Income Investing Today details a safe alternative to the downside risks inherent in the stock market--income securities that can provide a 7% to 8% annual cash income. With this book, fixed income expert Richard Lehmann outlines income investing concepts you need to understand, various investment vehicles, and investment strategies that will help you build a safe, diversified portfolio of investments.

The investment vehicles he explains range well beyond traditional fixed income securities or creditor instruments such as bonds, to include hybrids, REITs, mutual funds, and more. He shows that the key to building a steady, growth-oriented income portfolio is to diversify over a variety of securities that depend on different drivers--that is, portfolios that are not vulnerable to any one specific economic factor such as interest rates.

The ideal guide for individual investors saving for retirement and seeking more safety in their portfolios, Income Investing Today shows how a diversified collection of income securities can equal or exceed the returns from common stock with much lower risk.

From the Back Cover

It has been widely reported that the baby boom generation has not adequately saved for their rapidly approaching retirement years. Because of this, many boomers believe the only way to catch up is by investing in common stocks. But stocks are inherently risky, particularly for those close to, or in, retirement. Income Investing Today offers an alternative--income, through diversification over a variety of securities, that can provide a healthy annual cash income without the downside risks of the stock market.

The virtue of income securities, says fixed income expert Richard Lehmann, is that once you understand them, the selection process is substantially easier and safer than for stocks, for a number of reasons. Credit ratings make risk evaluation highly reliable. You also aren't as vulnerable to price fluctuations due to quarterly earnings reports and missed forecasts since the companies' survival--not its prosperity--is your main exposure. And you won't often see a bond or preferred drop by 20% when a company misses its sales or earnings forecasts, but when this happens it probably represents a buying opportunity.

Lehmann shows you exactly how to achieve a high level of income without inordinate amounts of risk and details the best way to diversify portfolios into nontraditional income securities across a range of sectors--so that interest rates alone won't overly affect a portfolio. The author clearly explains the basic investing concepts you need to understand and the various investment vehicles that are currently attractive. He describes the full spectrum of choices available to people interested in income investments, including bonds, Canadian energy trusts, convertibles, REITs, closed end funds, hybrids, and more. In addition, he suggests specific investment strategies and portfolio allocations that will help you build a safe, diversified portfolio of investments.

In spite of all you may have heard about stocks versus income investing, it is not an either-or choice. Properly done, a portfolio with a diversification of income securities can, over time, equal or exceed the returns from common stock investing with much lower risk. It has worked for the author. In Income Investing Today he shows how it can work for you.

About the Author

RICHARD LEHMANN is President of Income Securities Advisors, Inc. (ISA), and publishes the Forbes/Lehmann Income Securities Investor newsletter, as well as the ETF Investor Newsletter and Distressed Debt Securities Newsletter. He founded the Bond Investors Association (BIA) in 1983 as an information and advocacy organization for individual bondholders. ISA is the successor to BIA. Lehmann is also a columnist with Forbes magazine and has been actively involved in fixed income advising and bond defaults since 1976. He is also the portfolio manager of the Fallen Angels Income Fund (FAINX), a publicly traded no-load fund. Lehmann has taught finance and accounting in Miami and has spoken at numerous investment seminars. He holds an MBA from Columbia University, is a CPA, and an SEC-registered investment advisor. Visit www.incomesecurities.com for more information.