Bonds Arguably the most common flavor, bonds are popular income-generating investments

Dividend stocks Dividend stocks are generally riskier than bonds, since companies pay them out of their profits

Preferred stock Preferred stock is a kind of hybrid investment between stocks and bonds.

Real estate You can attempt to buy rental properties directly, but that tends to require a lot of capital up front

Asset allocation funds If you can't decide how to build an income portfolio with some or all of these publicly traded investments

Annuities Annuities have exploded in popularity over the last 10 years or so, as these income investments promise guaranteed monthly

Interest-bearing savings accounts The tried-and-true method of parking your cash at your bank or credit union to generate monthly interest payments should also be considered.

This income investment is less stable than bonds, since the stock value can fluctuate with market forces.