Investors have long looked to dividend stocks as a means to generating investment income.For decades this has been an effective strategy to increase cash from investing. However, in today’s market investors are more uncomfortable on how to identify new income opportunities.They should consider allocating a portion of their portfolio to selling options for premium income.The returns can be as high as 5% or more in a single month using the stock breakout strategy.

In a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, “Dividends are losing their allure due to rising rates”, there is a case that yields are too low in today’s market. Here is an excerpt:

A heated stock market rally combined with a sharp climb in benchmark interest rates this year is eroding the relative value of companies that pay out chunky dividends to their shareholders.

Low interest rates over the past few years have boosted the attractiveness of high-dividend stocks that offer up income at a time when bond investors were earning next to nothing. For some sectors, that was a key reason to invest. But recently that’s reversed.

As the S&P 500 has climbed, the share of investment gains coming from collecting those dividends has been falling. The S&P 500′s so-called dividend yield over the last 12 months was at 1.73% Tuesday, its lowest since 2011. 

Let’s exam what a 1.73% yield means to an investor.This means an investor will earn 0.4325% each quarter or 0.144% each month.Based on having $10,000, an investor would earn $173 per year or $14 per month. What can one do with $14 per month or $144 if you invest $100,000? Not MUCH!

For investors seeking monthly income, there is a better way to create cash with your investment portfolio.At Get Rich Investments, we have produced returns of 5% or more in a month which is an annualized return of 60%.You may ask if this is a risky investment to achieve such a great return.While all investments have some level of risk, this investment rewards the investor with a significantly higher return.

We achieve these returns by selling PUT options (cash-secured) or CSPs on stocks trending higher due to stock breakouts.By selecting stocks with upward movement, it decreases the risk in the investment. This is the secret sauce to high returns using option selling strategies. When the stock moves higher, investors can exit the trade to lock in profits. Then, compound their capital weekly or monthly. This is how investors can create a monthly income far greater than dividend stocks without the risk of chasing penny stocks.

Here are some recent trades producing high returns for monthly income:

We have a fast winner in FINL as the stock had a big pop today – up over 12%. I suggest investors to buy-to-close this trade at ~$0.20 per option or less.This gives us a nice 9% profit in 4 days or over 800% on an annualized return!

We have a another winner in BEAT as the stock has moved higher to $31.75. I suggest investors to buy-to-close the 29 PUT trade at ~$0.20 per option or less.This gives us a nice 3% profit in 5 days or over 200% on an annualized return!  There will be more trades moving into next week after the holiday.

The market was in a blast mode last month as it ran to record highs again. We had all winners this month with max income trades. And how about the monthly returns on the PUT trades – 4.8% on ARRY; 8.8% on TLRD; 9.6% on NL; and 8.7% on MDXG!!! This is a yearly return on some buy and hold stock investments in a monthly trade for us.