“I’ve got a good retirement plan… I just don’t have a good plan for retirement,” my cousin told me a few weeks ago at lunch.

He’s a smart, hardworking guy… a big-shot executive for a Fortune 500 company (though he would never describe himself that way).

[ad#Google Adsense 336×280-IA]He has a good retirement plan from his company. But what should he do so he can live on his savings?

He needs income. And today, I’ll share one way to get it.

This investment offers a legitimate 9% yield in today’s zero-percent world.

Let me explain…

My cousin is not alone.

That same week I spoke to him, I saw my mother-in-law (who is in her 70s)…

She said to me, “Steve, I love reading about all your investing ideas. But I’m getting too old for that speculative stuff. Can’t you write about income for us? That’s what we need!”

She’s right. So my research team and I recently dug in to answer one simple question: What is the highest-yielding, safest investment out there today?

It turns out that the best place for safe, high yields today is what I call “virtual banks.”

These are probably the best high-yield investments that most investors have never heard of.

So what does a virtual bank do?

It does the same basic thing that a traditional bank does – but with no brick-and-mortar branches, no tellers, and no walk-in customers.

A virtual bank borrows money at a low interest rate and lends it out at a higher one. The collateral for its loans is real estate.

Sounds like a regular bank, right? But it can deliver higher returns, more safely.

I’ve recommended these several times in my career, with great results…

  • In March of 2002, I recommended a virtual bank called Annaly Capital Management (NLY) in my True Wealth newsletter. We closed out the trade in early 2005 for a 55% total return.
  • In the September 2008 issue of True Wealth, I recommended a virtual bank called Hatteras Financial (which has since been bought by Annaly). We closed out the trade in December of 2009 for a 68% total return. (Yes, that was a 68% total return, in 15 months.)

In hindsight, those were some great buys!

With their high yields, virtual banks offer a lot of income potential. And if our buy is timed well (like they were in those two examples), then the total return can be amazing, too.

Right now, you can earn a healthy dividend yield from this idea…

You can spread your risk across a basket of virtual banks by buying the iShares Mortgage Real Estate Capped Fund (REM). This exchange-traded fund offers a legitimate 9% yield in a zero-percent world.

If you’re looking for income, consider virtual banks today.

Good investing,

Steve

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Source: Daily Wealth