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Dear Mr. Berko: We have $153,000, and would like to invest in a portfolio of good stocks that would yield 6 percent or more. We need about $8,000 in annual income to help pay our monthly living expenses. The money comes from three certificates of deposit that will be due next week, and the best I can get on new CDs is 2.25 percent. My wife still works, but she expects to retire in two years when we can begin taking income from her retirement plan. We each have a life insurance policy. Mine has a cash value of $26,300, and my wife鈥檚 has a cash value of $28,200. So, should we cash them in and use that money to invest, too?

While we鈥檝e been reading your column for 20 years, we have only been in the market three times when we took your advice. It worked pretty well, except for the high commissions we had to pay the broker. But we trust you and would like you to names some of stocks that can give us $8,000 a year. We came to all your lectures when you visited Fort Walton Beach and enjoyed your presentation. Please give us the best advice you can.

D.R.
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Dear D.R.: I can鈥檛 recommend an income portfolio without knowing necessary personal and financial information about both of you. It鈥檚 like asking a doctor you haven鈥檛 met to recommend a prescription for a splitting headache. A serious broker will ask you to complete an investor profile, usually three or four pages, from which he can learn your risk tolerance, short-term and long-term objectives, ages, other assets, balance sheet, income statement, personal and family obligations, tax bracket, feelings about the future, what you need the money for, etc. These and other questions are important in designing a portfolio that you can wear comfortably and well. Without this background information a broker is nothing less than a tout.

The following stocks are among those I may recommend for an income account or a growth-and-income account. Some issues are riskier than others and should be less prominent in some portfolios than other stocks on the list. Some have regular dividend increases while others do not. Some have more growth potential than others, some are more aggressive, some have tax favored dividends, some have an attractive speculative appeal and some are just boring dividend issues. So, here are 12 stocks, some or all of which could help you meet your goals.

鈥� AT&T Inc. (T-$25.41) yields 6.6 percent and has a fair history of dividend increases.
鈥� Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ-$31.02) yields 6 percent and has a fair history of dividend growth.
鈥� TEPPCO Partners LP (TPP-$32) pays 9.1 percent and has a good dividend history.
鈥� Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD-$27) pays 8.1 percent with fine dividend growth.
鈥� Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED-$38) yields 6 percent with unimpressive dividend growth.
鈥� Progress Energy Inc. (PGN-$37.20) pays 6.6 percent and has slow dividend growth.
鈥� Reynolds American Inc. (RAI-$41.51) pays 8.2 percent with low dividend growth.
鈥� Suburban Propane Partners LP (SPH-$41) yields 8.1 percent with good dividend growth.
鈥� Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMY-$21.07) yields 6 percent and has some dividend growth.
鈥� Alliance Resources Partners LP (ARLP-$34.81) pays 8.5 percent and has good dividend growth.
鈥� Centerpoint Energy Inc. (CNP-$11.05) yields 7 percent with decent dividend growth.
鈥� Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (CLI-$26.20) pays 6.8 percent and has negative dividend growth.

If you invest $1,000 in each of these issues for a total of $12,000, the yield would be 6.4 percent. I would also include some impressive closed-end funds, several bank preferred stocks I鈥檝e recommended in the past, TIPS and several exchange-traded funds. However, I can鈥檛 tell you what to do with those insurance policies, nor would I recommend a portfolio to you unless I were intimately familiar with your investor profile.

Address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, c/o The Daily Journal of Commerce, P.O. Box 1416, Boca Raton, FL 33429, or e-mail him at [email protected].
漏 Creators Syndicate Inc.