Looking for Suggestions for Investing for My Parents Retirement

[Acg]

Hey guys - I'm looking for some advice.  My dad needs something that generates monthly income.  He was invested primarily in munis but that has shit the bed and I'm looking for new ideas.  What else is out there that generates decent income and isn't in complete turmoil right now like all of fixed income?  Thanks!

[CorpRaider]

Of course you know this, but whether the payments are made monthly or quarterly is simply a matter of budgeting and not relevant to the quality of the investment.  Do your own due dilligence but, I would think twice before wholesale dumping of munis when they're in the midst of what some are describing as both a yield and credit panic.  They're yielding about the same as corporates, which doesn't make much sense when you consider that they're exempt from income tax and the default rate is historically much much much lower for munis.  Maybe it would make more sense to consider scaling out a little to diversify and maybe switch amongst munis to higher rated issues or funds wich shorter duration and better credit quality if you can do so without taking much of a hit.

[dbm]

Just to play devil's advocate, if you are coming on a forum to ask advice (from scratch) about how to invest your parents retirement savings, are you necessarily the best person to be handling their money?

My suggestions would be to hit the library and get a few books on investing, basic economics, debt (as in corporate and gov't debt not personal debt) and financial planning.  Once you have a couple ideas of where to invest maybe came back to have discussion on the pros and cons of the various ideas.  This is your parents' retirement savings and can't be replaced if a poorly researched decision is made...

Good luck.