For many investors, the top priority is not capital growth but rather getting a reasonable amount of income with little risk to the capital. How to do? There is probably less need for risky assets such as emerging markets but increased need for diversification. Luckily, ETF’s provide just that. I think that in general an income focused portfolio would include the following asset classes:

–Dividend Stocks (generally stable stocks): This could include ETF’s that are focused either on high yield and/or dividend growth

–Covered Call ETF’s: You can read more about covered call ETF’s here

–Corporate Bonds: This could include investment grade bond ETF’s or high yield bond ETF’s

–Real-Estate Investments: This would generally done by buying ETF’s that invest in REIT’s.

–Government Bonds: Finally, this would include bonds that invest in government bonds, that could be inflation protected or not and have short or long maturities

ETF’s To Include

In order to get those exposures, you could use the following ETF’s:

–Dividend Stocks:

• XDV-iShares Dow Jns Cnd Slct Dvdnd Indx Fnd
• CDZ-CLAYMORE SP TSX CDN DIVIDEND ETF

–Covered Call ETF’s

• ZWB-BMO COVERED CALL CANADIAN BANKS ETF
• HEX-HORIZONS ENHANCED INCOME EQUITY ETF

–Corporate Bonds:

• XCB-iSHARES DEX ALL CORP BOND IDX FUND
• CBO-CLAYMORE 1-5YR LADDERED CORP. BOND ETF
• HAB-HORIZONS AP CORPORATE BOND ETF

–Real-Estate Investments:

• XRE-iShares S&P TSX Capped REIT Index Fund
• ZRE-BMO EQUAL WEIGHT REITS INDEX ETF

–Government Bonds:

• XSB-iShares DEX Short Term Bond Index Fund
• XBB-iShares DEX Universe Bond Index Fund