Portfolio managers face that same challenge.
When investors decide that it's income they're looking for, some head for fixed-income products like CDs, money market funds and bond funds. Others prefer equities and choose things like equity income funds or funds with portfolios that include a combination of stock and bonds, such as growth and income or convertible funds. But whatever the investment vehicle, yields just aren't what they used to be. And bonds don't pay anything, either. It's all puny.