Are you a typical mutual fund investor who makes periodic withdrawals from your accounts? Have you noticed that with a combination of today's volatile markets and your monthly drawings to live, you never seem to get ahead, or even worse, seem to be going backward?

Or perhaps you rely on stock dividends for income? It would surely be depressing to realize that the average dividend yield for companies listed on the NYSE is only 1.2% per year!

Or maybe you are still in the accumulation phase of your financial life and are invested in an IRA or 401k plan but your plans for retirement are not making the headway you would like?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then read on!

The problem that you and many investors are faced with is that what passes for "investment" these days is really just rank speculation. In years gone by, stocks paid healthy dividends allowing investors to receive a reasonable yield or return regardless of the stock's performance on the market. This dividend yield was historically higher than the yield on bonds or CDs in order to offset the increased risk inherent in owning stocks. In fact, dividends historically have represented nearly half of the total 10% per year return on stock investments - that is , the historical dividend yield was almost 5% per year!

But haven't times changed! Now the dividend yield on stocks is near an all-time low - an average of 1.2% per year for stocks listed on the NYSE. At the same time, yields on interest bearing instruments like bonds and T-Bills are also near historic lows! It's tough to find an "investment" anywhere these days - something that provides a yield or return regardless of the performance of the broader market and without the need for speculation. In fact, dividend yields for the stock investor are so poor they barely keep up with inflation!

So if dividend yields are so low, what are people purchasing when they make a stock "investment"? In truth, the vast majority of stock "investors" these days are really just speculating that the stock will go up in order to produce any "yield" or "profit." If this is you, then no matter how conservative an investor you claim to be, you can only make money if the price of the stock goes up. You are counting on speculation to achieve your financial goals!

Compound Stock Earnings offers a different approach. While it is true we have not invented any new "trading program" or "magic system" and that the basic strategies we employ have been around for years, what is new is that these strategies were previously restricted to professional investors due to transaction costs and access to information. Thankfully, internet technology and lower brokerage commissions have combined to allow the private investor access to this safe and time proven investment technique.

By "writing covered calls" against your existing stock portfolio or by writing calls in concert with new stock purchases, you can generate a monthly cash yield or return often larger than the dividends you would expect to collect over an entire year - regardless of whether your stocks go up or down.

Complicated and speculative? NOT AT ALL. Writing covered calls is considered one of the most conservative investment strategies and is the complete opposite of speculating. Writing covered calls is so safe and conservative that the government allows the technique to be used in IRAs, 401k plans, and other presumably safe, sheltered investment plans. Covered Calls are the ideal way to bring back the many benefits of yield to your investment strategy. Without them, in today's markets, you are relying on nothing more than speculation!