Monthly income

12 investments that pay monthly income

Name: Pacific Structured Assets, Inc.
Address: 2626 Foothill Blvd, Ste 200, La Crescenta, CA, 91214, US
Telephone: (800) 928-7680

Investments that pay monthly income include high-yield savings and money market accounts, monthly-interest CDs, Treasury and bond ladders, corporate and municipal bonds, dividend stocks and monthly-paying funds, REITs, business development companies, covered-call funds, rental property, peer-to-peer lending, immediate annuities, and court-approved payment streams. Twelve of them, and they are not interchangeable.

Work out the income you need What a good monthly retirement income looks like

First principle

What paying monthly actually means

Money reaches you in one of three ways, and the difference decides how much you can rely on it. Interest is owed under a contract at a stated rate. A distribution is declared by a board or a fund and can be reduced at will. Rent and net business cash arrive only after every cost of ownership has been paid.

Only a handful pay monthly by nature: deposit accounts, amortising loans, rent, and annuity or settlement schedules written that way. The rest are made monthly by construction, because Treasury notes and most bonds pay a coupon every six months and most U.S. companies pay dividends quarterly. Holding several with staggered payment months produces the same rhythm, and knowing which kind you hold is what stops an income plan surprising you.

Side by side

The twelve, compared on the three things that matter

What it pays, how the money reaches you, and what can go wrong. The table is alphabetical: not ranked, not ordered by yield, not ordered by what we sell. One of the twelve is our own business, and it sits where the alphabet puts it.

Swipe sideways for the full table →

Investment	What it pays	How the money arrives	The main risk
Business development companies	Whatever the BDC declares	Quarterly as a rule, monthly at some funds	Below-investment-grade loans; small-cap price swings
Certificates of deposit	1.68% 1-year APY, FDIC national average (deposit-weighted)	Monthly only if you ask for the monthly-interest option	Reinvesting each maturity at an unknown future rate
Corporate and municipal bonds	5.43% investment-grade corporate; about 3.75% high-grade muni (approximation)	Every six months per bond; monthly by staggering several	Issuer credit, and price loss if sold before maturity
Court-approved payment streams	4 to 7 percent estimated yield, set at purchase	On the dates written into the court order	Not FDIC-insured; one insurer; no public market
Covered-call and income funds	Whatever the fund distributes that month	Monthly at most such funds	Capped upside; distributions can return your own capital
Dividend stocks and monthly-paying funds	Whatever the company or fund declares	Quarterly as a rule; monthly from a minority of issuers	Dividends can be cut; the share price can fall much further
High-yield savings and money market accounts	0.38% savings and 0.65% money market, FDIC national averages (deposit-weighted)	Credited to the balance every month	The bank can cut the rate any day; inflation
Immediate annuities	Set by the insurer at purchase	Monthly for life, beginning at once	Capital is surrendered; one insurer's promise
Peer-to-peer and marketplace lending	Set by the platform's credit grades	Monthly, as each borrower amortises the loan	Defaults, slow recoveries, and platform failure
Real estate investment trusts	Whatever the REIT declares	Quarterly as a rule, monthly at some REITs	Equity price swings; non-traded REITs can gate redemptions
Rental property	Rent, minus every cost of owning the building	Monthly, when the tenant pays	Vacancy, repairs, and months to sell
Treasury bills, notes and bond ladders	4.69% on the 10-year note	Every six months per note; monthly by laddering	Price loss if sold early; reinvestment at unknown rates

Treasury: U.S. Treasury par yield curve, July 24, 2026 — Corporate: ICE BofA US Corporate index via FRED, July 23, 2026

The municipal figure is an approximation at 80 percent of the 10-year Treasury, not a quote. Rows without a figure have no published national benchmark at all, so none is shown rather than estimated.

Source: FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps, July 2026 monthly release

These are FDIC national averages (deposit-weighted) across every FDIC-insured institution, and the largest banks pay close to nothing on deposits while holding enormous balances, which drags the averages down. A well-shopped CD from a nationally available bank or credit union routinely pays materially more than the figure shown here. Read these as the middle of the market, not as a rate you have been offered. Compare them against real quotes on the FDIC National Rates and Rate Caps page, which is where these figures are published.

Backed by a bank

Money held at a bank

Two instruments, one backer. Deposits at an insured institution are protected by the FDIC to 250,000 dollars per depositor, per bank, per ownership category — the strongest protection on this page, and why both pay the least.

High-yield savings and money market accounts

Interest is credited to the balance every month and you can withdraw any day. The rate is not fixed: the bank can change it tomorrow. FDIC national averages (deposit-weighted) sit at 0.38% on savings and 0.65% on money market accounts, and a well-shopped account pays materially more. The risk is not losing the money. It is the rate falling, and inflation outrunning it.

Certificates of deposit

A CD fixes a rate for a term. Most compound and pay at maturity, but many banks offer a monthly-interest option that sweeps the interest to a linked account instead — the variant to ask for if you want the income now. Cashing one in early costs months of interest, which is the problem a CD ladder exists to solve. The real risk is reinvestment: every rung matures into whatever rates exist that day.

Backed by a borrower

Money you lend out

Lending pays interest, which is contractual, so the amount is known in advance. What is not known is whether the borrower pays, and what the holding would fetch if you sold early. Credit and price separate everything in this group.

Treasury bills, notes and bond ladders

Treasury notes pay a coupon every six months, so monthly income comes from holding several with staggered payment months, or from laddering Treasury bills so one matures each month. The 10-year note yields 4.69%. There is no dollar cap on the government backing and the interest is exempt from state income tax. Sell before maturity into higher rates and the price moves against you.

Corporate and municipal bonds

Same six-month rhythm, same fix. Investment-grade corporates yield 5.43% because you are lending to a company rather than the government. Municipal interest is generally exempt from federal tax, so a lower headline yield can beat a taxable one after tax — the arithmetic is on our municipal bonds page. Neither is insured, and the risks are default and price.

Peer-to-peer and marketplace lending

You fund fractions of consumer or small-business loans through a platform and take a share of each borrower's monthly payment. This one is genuinely monthly, because that is how amortising loans work, and rates follow the platform's credit grades. The risks are concentrated: borrowers default, recoveries are slow and partial, nothing insures the loan, and the platform itself can fail.

Backed by profits

Money in a company or a building

Everything here pays out of profit rather than under a promise, so the payment can be cut and the capital can fall at the same time. That is the trade for the possibility that both grow. None of it is insured.

Dividend stocks and monthly-paying funds

Most U.S. companies pay quarterly. Monthly income from shares comes either from the minority of issuers and funds on a monthly schedule, or from owning three quarterly payers whose months interlock. A dividend is declared, not owed, so a board can reduce it — and the share price can fall by more than a year of dividends is worth.

Real estate investment trusts

A REIT owns income property or property loans and must distribute most of its taxable income, which is why the payouts look large. Some pay monthly; most pay quarterly. Listed REITs trade like shares and move with property values and rates. Non-traded REITs can limit how much you may redeem in a quarter — a liquidity risk people discover late.

Business development companies

A BDC lends to mid-sized private companies and passes most of the interest through to shareholders, usually quarterly and sometimes monthly. The loans are mostly floating-rate and below investment grade, so income falls when rates fall and losses arrive when borrowers stop paying. The shares are as volatile as any small-cap stock.

Covered-call and income funds

These funds hold shares, sell call options against them, and distribute the premium, often monthly and often at a headline rate far above any bond. The catch is structural: selling calls caps the upside, the premium does not cushion a real fall, and part of what is distributed can be a return of your own capital. Read the distribution breakdown before the rate.

Rental property

Rent arrives monthly, which is the appeal. What reaches you is the rent minus mortgage, property tax, insurance, repairs, management and vacancy, and those subtractions are lumpy. An empty unit pays nothing while every cost continues, selling takes months, and the IRS treatment of rental income is its own project. You are buying a job as well as an asset.

Backed by a contract

Money under a fixed contract

The last two fix the amount and the dates at purchase, so nothing is reinvested and no board votes on your income. Both charge the same price for it: the capital stops being available. Neither is a bank deposit and neither is FDIC-insured.

Immediate annuities

You hand an insurer a lump sum and it pays a set amount every month for life, starting at once. The payment is fixed at purchase from your age and prevailing rates, and this is the only entry that cannot run out while you are alive. In exchange the capital is gone, most versions leave nothing behind, and it is one insurer's promise, backed within limits by a state guaranty association. The mechanics are on our immediate annuities page.

Court-approved payment streams

Someone who was receiving a structured settlement sold their future payments through a court-approved transfer, and the right to receive that fixed schedule is assigned to an investor at a discount. Payments then arrive on the dates written into the order, monthly where the schedule is monthly. Estimated yields run roughly 4 to 7 percent effective.

The disadvantages are real and belong here rather than in a footnote. A payment stream is not a bank deposit and not FDIC-insured, and it is not an annuity, an insurance product, or a registered security, so no state guaranty association stands behind it. It rests on a single insurer's obligation rather than on a diversified pool. Liquidity is limited: there is no public market and no daily price, though resale or reassignment to another buyer may be possible with our assistance, at a price that is not guaranteed and moves inversely with prevailing rates. Anyone who might need the capital back on short notice should be somewhere else on this page.

What these assets are, and what they are not

Guaranteed and life-contingent structured settlement payment rights, and lottery payment rights, represent the right to receive factored payments that Pacific Structured Assets purchases and assigns to investors through a court-approved process. They are purchased at a discount to their total scheduled payments.

These payment rights are NOT annuities, NOT insurance products, and NOT securities registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They are not bank deposits, are not FDIC-insured, and are not protected by any state insurance guaranty association. The industry term “secondary market annuity” refers to these payment rights and does not mean you are purchasing an insurance annuity contract.

You acquire the right to receive the payments, not the underlying annuity. The annuity itself does not change hands. Unlike the original structured settlement annuity, which may be shielded from creditors under applicable law, the assigned payment rights you purchase generally do not carry that creditor or bankruptcy protection.

Assigned annuities, offered as a separate product line, are existing insurance annuity contracts reassigned to a new owner through a change of ownership or an irrevocable change of payee.

These are long-term holdings with limited liquidity, and may not be suitable for every investor. There is no public trading market and no daily price. Resale or reassignment of a payment stream to another buyer may be possible, and Pacific Structured Assets can assist, but a resale is not guaranteed and the price it would bring is not guaranteed. Because the payments are fixed, that resale value moves with prevailing interest rates: an investor could realize a gain if rates have fallen since purchase, or a loss if rates have risen. These holdings are best suited to capital an investor can commit for the long term. Nothing on this website is tax, legal, financial, or investment advice. Consult your own advisors before investing.

Read this before the yields

What is actually insured, and what is not

Two of the twelve categories on this page carry federal deposit insurance. Savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and CDs at an insured institution are covered by the FDIC to 250,000 dollars per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Everything else carries something weaker, or nothing.

Treasuries are not insured either, strictly speaking; they are direct obligations of the U.S. government, a different and stronger thing, with no dollar cap. Immediate annuities are backed within state limits by a guaranty association. Corporate and municipal bonds, REITs, dividend stocks, business development companies, covered-call funds, peer-to-peer loans, rental property and court-approved payment streams carry no insurance and no guaranty association at all.

None of that makes the uninsured options unsound. It sets the order of questions: insured money is where a reserve belongs, and the extra return everything else pays is compensation for exactly the protection it does not have.

Putting it together

Choosing between them

Start with the number, not the instrument. Work out what monthly income you need, subtract what already arrives, and only then ask what covers the difference. The income gap calculator does that subtraction, and what counts as a good monthly retirement income sets out the published figures most people measure themselves against.

Then match each instrument to a horizon. Money needed within a year belongs in an insured deposit. Money needed in one to five years suits a laddered holding of CDs or Treasuries. Money with a long horizon can accept credit risk, price movement, or limited liquidity for a higher rate.

Almost nobody should hold only one of these. A reserve in insured cash, a ladder for the middle years, and one or two longer-dated income assets is the shape most plans converge on, because the failure modes do not overlap. How the longer-dated options compare on yield, credit and liquidity is on our fixed income alternatives page.

Monthly income questions

What investments pay monthly income?

Twelve are worth knowing: high-yield savings and money market accounts, monthly-interest certificates of deposit, Treasury and bond ladders, corporate and municipal bonds, dividend stocks and monthly-paying funds, real estate investment trusts, business development companies, covered-call and income funds, rental property, peer-to-peer lending, immediate annuities, and court-approved payment streams. Only some pay monthly by nature; the rest are made monthly by staggering payment dates.

How much do I need invested to make 1,000 dollars a month?

Divide 12,000 dollars by the rate. At 3 percent it takes 400,000 dollars, at 5 percent 240,000 dollars, and at 7 percent about 171,500 dollars. The arithmetic is easy. The honest part is that the higher rates in that range are not available without accepting credit risk, price swings, or a long commitment, and assuming a rate you cannot actually get is the common planning error here.

Do dividend stocks pay monthly?

A few do, but most U.S. companies pay quarterly. There are two ways round it: buy the issuers and funds that have chosen a monthly distribution schedule, common among funds and rare among operating companies, or own three quarterly payers whose payment months interlock. Neither approach makes the dividend itself any more certain.

Are monthly income investments insured?

Bank deposits are. Savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and CDs at an insured institution are covered by the FDIC to 250,000 dollars per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Nothing else on this page is. Treasuries carry the U.S. government's own backing rather than deposit insurance, and bonds, REITs, dividend stocks, business development companies, funds, rental property and payment streams carry none at all.

What is the difference between monthly interest and a monthly distribution?

Interest is owed to you under a contract at a stated rate. A distribution is declared by a board or a fund manager and can be raised, cut, or paid partly out of your own capital. Both land in your account looking identical, and the difference only shows up in a bad year, which is exactly when income matters most.

Are court-approved payment streams a good source of monthly income?

They suit long money and not much else. The schedule and the estimated yield are set at purchase, so nothing is reinvested, and estimated yields run roughly 4 to 7 percent effective. Against that: not a bank deposit, not FDIC-insured, one insurer's obligation, and no public market. For money you might need next year, a laddered deposit or Treasury holding fits better.

Pacific Structured Assets, Inc. does not provide tax, legal, financial or accounting advice. The material on this website has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, financial or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, financial or accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction, including the acquisition of factored structured settlement payments. Pacific Structured Assets is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not licensed to sell insurance in any state.

Pacific Structured Assets

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