RE: Whats your perspective on the US economyHave you looked into income trusts? I'm hesitant to recommend specifically but since you seem up to doing lots of research and reading, you might want to check it out.
I'm most familiar with the Canadian Royalty oil and gas Trusts. They've taken a hit over the last year and some are at good prices. But the best part is the monthly dividends. During the last 2 years I've gotten over 12% dividends annualized on my shares in Canetic (CNE) and soon to be merged with PWE, and Baytex (BTE). So for instance, I have 40k in them and I get around $4800 per year cash dividends. Beats inflation so far. I'm a little over break even with the principle on the share price.
You have to be careful with which ones to get into so do your DD. Payout/income ratios, reserves, dividend stability in the past, etc. I also have AAV which has tanked recently so there you go.....and the divi was cut back as well. It is primarily nat gas while CNE and BTE are oil weighted.
There are others sectors besides oil and gas that are income trusts.
You might want to check it out.
JMHO