Getting a great, steady return is what most people strive for in their portfolio. The problem is, that usually means forking over big fees, or dealing with complex, time-consuming investments. But as the baby boomer generation ages, investment firms are looking for new ways to combine growth (price appreciation) and income (dividends).

New Alternatives: Exchange Traded Funds in Today's Market

According to the Wall Street Journal, an explosion of new choices have hit the market. The most popular choices are structured as low-cost exchange traded funds, or ETFs. They are baskets of investments that trade all day on an exchange, just like a regular stock. ETFs low-fee structure provides benefits traditional mutual funds can't match. Don Phillips, director at investment research site Morningstar.com says that on a lot of funds, expenses eat up all dividends a fund gets.

High Yield Equity Dividends

The journal says Powershares High Yield Equity Dividend Achievers Fund, an ETF, contains stocks yielding just over 4%, and they pay out around 3.4% to investors. The company has three similar ETFs are on their way. Barclay's, the largest ETF manager, offers the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index Fund, which yields around 3.22%.

Since these ETFs trade on the stock market, they are open to price appreciation, which is a huge benefit for investors. But investors should research ETFs just like any stock. Financial planners note most high yielding ETFs are over weighted in financial companies, which can tilt the balance of your portfolio.

For more information on ETFs visit www.ishares.com, www.barclays.com, www.morningstar.com, or www.wsj.com.

Eddie Daroza is a stock market junkie and personal investor. Besides contributing content to efinancedirectory, he works on the financial news show 'Rob Black and Your Money', broadcast daily on San Francisco's KRON 4. Eddie is also a reporter for PBS's Update News.