Ask HN: What's the best way to get 5% on a million dollars?

Buy a flat in Battersea, London, get some letting agency to manage it for you and reap the rewards:

http://www.londonpropertywatch.co.uk/average_rental_yield.ht...

Who cares if you are pricing someone else out of a place to live in London? Seemingly nobody cares. The government love it that there is rampant house price inflation. The ride should be good for a while. Wherever you put your money it will not be immune to the next big crisis of capitalism, in London property you will be well insulated.

As well as the return in rental, you will also have a property that will appreciate in value over time. Sure you might have to sit things out when the property market is depressed, but I would be surprised if your $1M flat is worth less than that in 5+ years time even if the whole housing market goes 2008-style again.

ETFs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange-traded_fund and REITs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_investment_trust

Are other investments you can look into. A mix of some blue chips that pay out dividends in combination with some ETFs which trade in commodities or specific growth markets might be a good idea. Balance out that risk with bonds or other instruments.

Use it all to buy shares of DNP. At today's closing price of 9.34, the monthly dividend of 6.5cents will net you 8.35% per year (not counting compounding, higher if you have a divident reinvestment plan). After taxes you should still be above 5%.

> In terms of getting good advice, accept that money will have to be on the table. People have to make a living, and if there's nothing to gain, then why should a good professional waste their time? My hunch is that a good financial advisor will be happy to take a lump sum consultancy fee, rather than a percentage management fee, just to give you general advice - especially one that knows their clients are your friends and will react to any stupidity the financial advisor says.

Perhaps if OP consults a sworn fiduciary? I've not much experience with either of these, but theoretically a fiduciary is supposed to legally act in your benefit at all times where as a financial advisor isn't really.

I have no idea, though. I don't have much money. This is something I read somewhere.

Why?