NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - With bond yields so low and bond prices potentially fragile, income investors are in a bind. To raise yield, you need to go further out on the yield curve to longer-maturity issues or go to riskier bonds (corporates, high yield) or dividend-paying stocks.

None of the alternatives go down easily for those looking for safe, secure incomes that can stand the test of time. Our suggestion is to barbell your portfolio between the income-producing issues you need and the liquid, short-term cash instruments.

To seek income while staying in stocks, click here for some enticing dividend-paying stocks, including Philip Morris, Eastman Kodak and Washington Mutual. Another interesting way to get high income is real estate investment trust Annaly Mortgage Management (nly).

Unlike other REITs, Annaly invests in residential mortgages, making money by exploiting the difference between the interest rate it pays on its own short-term debt and the higher yield on the mortgages it buys. But like all REITs, 90 percent of its profit is paid out as a dividend, which recently a yield of 15.7 percent.

Another option: high-yield bonds. Aren't these the riskiest bonds around? Well, usually. After all, the reason high-yield bonds (corporate bonds rated BB or below by the bond-rating agencies) need to offer investors higher yields than those of their safer, investment-grade brethren is because of the above-average risks they carry. And you certainly need to pick your spots in order to avoid firms that can't dig themselves out of their current troubles and thus wind up on the true junk heap.

But investing in carefully chosen high-yield bonds makes more sense in today's economic environment since the bonds tend to perform well in a recovery. While there's a chance that they can suffer from rising interest rates, high-yield bonds typically have higher coupons than those of Treasuries, so their prices aren't as sensitive to hikes.

They now yield about 10 percentage points more than the average Treasury. And they offer the potential for capital appreciation if the debt is upgraded by one of the credit rating agencies. As we said, there is always the risk that they'll default, so we suggest investing in a well-run fund like Northeast Investors, which spreads its investments among many sectors, has a low 0.65 percent expense ratio and boasts one of the best records over the past 10 years.

Of course, if you're in a high-tax bracket you'll want to consider investing in tax-exempt municipal bonds. Because of the tax advantage that municipal bonds offer investors, their yields are typically 80 percent of Treasury bond yields. Today that ratio is 104 percent, making municipals an especially attractive option.

"In the rush to quality, municipals have been completely overlooked," says Morningstar senior bond fund analyst Eric Jacobson. He likes T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Short Intermediate (800-638-5660), which has an expense ratio of 0.52 percent vs. the average municipal bond fund's 0.8 percent fee. The fund has returned 5.97 percent for the past three years -- better than 82 percent of its peers.