. >> reporter: financial planner cary carbonaro has been helping ivy sommer and others boost the income from their investments. banks are paying next to nothing on cds, money market, and checking accounts, often less than half of 1% a year. and then you have to factor in the bite of taxes and inflation. >> what are you getting? you are actually losing at least 2% to 2.5% to almost 3% a year! >> reporter: so carbonaro recommends avoiding long-term treasuries. instead, put together a portfolio with a wide variety of other types of bonds. >> shorter-term duration treasuries-- potentially munis-- corporate bonds, potentially some high-yield. you should also look at potentially emerging market debt. >> reporter: and though stocks may be hard for some to stomach, carbonaro says they're often important for diversification. >> we have a dividend-paying stock portfolio that's yielding 4.75%, and they have pretty stable blue chips in that portfolio. but you have to be okay with stocks, too. >> reporter: but for ivy sommer, stocks are just too big a leap. >> they're a little too risky. you put mon