What's the most important five-letter word for income investors? I think the answer is "yield." If you can get enough yield on your investments, you won't have many income worries.

To be sure, some higher-yielding assets aren't good picks. You can lose more from declining valuations than you make in distributions. However, other alternatives provide solid ways to generate income. Here are three smart ways to earn yields of 9.4% or more.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC) offers a dividend yield of nearly 9.7%. The company has paid a stable-to-growing dividend for 56 consecutive quarters.

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Source Fool.com