My name is Mike and I am a 41 year old IT admin at a well-regarded Cincinnati company. My goal is to retire with a nice income stream and leave the principal untouched. My focus is on reliable dividends from (mostly) smallcap to midcap companies and the use of ETFs and CEFs.

I took control of my retirement finances a few years ago. I wanted more control than the company 401k provided. I opened a Roth IRA and started making my own choices. When I changed jobs a couple years ago I rolled that 401k into and IRA and took control of that also. I do still contribute at my current employer due to the very generous match.

On these pages I hope to offer some investment options for your consideration. You can do your due dilligence and decide for yourself wether to add them to your portfolio. I am not pushing anything here and have no involvement with any Stock/ETF/CEF that may be discussed. They are all merely what I am investing in or considering for future purchase.

My main goal is to locate  funds that pay nice yields and are as safe as they can be considering the overall market and/or the category of the fund. I do occasionally sell positions to take some profit or minimize a loss, but I buy intending to keep them long term.

Hopefully you will find something of interest and join in discussions of items that interest you. I would love to have additional insight regarding funds you consider worthy of your hard-earned money as well.