Many of us remember the days when being a millionaire meant you had made the big time. The same was true when retiring with $1 million in the bank. But compounding inflation and low interest rates have turned that idea on its head.

With the most recent stock market downturn and much-increased volatility, many investors are fretting and rubbing their hands together with anxiety. But income-oriented investors might want to instead celebrate, especially if they have cash they can begin moving into solid companies that now sport a higher dividend yield.

Market Volatility is Surging

As some of the larger tech companies continue to mature, their dividend yields have slowly but surely crept up as well. We investors now have some wonderful choices when it comes to solid tech companies paying a dividend that has grown every year, even in recessions. However, some of these companies have a relatively large dividend yield while others have a lower yield, but a high dividend growth rate.

For many investors approaching retirement income planning for retirement has become extremely difficult, if not downright impossible. So many people had hoped to live off of income generated by relatively safe treasury bonds and high quality corporate bonds, but that strategy is out the window for most given where interest rates are today. Even with interest rates rising over the past few months, they are still well below historical norms.