Energy Transfer (ET) is currently yielding around 7.2% with a quarterly payout of $0.335. To generate $500 a month in income, you would need about 4,478 shares. At the recent price of $18.75, that requires an investment of roughly $84,000. For comparison, getting that same income from an S&P 500 fund would take over $500,000. Financials look stable since 90% of their cash flow is fee-based and they only pay out 50% of it, keeping the rest for expansion. They are targeting 3% to 5% annual distribution growth. Just keep in mind this is an MLP, so you get a Schedule K-1 tax form.