While riskier and perhaps not quite so reliable as fixed income, equity income has potential appeal from those looking for a retirement income to those looking to reinvest to compound interest.

UK companies are starting to pay dividends again, but their rates are way lower than they have in the past. Although some see this as reason not to invest, others see it as an opportunity to purchase equities while they are relatively cheap and wait for the dividend payouts to go up.

And in the US, a culture shift is happening. Companies has previously been reticent to pay out dividends but, as the country’s demographic shifts to a larger proportion of retirees, there is greater pressure on companies to pay out some of the cash they have been hoarding.

Opportunities may be rarer elsewhere but certainly exist. Although Europe is still looking shaky, some of the strongest global companies are domiciled there. These are precisely the types of companies perfectly positioned to pay out dividends.