re: Where to invest for income

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being charged $500.00 per month in management fees by her CFP.

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I would check around with different ones and get pricing like with anything else. Don't pick one that charges a monthly fee! Mine charges $200 per hour (and nothing when I don't use him), but I usually don't have to pay as I've got several things with him. I don't trust stock brokers or bank financial advisers as they are trying to make money off commissions. Make sure your CFP has fraud protection (SIPC).

To answer your question about what kind of interest stuff pays, here is some stuff I have (some through a CFP, some though my bank, some I trade by myself on TD Ameritrade):

Mutual Funds: about 3.5% (through my bank).

REITs: about 6-7% (WPC, Lightstone, Inland).

BDCs: about 7-11% (FSIC 11%, Corp. Capital Trust 7%).

Dividend paying stocks:

COP: 7.5%

I would say $200 for an hour of time is money well spent to come up with a plan. You can lose big if you buy stuff without researching first and getting good advice. Good luck

ETA: a good first step may be to go through your bank for a financial adviser. They won't charge you for an initial consult and you can ask what mutual funds pay. I wouldn't put more than 1/4th of your investments in these however, as they don't pay that well (but pay better than CDs or municipal bonds).