P eople looking for investment income home in on bad ideas like Premier League footballers sniffing out WAGs with loose morals.

Guided by bad advisers. they put their money into opaque structured products. bonds that aren’t really bonds. and all sorts of offshore nonsense.

Every month brings new tales of woe about the sorry results. One recent story The Independent on the epidemic problem of investment bonds noted that:

Insurance giant Zurich received a dressing down from the ombudsman after an adviser encouraged a man to unnecessarily move £292,000 into an investment bond, which reportedly came with £17,500 in commission.

But while the products are not new, sky-high commissions continue to lure advisers into recommending bonds, although they are often inappropriate for the investor.

Not only do most bonds carry exit penalties for cancellation within five or six years, they are not always tax-efficient and carry risks which the investor may not be fully aware of.

Dont be fooled. If you want safety, go for cash or government bonds. If you want a growing income, theres no getting away from risk.

Incidentally, Im still waiting for someone to complain that they were miss-sold a product that tripled in value when they only expected it to double.

Funnily enough, people only complain when the bonds do badly!

Investment income from investment trusts

Of course, most reputable banks income bonds and guaranteed products do not blow up.

But you’re often still paying over the odds (probably to an advisor) for a mediocre return, and you may not be properly evaluating the risks, particularly if the bond was constructed with derivatives.

And the shame of it is we’ve a proven way of investing for a long-term growing income here in the UK – one that’s fairly transparent and based on enduring investment principles.

I’m talking about stock market listed income and growth investment trusts. which most experienced readers will know about already, Id hope.

The pick of these trusts have paid regular dividends for decades, with the income rising annually for well over 20 years. The very best have grown their payouts for more than 40 years!

How do they do it?

Dividends: These investment trusts generate the income they pay to investors by investing in FTSE 350 companies that deliver a growing dividend income stream.

Gearing: Most use a bit of debt to increase their returns.

Reserves: By retaining surplus dividend income in the good years to top-up payments in the bad years, the trusts smooth out the bumpiness of investing in the stock market.

And that’s it. Nothing fancy – but it works.

Four great investment trusts

The following four UK growth and income investment trusts have a dividend growth record spanning at least 20 consecutive years, according to their trade body. the AIC.

All boast generous dividend income yields at the time of writing: