I told my broker I needed more income.

If you asked your broker that you needed more income, did he recommend you sell your safe CDs or high investment grade bonds or municipal bonds for a bond mutual fund, structured product or annuity?  Some brokers feel that if an investor asks for something then their recommendation for it will be suitable, no matter what.  Nefarious brokers may recommend selling a different kind of fixed income product because not only it offers or promises a higher yield or dividend but because it pays them a lot in commissions.  These same brokers may be “sugar-coating,” or not disclosing at all, the risks associated with the recommended investment.  For example, recommending that a 75 year old investor sell all of his low interest CDs for a high yield (a/k/a “junk”) bond mutual fund may be unsuitable for the investor.  The broker may earn up to 5.75% in commissions and the investor will be subject to high risk, high market volatility, high turnover, and risk of losses in the underlying “junk bonds” in the mutual fund portfolio.