This article was updated October 9, 2013.

Investment expert Paul Tracy of StreetAuthority.com -- a sister site to both InvestingAnswers.com and ProfitableTrading.com -- has been finding low-risk and profitable investments for more than a decade. Lately, he has become concerned about the risks of the stock market over the long term and believes 'dividends will account for ALL of the market's return for the next decade.'

If he is correct -- and the arguments he makes to support this conclusion are very strong -- most investors will face disappointments for years to come. The best long-term strategy is to buy high-quality value stocks that have sustainable, growing earnings and pay a safe dividend.

I agree with Paul's long-term views, but I rarely buy these kinds of stocks outright.

You see, I use a special strategy that allows me to buy high-quality stocks at a discount and even earn extra income from stocks I own. It's not for everyone, but I think it's one of the smartest, highest-percentage strategies in the financial world.

I'm not going to beat around the bush. It involves options. But hear me out: The strategies I use are safer and simpler than you might imagine.

For example, with one option strategy I use, one of two things can happen...

1. You receive instant income and keep it as pure profit -- without ever having to buy a stock.

Or...

2. You get the opportunity to buy shares of a company you want to own anyway -- at a discounted price. You'll even know the price up front before you ever make the trade.

You're basically betting that a great company won't fall to fire-sale prices in a short period of time. We'll be right in most cases and book the income as 100% profit. It puts you in control of when (and how much) income is deposited into your account, even if the market is flat for the next decade... or century, for that matter.

This strategy also allows you to generate income from blue-chip stocks that don't pay dividends.

Once in a while, however, we'll have to buy shares. That's not a bad thing; we're getting a great deal on a stock we'd want to own anyway. Plus, we can then turn around and collect extra income from the stock using a different options strategy.

This might be the closest thing to a no-lose strategy you'll find in the markets. This doesn't mean there's zero risk or that these strategies are for everyone. In fact, if you have less than $25,000 in your trading account, I don't recommend you try these kinds of trades.

Good investing!