@MikeM - I'm having trouble following your reasoning. First off, many of the REIT investors I know of are not consumed by TR nor do they view it as the 'be all to end all'. It's always nice if they get it but they're more interested in the income stream REIT's provide. Buying REIT's when they've been beaten up can be rewarding (however now is not that time). Bonds and bond funds are also capable of gyrations.
Second, I don't understand this statement you made at all "... but buying them for their income distribution inside a tax deferred account doesn't have much meaning." The REIT's I own are all stuffed in a Roth IRA precisely to avoid income taxes on the distributions generated. I can also sell them free of capital gains taxes when prudent. What am I missing? According to M* buying REIT's in tax deferred accounts is the best place for them.
I meant to add this section from Bees' earlier linked capital gains distribution article:
"Consider Asset Location
Ultimately, an investor's best weapon against unwanted taxable income or capital gains distributions is to pay attention to which assets you hold in tax-deferred accounts (such as 401(k)s and IRAs) versus taxable accounts (such as brokerage accounts). Certain types of investments tend to be less tax-efficient because they are more likely to pay out taxable income or gains than others. These include high-turnover actively managed funds, some types of bond funds including high-yield corporate-bond funds, and REIT funds. Such holdings are a better fit inside of a tax-advantaged account such as a 401(k), IRA, HSA, 529, and the like. By contrast, municipal-bond funds as well as many index funds and ETFs can be good choices for taxable accounts."

I have owned the Fidelity Real Estate Income Fund (FRINX) for about seven years with it being a member of my hybrid income sleeve. Thus far my total return in the fund has averaged a little better than 9% per year with an income yield of a litte better than 4%. With this, I've had some capital appreciation in this position during my seven year holding period as well as the production of income in the form of dividends and capital gain distributions pusing my income distribution yield upwards and north of 5%.
According to Xray this fund's asset allocation is listed at 7% cash, 30% US stocks, 1% foreign stocks, 38% bonds and 8% other (most likely convertibles and preferreds). I'm thinking that the referenced stocks are actually reits. As I write, according to M*, it is off its 52 week high by 1.42%.
In checking this fund at MFO it carries a MFO rating of 5 (best), a risk rating of 2 (conserative) and a bear market rating of 1 (best).
For me, this is a nice income generating fund and one that I plan to add to my position over time as I grow the income area of my portfolio.

I’ve got about 7.5% of my IRA invested in Fidelity’s real estate income fund, FRIFX, and consider it part of my bond/income allocation. Its yield and long term returns are comparable to some of the better high yield bond funds. What I like about is that its returns often differ from both bond and stock funds, so it’s an excellent diversifier for a portfolio. It held up much better in the 2008-09 crash than regular REIT funds.

what he said --- me too, and am going to increase

any thoughts on why some REIT's have performed so poorly this week?

The U.S. 10 Year Treasury rocketed up to 1.94% today from somewhere around 1.8% yesterday. That’s a huge one day rise. Earlier in the year it dipped briefly below 1.5%. Bonds (and REITS) tend to move in opposite direction to interest rates. To answer your question - REITS have probably been reacting to the steepening rates for a while. The REIT I sold off a month or so ago (OREAX) fell 1.64% today. I still track it and find it a pretty good bellwether for the REIT market. Generally, the 10-year bond yield has considerable impact on mortgage rates going forward.
The steep bump up in rates was obvious across the spectrum of investments today. Bonds (and many bond funds) fell. Financial stocks rose sharply. Looks like utilities fell back a bit - another area that runs with bonds - and opposite interest rates.

I’ve got about 7.5% of my IRA invested in Fidelity’s real estate income fund, FRIFX, and consider it part of my bond/income allocation. Its yield and long term returns are comparable to some of the better high yield bond funds. What I like about is that its returns often differ from both bond and stock funds, so it’s an excellent diversifier for a portfolio. It held up much better in the 2008-09 crash than regular REIT funds.

If you open and read this, there is an image of the guy that wrote this blog and he looks like he may have been about 15 years old when REITS crashed in 2007-2009, so I don't think he understands the pain REIT investors felt at that time. I don't know how he can make this summary statement below. If I look at the Vanguard ETF for REITS, VNQ, it lost 70%+ peak to trough during the great recession. Would that be considered a bond alternative with less risk for retirees?

REITs are a viable alternative to retirees and other income investors who desire greater income without having to take significantly more risk.

Often it seems like pure laziness and indifference to one's shareholders to me, but sometimes it's because managers will post quarterly or even monthly commentaries on their web sites instead of in the semiannual report. There is also less frequently I think a case where some managers are super-paranoid about saying anything publicly to shareholders for legal reasons. For instance, here you can find monthly commentaries from Invesco and Oppenheimer posted on their web site: https://invesco.com/us/literature?NavItem=Mutual%20Funds&activeItem=f2a435e8-f3a8-4105-9414-0aabe8658a1c

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4310950-retirement-why-reits-are-good-bond-replacements
Retirement: Why REITs Are Good Bond Replacements
Summary
Historically low – and even negative – interest rates are making it harder than ever to retire.
REITs are a viable alternative to retirees and other income investors who desire greater income without having to take significantly more risk.
Our method enables us to earn high and stable income from real asset backed investments.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/stock-market-news-december-12-2019-131542591.html
Stocks surge to record highs after Trump says US, China 'getting very close' to big trade deal
President Trump's tweet turned the stock market around

Some recent Shows:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Hello
Placed a new position for vanguard life-cycle 2040 fund and safeway bonds [cusip 786514BA6] YTM 6.6% today....

Around 12/30/19 per this link:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/924727/000110465919067277/a19-16887_6485bxt.htm
Was previously 11/30/19.

" And we know what happened to the ACA"
I wonder. Every time I look at provisions of the ACA, I go, oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. For example, the tax on insurers. No one knows what's going on with that:

The health insurance tax was in effect from 2014 through 2016. Congress approved a one-year moratorium for 2017, and the tax resumed in 2018 at a cost of about $14.3 billion. Congress suspended the tax once again in 2019. If not further delayed, it will be collected again beginning in 2020.

https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20190910.985809/full/
Regarding who owns munis: Munis were never great investments for much of the middle class. Most of the time, if you were below the 31% tax bracket, you'd have been better off investing in taxable bonds. This is reflected in the statistic that even 30 years ago (1989) fewer than 1 in 20 owned munis.
Rational middle class investors have been getting pushed further out of munis for a long time. Obama made the Bush tax cuts permanent for the middle and lower classes, making munis less attractive. Then the GOP moved even more middle class taxpayers into a 24% or below tax bracket (ordinary taxable income below $160K [single] / $321K [MFJ]).
One can't have it both ways - advocating lower middle class marginal rates and simultaneously bemoaning the fact that munis consequently become less attractive. So long as taxpayers in the highest brackets keep buying munis, states will continue to be able to borrow at lower rates and fund needed work on century-old infrastructure systems.

pipes can range from 15 to 100 years old depending on conditions, although some older northeastern cities operate with pipes that are 200 years old.

America's Aging Water Infrastructure

Point taken @msf. And we know what happened to the ACA. The following numbers are a bit dated (2013), but I think they’re still relatively valid today and serve to make my point:
“ A smaller fraction of Americans owns state and local government bonds today than 25 years ago (2.4% in 2013 vs. 4.6% in 1989), and that ownership is more heavily concentrated among the very rich (the top 0.5% of Americans by wealth held 42.0% of all municipal bonds in 2013 vs. 23.8% in 1989) ...” . https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/08/18/a-smaller-share-of-americans-owns-municipal-bonds-does-that-matter/
The substantial majority of hired-guns occupying Senate seats have no incentive to take away the tax break on munis - or remove the tax-free status of Roths, for that matter. Many would disown their own mother first. Some day, after enough jello hits the fan, the tune might change - but not in the foreseeable future.

It doesn't exactly fit your parameters, but the ACA comes close. Medicare surtaxes of 0.9% on wages above $200K (single)/$250K (MFJ) and 3.8% on net investment income above those levels. Simultaneously, the ACA provided for tax credits (aka Obamacare subsidies) for low and middle income wage earners.

Treasuries are, at least on paper, less risky than CDs. The former are directly backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury which issues the bonds. CDs are issued by banks that can fail, and are usually insured (within limits) by the FDIC. Though it is the "sense of Congress" that the FDIC has the full faith and credit backing of the Treasury, this has not been tested.
Treasuries went up significantly in the 08_09 crash. As I suspect CDs did, if they were marked to market (though perhaps not). See chart comparing S&P 500 and Treasuries here. (S&P 500 down 43%, Treasury bonds and VUSTX up 9%.)

To me, a premium bond is a bond selling above face value. Often a good investment as some investors are loathe to pay a premium for what would yield at least as much as a par bond.
However, it seems that in the UK premium bonds are glorified lottery tickets. Instead of getting interest on the bond, you get entered into lotteries.
So I agree with the headline, at least in part. Forget about UK lotteries. If you want to play a lottery, at least toss your money toward a US state lottery where the proceeds often fund education (however inefficiently): "Lottery revenues are allocated differently in each state, with determinations made by state legislatures. In many states, the money goes to public education, but some states dedicate it to other good causes."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mega-millions-lottery-lottery-money-states/story?id=58661412
Besides, I suspect Uncle Sam will have something different to say about those supposedly "tax-free £1m" prizes. And after all is said and done, is a lottery ticket, UK or otherwise, something that anyone here really cares about?

https://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2019/12/10/forget-premium-bonds-id-prefer-my-chances-with-this-ftse-250-stock/
Forget Premium Bonds! I'd prefer my chances with this FTSE 250 stock
Motley Fool UK
It's easy to see why Premium Bonds pull in so many investors. A chance to win a tax-free £1m certainly grabs your attention, especially when it seems .

If tariff goes up on 15th Dec, market will drop-drop-drop. Act if you can?

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1657267/000089418919008228/mhft_497e.htm
497 1 mhft_497e.htm SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Miller/Howard Drill Bit to Burner Tip® Fund
Class
Ticker Symbol
Class I
DBBEX
Adviser Share Class
DBBDX
(A series of Miller/Howard Funds Trust)
Supplement dated December 9, 2019 to the Prospectus, Summary Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) dated February 28, 2019, as amended
Based upon a recommendation by MHI Funds, LLC (the “Adviser”), the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Miller/Howard Funds Trust (the “Trust”) has approved a plan of liquidation for the Miller/Howard Drill Bit to Burner Tip® Fund (the “Fund”) as a series of the Trust, pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated on or around December 31, 2019 (the “Liquidation” or the “Liquidation Date”). The Adviser has determined that the Fund has limited prospects for meaningful growth. As a result, the Adviser and the Board believe that the Liquidation of the Fund is in the best interests of shareholders.
In anticipation of the Liquidation, effective as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“close of business”) on December 10, 2019, the Fund will be closed to new investments. In addition, effective December 9, 2019, the Adviser may begin an orderly transition of the Fund’s portfolio securities to cash and cash equivalents and the Fund may cease investing its assets in accordance with its investment objective and policies.
Shareholders may voluntarily redeem shares of the Fund, as described in the Fund’s Prospectus, before the Liquidation Date. Shareholders remaining in the Fund just prior to the Liquidation Date may bear increased transaction fees in connection with the disposition of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction by the close of business on December 31, 2019, your shares will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date. Shareholders will receive a liquidating distribution in an amount equal to the net asset value of their Fund shares, less any required withholding. For shareholders that hold their shares in a taxable account, the redemption of Fund shares will generally be treated as any other redemption of shares (i.e., a sale that may result in a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes). Your net cash proceeds from the Fund, less any required withholding, will be sent to the address of record.
If you hold your shares in an individual retirement account (an “IRA”), you have 60 days from the date you receive your proceeds to reinvest or “rollover” your proceeds into another IRA in order to maintain their tax-deferred status. You must notify the Fund’s transfer agent at 1-845-684-5730 prior to December 31, 2019 of your intent to rollover your IRA account to avoid withholding deductions from your proceeds.
If the redeemed shares are held in a qualified retirement account, such as an IRA, the redemption proceeds may not be subject to current income taxation. You should consult with your tax advisor on the consequences of this redemption to you. Checks will be issued to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date.
Please contact the Fund at 1-845-684-5730 if you have any questions.
This supplement should be retained with your Prospectus, Summary Prospectus and SAI for future reference.