Tag: Bonds
Investing for Interest 119: The Magic of Corporate Bonds
I want 30-year bonds that yield over 6%. Unfortunately, I must look beyond 30-year Treasury Bonds, which currently pay 4.5%. But where do I look? How do I find high-yield bonds that are also reliable and low-risk? It’s time to venture into the world of corporate bonds. I’m new to the world of corporate bonds,…
Stocks, Bonds, & Options in Your 70s: Taking Care of Everyone Else
Let me be 100% honest; we should have money pouring out of our eyeballs in our 70s. By leveraging the power of compounding early in life, we ensure our 70s are plentiful. For example, let’s say my $340,000 portfolio compounded at 10% annually while I added $1,000 per month. In 27 years (I’m 43), I…
Stocks, Bonds, & Options in Your 30s: Prepare for Financial Compression
I am going to start calling the 30s “the compression years” because you spend the entire decade being compressed financially. In your 30s, you are trying to climb the corporate ladder, get married, have children, and buy a house while living the American dream. It’s no wonder that most people have upside-down bank accounts after…
Stocks, Bonds, & Options in Your 20s: Mitigate Risk while Building Wealth
People in their 20s have trouble with their finances because they have two objectives: building wealth and funding their future. The financial media always tells the younger generation about compound interest and how vital it is to save and invest early in life. The stark reality is that people in their 20s must contend with…
Bonding with Bonds: Why Do We Need Bonds in Our Portfolio?
Human nature makes us do funny things, especially when it comes to money. Every human exhibits a different behavior regarding money. Some people love to place spectacular bets at a casino, lottery, or sporting event. Others keep all of their money in a savings account, earning 0.1%. The key to winning with money is understanding…
Secondary Mortgages for Everyone! The Government wants to get into the Home Equity Loan Business
The US economy is stalling because the average consumer is overburdened with debt. The answer is for everyone to live below their means, pay down debt, and generate passive income from investments. But that sounds boring. The easy answer is to offer everyone the ability to assume more debt. That’s precisely the route the federal…
The Importance of Treasuries 2: The Value of High-Yield Bond Reinvestment
Reinvesting a portion of your returns is critical to compounding your investment portfolio. As we invest in Treasuries, we should reinvest some coupon payments into similar-yielding products. But what if we reinvested into much higher-yielding income-focused products like closed-end funds, mortgage REITs, and preferred shares? Welcome back to The Importance of Treasuries series (Part 1),…
The Importance of Treasuries: How to Define Risk
Many young investors get burned by trying to double or triple their money in a few months. Because of these unrealistic expectations, they chase bad cryptocurrencies, meme stocks, and shady real estate deals. These investors aren’t bad; they probably don’t know how to define their risk profile. Understanding how bonds work is essential to becoming…
T-Bill & Chill: What Are Treasury Bills?
Welcome to the world of Treasuries, where we maximize returns by investing with the US Government. I have covered Treasuries extensively over the last two years. However, I haven’t peeled back the onion on Treasury Bills, also referred to as T-Bills. Let’s take a look at how T-Bills compare to other Treasuries. What are Treasuries?…
Investing for Interest 115: Tips for Buying T.I.P.S.
Writing this article on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) took me over a year because they are incredibly complex and tough to understand. Over the last year, I have come to understand them more; however, I have yet to become an expert. I will direct you to others who have even more guidance about TIPS. I…
CDs versus Bonds: The Battle for Your Hard-Earned Cash
The first step to becoming an investor is earning interest on your money. It may sound trivial, but most people don’t arrive at this achievement. I wrote an entire series on the benefits of earning interest from multiple sources such as high-yield savings accounts, certificates of deposit, Series “I” Savings Bonds, and Treasury Bonds. Today,…
Stock Market vs. Bond Market vs. Options Market
Investing in paper markets can be intimidating if you don’t have a guide or mentor. I would guess that the overwhelming majority of people will never invest directly in financial markets (also called risk markets). It is a shame because you can grow your wealth much quicker with paper assets than by working your 9-5…
Investing for Interest 113: Baby Bonds vs. Treasury Bonds
If you are making the switch from saver to investor, one of the best places to start is with bonds. Bonds provide safe, consistent income with the chance for some capital appreciation. Treasury bonds are a safe haven for investors because they pose no credit risk (meaning they are considered risk-free). However, if you crave…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 60s
For most people, their 60s is when they begin to feel wealthy. They can cash out their 401Ks and Roth IRAs while receiving social security. If they are fortunate, they also receive a federal, state, or local government pension. However, just because they have cash flow doesn’t mean they should stop investing. Welcome back to…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 50s
If your 40s were all about creating income, then your 50s are about maintaining your portfolio while building generational wealth. Your income should be creating more income in your 50s. This means you should have enough income from dividends to reinvest 30%. If this is not the case, please go back and read the earlier…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 40s
There are a few paths you can take in your 40s. You can get into more debt, get divorced, have a mid-life crisis, or become rich. Luckily I choose to become wealthy by making more income than I spend. Remember, wealth is having excess income versus expenses. But I didn’t choose to have a job…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 30s
Have you ever heard anyone talk about the “terrible twos” as they raise their children? It’s a time when kids often don’t sleep, can walk and talk, and get into all kinds of mischief. My wife went through this phase twice with our two kids—with me out on assignment most of the time. It’s a…
Dividend ETFs vs. Bonds: The Best Investment for Retirees
Retiring from the workforce can be stressful. We spend our entire lives earning a paycheck and living on a salary. Now they expect us to live on our investments and a small amount of social security. Most of us don’t spend much time learning how to invest. When we retire with a nice nest egg,…
Stock & Bond Investing in Your 20s
Your 20s can be magical if you have the time, patience, and attentiveness to learn about finances. However, most of the time, we are fighting off our hormones. For this series, I assume that you want to start a family and build generational wealth throughout your life. If you want to stay single, you can…
Make a 5-Year Commitment: Treasury Notes vs Certificates of Deposit
Certificates of deposits used to be one of the safest investments in town. However, we had a troubling turn of events in March 2023. Three large banks failed in about a week: Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVC), and Signature Bank. Silicon Valley was the 16th largest bank in America (by deposits). These bank failures…
