Free Investment Advice

Source: aarp.org

When you buy bonds, you become a lender. The bond issuer is the borrower. The bond issuer might be a company, a city, a state, or a federal government agency. They may borrow for short periods to manage cash flow or cover operating costs, for example. They may also borrow money for longer-term goals such as to build new facilities or pay for new technologies. Cities or states may need to build bridges or provide other community services. One common way to borrow money is to issue a bond series and sell units of the series to the public.

Why own bonds?

Bonds are a good choice if you’re looking to earn a steady income with the potential to beat inflation. Bonds are sometimes referred to as “fixed income” securities. They pay you interest based on a fixed rate for a specified period of time, thus earning you “fixed income.”

If you are thinking of buying a bond, consider some of the following questions:

* How much will you earn?
* When will you be paid the interest?
* How long is the loan?
* How reliable is the borrower?
* How much do they want to borrow?

How much will you earn?
The amount that you earn will be based on the bond’s face value, coupon rate and yield.

The face value, or par value, of a bond is the value of the bond at maturity, the date when the loan is paid off. A common face value is $1,000 per bond. It’s important to keep in mind that the actual market price of a bond may be higher or lower than the bond’s face value. A bond’s market price can fluctuate over time, depending on a variety of factors including investor demand, interest rate movement, the bond’s maturity date and the creditworthiness of the issuer.

A bond’s coupon rate refers to the interest that will be paid based on the face value of the bond. A bond with a face value of $1000 and a 7% coupon will pay $70 a year in interest. Interest may be divided into quarterly, semiannual or annual payments, depending on the issuer and the individual bond.

If you purchase a bond at face value, your coupon rate and actual earned yield will be the same. However, bonds are often sold at higher or lower prices than their face values. As a result, your actual yield can be different from the bond’s coupon rate. Buying a bond at a discount, or less than its face value, results in a higher yield than the stated coupon rate. In contrast, buying a bond at a premium, or more than its face value, results in a lower yield than the stated coupon rate.
How safe is your bond?

When you buy bonds, you’re taking a risk that borrowers with poor credit ratings may not repay their loans on time, or even at all. Two major services, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, rate the creditworthiness of bonds. Ratings are based primarily on the credit history and current status of the issuer.

The ratings use a letter system. They go by letters, like at school. The ones with only As in their rating are of high quality. The ones with a B in the rating are of medium quality (except for Moody’s B rating, which is below medium quality). Bonds with a C are either low quality or extremely low quality.

Bonds are commonly labeled either “investment grade” or “junk” quality (often called “high yield” instead). The less creditworthy the borrower, the higher your risk is of not being repaid what you lend. For that reason, higher risk bonds usually provide a higher interest rate.

You can avoid the issue of creditworthiness entirely by investing in bonds issued by federal government agencies. Repayment of these loans is guaranteed by the Full Faith and Credit of the U.S. Government.