bonds

Why invest in the stock market?

Posted October 27, 2008 - 04:24 by Philip Brewer

Personal Finance

New York Stock Exchange

The conventional reason for investing in the stock market--perhaps offered with a bit less confidence now that we're in the midst of a stock market crash--is, "It offers higher returns." But that gets us ahead of ourselves. We can learn a lot by taking a couple of steps back and looking first at our financial goals.

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A Simple Guide to Series I Savings Bonds (I-Bonds)

Posted April 22, 2008 - 16:02 by Xin Lu

Personal Finance, Investment, Taxes, General Tips

After the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve many of my bank and money market interest rates plummeted.  Now the best yield I have is on my Series I Savings Bonds issued by the United States Treasury.  These bonds are also known as I-Bonds and their yields fluctuate according to inflation.  Currently, the yield is 4.28% and that beats all of my other cash investments.  Here is some information on the interest rate on I-Bonds and the advantages of owning these bonds.

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Laddering for higher, more stable returns

Posted April 11, 2008 - 13:50 by Philip Brewer

Investment

Tree roots and steps

When investing in things that pay an interest rate--things like CDs and bonds--it's tempting to try to get the maximum interest rate, and then to try to lock up that rate for as long as possible.  There's an alternate strategy that provides good, stable returns with a lot less stress and a lot less need for predicting the future:  Laddering.

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Your 401(k) is not an investment

Posted August 15, 2007 - 03:21 by Philip Brewer

Investment

Your 401(k) is not an investment. Neither is your IRA. Those are legal compartments for holding investments. Your investments are the mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and so on that you've bought. The compartments are where you keep your investments. The distinction makes a difference. When you decide where to invest your money--what investments to buy--you should ignore the compartments. Deciding what compartment to use for each individual investment should come later.

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Treasury bills for ordinary folks

Posted July 17, 2007 - 18:08 by Philip Brewer

Investment

Savings bonds

Let's say you've paid off any debt, except maybe a low-rate mortgage or student loan, and you've started saving the 3-6 month's spending money that all the books say you ought to have. So, where do you put that savings?  An option with the maximum safety and considerable flexibility is treasury bills.

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