Bond Market
Bonds are a great way to protect your principal and set up a steady stream of income. They are usually much less volatile than stocks in the short-term, which is why conventional wisdom says you should gradually increase your bond holdings as you approach retirement. But all bonds are not created equal, and this page is designed to help you sort out the differences. Visit our Investing Strategies page for guidance on how to create a personal investing plan that includes both stocks and bonds.
Conventional investing wisdom says that bonds are an important part of a well-diversified portfolio. Yet many investors, even those that own bonds, don't really understand what they are and how they operate. That can be dangerous in a period of rising interest rates such as what we face today. This article explores the basics of bonds and what factors influence the bond market and its returns.
Stock investors have a number of helpful tools to measure risk, like standard deviation and SMI's relative risk scores. Similar tools exist for bond investors as well. We examine one of the best and explain how to apply it when selecting bond funds for your portfolio.
The way you divide your portfolio between stocks and bonds has a bigger impact on your eventual returns than any other single decision. Has the difficult first half of 2008 driven you out of stocks? Or are you persevering, trusting the traditional superiority of stocks will once again reassert itself? In this article, we look at historical patterns and how they can be used to guide your portfolio allocations as you plan for retirement.
Load vs. No-Load. Class A, B, C, R, Y, Z…what does all this mean? Selecting mutual funds can be confusing, but by learning just a few key principles, you can cut through the maze of confusion and find exactly the right funds for you. We deliver the basics you need to know about mutual fund types and share classes.
The yield curve can tell us quite a bit about the economy, inflation, and interest rates. So what is the yield curve, and how do you go about interpreting it? We demonstrate why, in this case, a picture is worth 10,000 words.
Each January we update our category allocations based on where we think the best opportunities lie in the year ahead. See what fine-tuning we suggest to take advantage of opportunities in the New Year.
Think the experts know which way interest rates will go next? Guess again.
With so many different types of bonds out there, how do you even begin to sort them all? SMI's approach is to categorize them by risk: the risk of defaults, and the risk posed by rising interest rates. Combining these two risk measures provides a valuable framework to begin the evaluation of any bond or bond fund.
Investing for growth is easy — buy stocks, and buckle up. But investing for regular income can be trickier. Come along as we examine how to combine Vanguard bond funds in six simple ways, keeping our eye on both risk and return.
Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) have been on the scene for a decade now, yet many investors remain unaware of the diversification and inflation fighting potential these bonds can add to a portfolio. We explain how these unique bonds work and offer two easy ways to invest.
Investors often believe the returns from their bond funds are lower than they actually are. The cause of this confusion is usually their reinvested monthly dividends. We walk through an example illustrating how this dividend reinvesting process works.
Current interest rates are driving savers to despair. We discuss how to utilize three solid options from the ultra short-term bond group to help you weather this low interest rate environment.
Your money market fund is yielding less than the rate of inflation and you've got money you know you won't need for awhile. What's the best thing to do with it? You've got questions, we've got answers.
When saving for a goal that is a few years away, it pays to look beyond money market funds. Ultra-short term, short term, and GNMA bond funds are all useful savings tools for goals of varying lengths. Learn how to match your time frame with the appropriate savings product.
55 million Americans own them, so how complicated can they be? In the case of U.S. Savings Bonds, the answer is — plenty.
The poor returns generated by bond funds over the past year have some investors wondering if better options are available. We discuss who should be looking at other alternatives and what the most promising possibilities are.
We look inside the mystery of recent interest rates, and evaluate the attractiveness of long-term bonds at this point in time.
For most investors, bond funds represent the "safe" part of their portfolio. But there's nothing safe about owning bond funds when interest rates are rising. Thankfully, there is a way to insulate your bond investments from rising interest rates — by owning individual bonds and holding them through maturity.
Why isn't the price of my bond fund increasing in value?
Mutual funds that invest in both stocks and bonds occupy a sort of no-man's land in the investing terrain. Should they have a place in your portfolio? We cover the basics of these funds and offer perspective on what their best uses are.
What is a stable value fund, and is it a good choice within my company retirement plan?
