Cities and states have long relied on investor IOUs. We’re talking about municipal bonds, longtime investor darlings for their historically low default rates compared with corporate debt and their ability to generate tax-free income for retirees, or those approaching retirement. The U.S. muni market turned in an impressive performance in 2014, clocking a return of nearly 9% […]

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Let’s do free association with the word bond. What ideas come to mind? For starters, slow, low returns, and complicated. And the bond market (aka “fixed income”) is where the Fed and central banks meet giant financial institutions, like investment banks and insurance companies, to argue weighty matters like interest rates, inflation, and money supply. Ugh. […]

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Investors looking to add fixed income to their portfolios face a trade-off of sorts: The safest government bonds currently pay very low yields, while higher-yielding corporate bonds are more prone to default and recently suffered a slump. In the current low interest rate environment, how can investors decide? Although there’s no one-size-fits-all formula, high-yield corporate […]

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Some investors seem to think of bonds like a famous infomercial: some bond investors just “set it and forget it” when it comes to a bond portfolio. However, there are some important steps in the preparation and maintenance of a bond portfolio. Diversifying a bond portfolio is just as important as diversifying a stock portfolio, […]

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Recent record-high U.S stock prices may be great for younger investors who are trying to grow their wealth. But when the stock rally coincides with record highs in the bond market, it doesn’t make things particularly easy for a different type of investor: retirees trying to find safe and relatively decent yields. How are retirees […]

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