Tuesday, September 25, 2012

What is Your ChexSystems Consumer Report?

In most countries, the government keeps records on people. In the United States, people keep records on you as well as the government. Did you know that your bank reports information on you? This information can lead to you being dismissed from your job or being turn down for one. On place they report to are the credit unions such as Transunion. That is for reporting that you have good or bad credit.

ChexSystems is the company that keeps track of your bank checking activity. If I were you, I would order a free copy of this report today and see what they are saying about you.
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ChexSystems, Inc. provides account verification services to its financial institution members to aid them in identifying account applicants who may have a history of account mishandling (for example, people whose accounts were overdrawn and then closed by them or their bank).

You can order a report to learn what information, if any, is listed in your consumer file at ChexSystems. If you have been denied an account from a bank or credit union, and ChexSystems was used in the decision process, this information will help you understand what may have contributed to that decision.

Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) amendments to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you are entitled to a free copy of your consumer report, at your request, once every 12 months. Each report submitted to ChexSystems remains on their files for five years, unless the source of the information requests its removal or ChexSystems becomes obligated to remove it under applicable law.


ChexSystems, Inc. is a consumer-reporting agency governed by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and other laws. The Federal Trade Commission enforces the FCRA.

Here are the terms and Conditions;

• You may order only your own personal ChexSystems report.

• You understand that obtaining another person's consumer report is a violation of federal law punishable by fines and imprisonment.

YOU AGREE TO PROVIDE YOUR ACCURATE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND UNDERSTAND THAT CHEXSYSTEMS MAY ACCESS, STORE, AND USE THIS INFORMATION TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

To request a free copy of your ChexSystems report, click below.




Here are somethings to keep in mind about this report.


Let’s say your account was paid and you find that the problem was not removed from your report. Why not?

A reporting member is under no obligation to remove an accurate report of account mishandling due to payment of monies owed. However, the member is obligated to update the report with a paid in full or settled in full date when applicable.

You may wonder why my consumer report only shows the last 4 digits of my Social Security number, Driver's License number and/or account number. This information is masked to protect the privacy of your personal information. If you would like to receive a copy of your report with unmasked data, please submit your request in writing, with a clear indication of what information you would like to receive unmasked.

You have your report and you see something wrong. Now how do you dispute this information? ChexSystems will reinvestigate any item listed in your consumer report that you believe may be inaccurate or incomplete. Please select the following link to obtain information about how to submit your dispute. If you believe the information listed on your report under Driver’s License Verification is incorrect, please refer to State DMV Contact Information. These instructions are on your report. We ask for this information to ensure that we make a complete and accurate search and are able to identify all information that may pertain to you.

ChexSystems neither approves nor declines accounts. The decision depends on the policies of the institution you attempt to do business with. You may be entitled to add a brief statement to your consumer file describing the nature of your dispute of the information.


So you want to get a copy of your spouse’s report!


ChexSystems is required by law to deal directly with the individual to whom the information pertains. They strictly adhere to this to protect consumer privacy. To discuss the information with anyone else, they must receive a notarized Power of Attorney or specific written instructions, signed by the consumer whose information is being requested, authorizing them to disclose the information to the person named in the Power of Attorney.



Who has access to your consumer file?


ChexSystems is governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This consumer protection legislation is designed to ensure that the gathering and sharing of consumer information is done accurately, fairly, and with respect for the consumer's right to privacy. You can request a copy of your consumer report at any time. In accordance with the FCRA, your consumer report can only be disclosed to others having a permissible purpose (legal right) for that information. Examples of legitimate requests include:

• According to your written instructions

• A business transaction initiated by you

• Pursuant to a court order or federal grand jury subpoena

• Use of information for employment purposes, with your written permission

• Your application for a license or other benefit granted by the government, when consideration of financial responsibility is required by law

• A child support determination, under certain circumstances.







Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Teaching Financial Independence


                        My Daughter Stephanie when she attended Central Pennsylvania College

So your child is a high school senior and is going off to college next year. That is great that you are paying for their college experience. Now I have a question for you? Are you paying to give them a good start in the business world or are you paying for one big party? Some children have a good idea why they are going to college. However some think that they are going on a big adventure on your dime. Many don’t have a clue when it comes to budgeting, how to use checking/savings accounts, or how to use credit cards. 
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Many are shocked when they find out how much things cost.  In college many first find out how much taxes comes out of their small paychecks. So you better prepare them for what they have to deal with next year in college. 
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Help your child understand their personal financial situation.
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1.     After each semester, check your child’s grades before paying for the next semester. You don’t want to pay for 4 to 6 years of schooling just to find out that they never attended class. You be surprise how many parents I talked to, that worked two jobs just to put their children through college, find out that they never attended. Can you sing “Maggie”? In the end, they found out that all they did was pay for them to go to all night parties and play on the beach all day. 
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Some parents remortgaged their homes and practically told their children to have fun on the house. I can hear you now, “Not my good little child!” I want to see your face as your Home Line of Credit drives off to college and does not return. 
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2.     Set spending priorities for them and stick to them. Many children do not have experience managing their money. They have no idea how much living expenses are. Many think “so what! When I need money I will just go ask Mom or dad for it.” Your job is to teach them how to live independently. It is not to teach them to be dependent on you. In the very beginning, create a budget together with them. 
Start by discussing practical living costs with them. If they live in a dorm, let them know how much it cost. If they lives in an apartment, let them know how much it cost in rent, utilities, phone, internet, cable, and any other expenses. Make sure they know what bills they are responsible for and when they are due.
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3.     Teach your children checking and savings responsibilities early. Take them to a bank on campus and have them open an automatic checking/savings account. If you can, use a bank that has no ATM fees or has ATM access near campus to avoid fees. Show them the basics of maintaining a checking account register and reviewing a statement. With online banking, you both can monitor their account regularly. Show your child how to set up and use automatic bill paying whenever you can. 
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Your children will probably go on spring break with their friends so show them how to save up the money so that they can go without coming to you to foot the bill. Remember college is for education including financial education. It is not a vacation finance by you the parents.  Give your child a bi-weekly or monthly draw from their account rather than a large lump sum. It is easier to manage. 
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4.     Use a credit card only when absolutely necessary, such as for emergency roadside assistance. This is where most children do what they can do to destroy their future before they get out of college. Most businesses today will not hire you if you have several DUIs, criminal record, or have a bad credit history. You can be at the top of your class and come from the best college but if you have a bad credit rating, corporations will not hire you.  Make sure you tell your children this. 
Help them shop for the best credit card. Shop for a card that matches the needs of your child. Show them how important it is to create a high credit rating.   
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5.     Buy used books and keep them in good shape to resell. Your child can
reduce the cost of books for college by buying used books and selling them.
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6.     Take advantage of an on-campus meal plan. Colleges and Universities have meal programs. These programs may be easier to manage in your budget and more nutritionist than paying for junk food from fast food businesses. 
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7.     Use monthly discounted transportation passes, if available.  Most cities have discount transportation for students. Instead of using a car that is expensive to operate, use public transportation.
The campus library at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill is nearly empty at the end of the day as the community college has suffered from budget cuts, its student population down 700 from last fall. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle / SF
Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California
Also keep in mind that going to a local community college then going on to a local 4 year college or university is the least expensive way for your children to get an education. That is because they will still be living at home.  Here is where you have to decide, what is more important, a low budget education or a college living experience?  

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Managing Your 401K at Work

The Board Room on the New York Stock Exchange


Most of you who work for a living have access to mutual funds in your company 401K program. My advice has always been and always will be, if they do not pay you matching funds then use an IRA to finance your retirement.  For people who have 401K programs, I offer some advice for your long term retirement strategy. Invest for yield, not for growth. In my opinion, the market that we are in has risk for people who are dependent on a growth investment portfolio.
                                                                      Portfolio Size

The search for yield has led some investors to dividend-oriented mutual funds. These mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) invest in dividend paying securities.  According to Charles Schwab and Company, between March 2011 and March 2012, investors placed $25 billion into dividend paying funds and pulled out more than $136 billion from all other stock funds. The number of dividend funds has increased significantly in the past year, from 29 to 46. What happened is, low interest rates have reduced yield on a variety of traditional income sources. Another development, investors may be influenced by past performance.  Dividend paying stocks have outperformed non-dividend paying stocks in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index – 19.1% versus 16.7% during all 10 bull markets since 1972 says Ned Davis Research. The third point, stocks that paid dividends suffered about half the losses as non-dividend payers in all the bear markets during that same time period says Ned Davis Research. Here is the reason why I have been in dividend and interest paying securities since 1972.
                                     Mutual Funds and Diversification

Your 401K and IRA investors who don’t know this information and do not read my blog on a regular bases, may want to reallocate your equity (stock and stock mutual funds) holdings to Interest-oriented and dividend-oriented mutual funds and securities.
Now let’s talk about the risk!
Equity Risk
These mutual fund investments are not bonds and carry volatility risk of stock investments. For example, DREYFUS HIGH YIELD STRATEGIES Fund (Symbol: DHF) had a 52 week high of $ 4.70  and a 52 week low of $ 3.96. At the recent price of $4.24, it yields 9.95%. Traders shifting from bonds to bond-oriented funds are altering their asset allocation and could be introducing more risk into their portfolio. For example, if you, the investor is planning on selling your recently bought fund shares in the near future and you paid over $4.50, you will take a loss on the investment. Income Funds are long term investments and should be used in your portfolio as such.
Tax Implications
Since 2003, dividends generally have been taxed at a 15% rate. Unless the President and Congress extend the Bush tax cut, the dividend tax rate for the highest earners may more than double after 2012. It may increase slightly for lower income earners if the dividend is outside their IRA or 401K. If inside your IRA or 401K, don't worry about it.
Past Performance
The past is not a guarantee of future performance. While dividend-paying mutual funds and bonds typically have outperformed the market over the long run, those investing now might not reap the same benefits.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Part2: Making Money Off of My Credit

 Oldest Daughter Stephanie Tulloch when she attended Central Pennsylvania College

The difference between the rich and the poor is this! The rich plan and manage their plan for as much as 25 years. The poor plan and manage their plan for as long as 24 hours. This is why the rich are rich and the poor are poor. No plan means that the poor are at the mercy of the rich.
I can hear it now. The poor need help because the poor have no access to good education or to the means to build wealth.This is the excuse people have used for year defending the poor.

A public education will expose the poor as well as everyone else to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Basically, public schools teach people to follow orders and think within a small box. That way the masses will take orders without question and work hard for the local employers. Most colleges and universities teach people to think within a larger box. Ivy League schools and master degree programs teach people to run companies inside a much larger box.

http://mail.aol.com/36912-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=33036427&folder=Inbox&partId=1David on his mother's ipad

Most people get the majority of their education from home not from schools, colleges, or universities. People start learning from before birth. My youngest grandson started using an ipad before he turned one year old. He would unlock the machine and bring up different screens. He could call people even though he could not talk. Why? Because from the time he was born, he was being breast fed, going to ipad School while his mother was on the machine calling people and going into websites. That is why when he mastered his motor skills and the ipad was in reach.  He knew exactly what to do and to everyone’s surprise, he did it. Today at 2 years old, he still does not talk well but on his mother’s $600 computer, he can bring up his cartoon shows, play video games, and do other things with no or little help. He thinks in the box that he is working in. That is his normal and my new normal.

You have the ability to expand your box if you know that you are in a box. This is why I write a financial blog. I want to expand everyone’s box so that one day, you young people and some of your descendants may be able to be financially independent by the time you reach old age. If you teach your children and grandchildren what I am teaching you just as my grandson learned from his mother, then you will be independently wealthy before you reach old age. This will enable you young people to do other things for your family.  That will jump start your children and grandchildren in managing their affairs better and become more politically influential in the world. 




Building Wealth

In part 1, “Making Money Off of My Credit,” we learned how to take a $1,000 loan from your credit card at 26% interest and by speculating, you can make $93,548.14 in 40 years. With this plan, you will pay back $1,293.33 to your credit card company. That means that you pay your credit card company $107.78 per month for 12 months. You keep the rest of the money over time.  Over the next 30 years, you can withdraw $259.86 per month. This figure is your return if you did not receive any interest or dividends on the money and you just withdraw it from a non-interest account.


But if you place the $93,548.14 in an investment that gives you an annual rate of return of 6% per year for 40 years, you will be able to withdraw 20% of the money each year, or $1,559.14 per month. That would start in the year 2053 (age 65) and end in 2093 (age 105). I am assuming that in these 40 years, you will have a 6% inflation rate. Today it is between 2% and 3%. You will probably die before the money is used up. The rest will go toward your burial expenses.

What if you borrow $10,000 using a home equity or personal line of credit and made $935,481.44 (by age 65; Year 2053) using the same investment strategy? Giving an annual rate of return of 6% per year for 30 years (ending at year 2083; age 95), you can withdraw $31,182.71 per year or $2,598.56 per month. 

This is what I call long term planning that lasts your full life time. Here is the difference between the rich and the poor.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Making Money Off of My Credit


When I was young and foolish, I would apply and get credit cards and make money off of them. I would buy discounted corporate bonds and have the interest from the bonds pay the interest and principal on my credit cards. I would also put up the credit card funds in a Margin account allowing me to buy more bonds giving more interest. 

When I was moving into my 30s, I was floating about a Million dollars in credit making about $27,000 per year profit. 
Darnell Preparing for a big social event
In fact, I was making money using no money of my own. This money came in  handy when Westinghouse Electric laid me off and I had to move from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, Pa. When I moved, I moved into a new house in a White upper class community in the suburbs of Harrisburg.  

One neighbor could not understand how I got a home in the middle of an exclusive area especially at such a young age. He was bold enough to come over and ask me how I was able to afford my house. I told him that the government was trying out a new welfare program and they wanted to find out how long it would take me to trash this property. The man moved to another area in just a few weeks after talking to me.   
Darnell living in Glen Hazel in the City of Pittsburgh at age 2.
If I was 25 years old today, I would borrow $1,000 from a Visa Card, charging me 26% interest, paying it off in 12 months. I would buy a closed end high income fund like Dreyfus High Yield Strategies Fund (DHF) in a Share Builders Account buying full and fractions of shares. I would buy it around $4.25 per share giving 11.29%. I also suggest setting up the account to automatically reinvest the monthly funds dividend. The Sharebuilder's Account would be ideal for such transactions.

I would pay off the $1,000 loan over 12 months at 26% interest, paying a total of $1,293.33. With this investment I stand to have $93,548.14 by age 65. This speculation would have cost me $293.33 at age 25 years old. Instead of buying some life insurance policy, this can be my life insurance policy. If I would buy this in my IRA, I would pay no taxes on this money until I withdraw the money. My $293.33 is an investment expense and is deductible from my income tax.   

What is the risk?

We are talking here about bond funds not bonds. Bonds mature, funds do not. Your fund price can go down as well as up.That means you have market risk. The bonds purchased by the fund my not have the same interest rate as current bonds. This means that your funds yield may go down as well as up over the years. This means you have inflation as well as interest rate risk. 

In all, your return in 40 years may be less or more than $93,548.14. This is why we call this transaction speculation, not investment.
 
 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Part 11: Retirement Investment Strategy

In this 11 part series on retirement, we covered why you should start putting away money for retirement. In this series we looked at how to figure out what you have now. We talked about how to go about figuring out what you need to retire.  I told you how to go about starting your retirement account as well as what type of securities to use. Last, we looked at the type of expenses you may have to plan for in the future. 

Here are some resources that you may want to use in your own personal research;

U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
200 Constitution Ave.,
N.W. Washington, DC 20210
Web site: www.dol.gov/ebsa

Retirement Savings Calculators:

cgi.money.cnn.com/tools

Retirement Planning and General Retirement Issues:

They will send you copies of free booklets by calling 1-866-444-3272

The social Security Administration Web site has online resources to help calculate your retirement benefits and learn about survivor benefits and Medicare. 


AARP offers a wealth of information including a fact sheet on reverse mortgages and a section on “Money and Work.”  You can order; “Money Matters: Your Guide to Financial Security.”  1-888-687-2277


This is for people who may have worked for a company with a traditional defined benefit (DB) pension.  The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation can assist in locating any money still in your account.  Two books may be useful:

“Your Guaranteed Pension”
“Finding a Lost Pension”
1-800-400-7242

My Opinion About a Retirement Investment Strategy

Your investment strategy depends on what you feel comfortable with. I feel comfortable investing in Junk Bonds with what they call a “Buy and Hold” Strategy. I buy the bonds and hold them in my account until they mature. As the interest given to me builds up, I look for more bonds to buy and I buy more bonds as the money in my account reaches the amount where I can buy more bonds.  Every year, I can give my account new funds to invest in Junk Bonds.  I suggest this to people 24 years old and over.

If just starting a retirement account, you may want to start out in a new account with Zero Coupon bonds that mature in less than 6 years that give a high return. 

If you like common stock and you are in your twenties or thirties; I would suggest that you buy stock that gives high dividends. When the dividends accumulate in your account and reach the level of another purchase, buy more securities that give a high yield. 

For any age and if you can find them, buy convertible bonds as well as Convertible Junk Bonds. That way you can get an added boost in your account when the stock of that company appreciates.  

These are the strategies that I suggest for people who want money for retirement.

With these “Buy and Hold” strategies, you will be able to accumulate money for retirement quickly and relatively safely. The earlier you start the better off you will be in your 60s. Chances are your parents will not be able to help you when you reach retirement. The government is already trying to get out of helping you. You will be lucky if they are still giving you current Social Security benefits when you are ready to use them. Your company or government employer may also pull their resources away from helping their retirees. Your children will have their hands full with a job, raising a family, and keeping a place to live. They may not be in a position to help you.

It is going to be up to you to take care of yourself!     


The difference between rich people and poor people is the fact that rich people plan for as many as 25 years into the future. They work their plan. The poor plan for the next day and only work their mouth. The poor believe that they are doing something by worrying about it instead of creating a plan then working their plan. 

The poor believe that Social Security, their 401K program at work, or their company pension program is going to keep them going after retirement. They never tried to figure out how much money they will need when they retire. When they do retire, that is when they find out that they are not getting enough income. So they blame God, society, and worry.  That is why you find many people making a lot of money over the years and have nothing to show for it when they reach age 65.

Since January 2009, I have shown you how to create a portfolio inside and outside your IRA. I have shown you how to save and invest. I have done it right before your own eyes. So you have no good reason why you cannot do the same thing.

Many people in the past 35 years have said that all I talk about is theories and "pie in the sky." Since January 30, 2009, my IRA portfolio (no other investments) has increased 224.7% ending on August 22, 2012. That is 8.32% per month. At this point, I can withdraw $906.32 per month without touching my original investment. Keep in mind, I am not finished with adding funds to my IRA investment yet. When I do, I will be able to withdraw more money a month without touching my original investment funds. I will have a check larger than my monthly Social Security check. I will take that "pie in the sky" any day of the week.  

A Special Note for all my reader’s around the world!  


Hi my loyal readers around the world. I just finished making my final plans of my life. I will be retiring in a few short years and moving into my luxury retirement home. I will spend most of my time getting my seven year old grandson ready for the 2028 Olympics. I have no idea what my younger grandson is going to do. As of now, I would say it has something to do with electrical engineering because at 1 years old, he knew how to operate an IPad. But whatever it is, I will be around to lend assistance to his education.


My plans also involves my readers. I am starting an online stock club design to give my loyal readers as much as one million dollars, maybe more depending on when you start my plans. That money will be to remember me by.


Please read the blog below and follow my instructions if you want a chance to get one million dollars.


http://bondinvestments.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-would-you-like-to-have-over-one.html

The younger you are; 35 and below, the greater the chance of getting over one million dollars. If you are starting at 60 years old, chances are you will only make it to $100,000.



I started out at age 23 and spent a lot of time laid off and giving money away to my children for cars. I bought 3 homes. One home was paid off in full. The other I bought in a partnership paid in cash. All my cars since 1971 were the current year and I have not had a car note since 1983. I even gave two girlfriends a car each. That is why I don’t have a million dollars today. But if you become one of my “Greedy Friends” I am sure with my instructions, you can get that million.
     

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Part 10 Investing in IOUs


Some financial planners feel that investor should be speculators when they have 10 or more years to go before retirement. They should have their money totally in the stock market. I disagree with that view. Not all individuals such as me are comfortable working with stocks. I am a bond investor not a stock speculator.  With bonds, I know how much I am investing and how much I hope to receive. I know when I will get my return. I can take my interest received and buy more bonds giving me more returns, compounding my account.  With stock, you are speculating on future events that may or may not go in your favor.

Stock Sales Personnel or brokers say that bonds carry more risk than stocks. Is that why my 2.5 year old corporate bond retirement portfolio increased in value 4.743% per month? That is far better than the inflation rate.

I know people who invested in their government or company 401K programs, placing their money in stock mutual funds and received a return in the same amount of time giving them a negative 2 to 10 percent return.  These people paid for professionals to give them such losses. 

What you can do with Bonds.

A bond is an IOU issued by a corporation or a government. When you buy a bond, you are making a loan to the bond issuer.  In return, the company or the government agrees to pay a specified interest rate known as the coupon rate.  The investor will be paid a fixed amount of interest, usually twice yearly, until the bond matures, at which time the investor is paid the bond’s face value usually $1,000. The investor may pay a discount for the bonds say $850. In times of high demand, the investor may pay a premium for the bond say $1,060. Some time, the market place may demand par or $1,000 to buy the bond. 

Still bonds are not riskless securities. They carry interest rate risk as well as business risk. If the company files for bankruptcy, you may not get your money back. Plus the bond market thrives when interest rates fall. For example, a bond paying 8% that was issued last year will be worth more this year if new bonds are only paying 6%. Meaning if you paid $1,000 for the bond, you could probably sell the bond for about $1,300. 

Here is the rub.

When interest rates rise, bond values drop and if you happen to be holding some of these bonds, you can lose money if you had to sell.  This is why you are buying these bonds in your retirement account. You know when you will need the money so you buy bonds that mature on or before the date that you need the money.  If you are speculating in bonds and you bought an 8% bond for $1,000 and the going rate for new bonds jumped to 9%, your bond would be worth only about $890. But you will still earn 8% and if you hold the bond to maturity, price swings don’t matter.  You still receive full value when it comes due.
Brokers do not like me because they make very little money off of me. My commissions to buy my bonds are only $10.95 per transaction and I hardly ever sell so they get very few return commissions. That is called keeping your expenses down. 

As with stock, there are several major categories of bonds that you can buy.  We will not cover Municipal Bonds because they are already tax sheltered and you will have to pay taxes on the interest if you put them into your retirement account.   

U.S. Treasuries are the safest bonds to buy. When they mature in two to ten years, they are known as Treasury notes.  Treasury bonds are 10 to 30 years. They are backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. Interest is paid semiannually.  Notes and bonds are sold starting at $1,000 and sell in $1,000 increments. U.S. Treasures are state tax exempt. But here, you have a high degree of interest rate and inflation risk.     
 
Corporate Bonds are backed by the company that issued them. They are riskier than government securities so they pay higher than government securities. The safest bonds are those given the highest ratings from agencies such as Standard  and Poor’s Corp. (www.standardandpoors.com) and Moody’s Investors Service (www.moodys.com).  Bonds issued by the strongest corporations get an “AAA” rating. Bonds with the weakest financial ratings get lowest ratings such as “CCC” to “D” or no rating at all. Junk bonds are bonds with a rating of “BBB” to “D”. They pay the highest returns because the investor is taking a higher risk. Here is the area where I invest because as compare to “AAA” bonds that are not as safe but compared to stock, they are very safe. For my retirement account, I normally stay between “BBB” and “B-“ratings when investing.  They normally sell for $1,000 with increments of $1,000. They usually pay twice a year.   
 
Convertible bonds are bonds that participate in the movement of the company’s stock.  These bonds can give you the investor an added return if you sell the bond at a premium due to the company’s stock movement.  You still receive your interest so the investor really has a floor on the downside of the bond market.  Convertible bonds are harder for small investors to buy because of the large demand for them and the small supply in the market place.  

Zero Coupon Bonds known as Zeros, pay interest only when the bond matures. At that point the investor gets all the accumulated interest. For example, you buy a $1,000 bond for $235 over 20 years. You get an interest rate of 7.5%. In twenty years the company will give you $1,000. With Zeros you know just how much you the investor is going to get on the maturity date. They are good for buying when just starting out in your retirement account. I would not buy them outside a retirement account for tax reasons. With Zeros, you will not be able to compound your interest like you can with regular bonds.
 
Foreign Bonds just like foreign stock offers opportunities beyond U.S. borders. They may pay higher rates because you are taking on more risk such as currency risk.  

Mortgaged Back Securities are not really bonds. They are pools of home mortgages that have been made by lenders around the country. Owners of these securities receive payments of both interest and principal through out its life on these mortgages. These securities carry a higher risk and pay a higher return than bonds. The rate of return may change if homeowners refinance their mortgages.

I hold mortgage bonds on oil tankers in my IRA. Since they are first to be paid in times of bankruptcy and they pay me 8.04%, I consider them as being very safe and profitable.
             
A Special Note for all my reader’s around the world!  


Hi my loyal readers around the world. I just finished making my final plans of my life. I will be retiring in a few short years and moving into my luxury retirement home. I will spend most of my time getting my seven year old grandson ready for the 2028 Olympics. I have no idea what my younger grandson is going to do. As of now, I would say it has something to do with electrical engineering because at 1 years old, he knew how to operate an IPad. But whatever it is, I will be around to lend assistance to his education.


My plans also involves my readers. I am starting an online stock club design to give my loyal readers as much as one million dollars, maybe more depending on when you start my plans. That money will be to remember me by.


Please read the blog below and follow my instructions if you want a chance to get one million dollars.


http://bondinvestments.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-would-you-like-to-have-over-one.html

The younger you are; 35 and below, the greater the chance of getting over one million dollars. If you are starting at 60 years old, chances are you will only make it to $100,000.



I started out at age 23 and spent a lot of time laid off and giving money away to my children for cars. I bought 3 homes. One home was paid off in full. The other I bought in a partnership paid in cash. All my cars since 1971 were the current year and I have not had a car note since 1983. I even gave two girlfriends a car each. That is why I don’t have a million dollars today. But if you become one of my “Greedy Friends” I am sure with my instructions, you can get that million.