Hey all Wasn't sure where to put this but here seemed as good a place as any. I've never really considered bonds as an investment class before and was just looking to get people's thoughts and/or personal experiences with them. I'm just finding it hard to cut through the noise on the net about them and also like to get some people's personal experience. Any links would also be appreciated. Many thanks, Red.
I'm extremely noobish on Bonds. EXTREME noob and own none. I have read that the BOND market dwarfs the Stock market by many magnitudes. The Bond market is unregulated and is a game played by BIG money and Serious players. But that's just what I've read. I'll be buying bonds but my goal is to grab them when they offer positive returns after inflation..... I read that when IR were 18% some savvy investors bought US Treasury Bonds and cleaned up for decades!
I put bonds in the same category as term deposits. Not very risky (i.e. Australian bonds, safe), but that also means not high returns compared to potentially other investments like shares/property/PMs. People who are retired like them because they are generally safe and they pay dividends (or 'interest' like a term deposit would). Would I buy Irish/Greek bonds? No. This is not financial advice.
I'm in the same boat Nugget, pretty nubtacular, hence the post. There do seem to be bonds indexed to inflation which is intriguing prospect, but I'm sure there are pitfalls/considerations I don't even know to ask about.
... then you get governments who deliberately under-report the CPI. The effect of this is: * Inflation-indexed bonds don't keep up with 'real' inflation * Fixed incomes/payments that are indexed to inflation don't keep up with 'real' inflation. Shadowstats is a good source for this.
I've heard the same. I know nothing about shares or bonds and being overly conservative and suspicious, neither makes me curious.
Bonds !?! Its 2011, post GFC, post Wikileaks, post start of arab revolutions, the governments all over the world are past the point of no return regards their indebtedness, and you are thinking about bonds. Imo Buying bonds is on par with buying rare stamps currently !
Hey guys bonds can also mean corporate bonds, not just government bonds. In Australia for retail investors there is no point in buying government bonds, either use savings accounts or term deposits as the government well end up bailing out bank depositors if things get ugly hence the risk is no higher, whereas the return is often higher.
