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Bonds
A Basic Building Block for Your Portfolio
An office building needs a solid foundation to help keep it from collapsing or sinking into the ground. That foundation should be strong enough to support the structure year after year, through good weather and bad, natural phenomena, and even reconstruction. Similarly, bonds can be an important element in the foundation for your investment portfolio, helping to:• Reduce fluctuations in the overall value of your portfolio
• Enhance investment income
• Prepare for future expenses (e.g., college and retirement)
Investing in Bonds
Whether you invest in bonds and how you choose which bond to invest in depends on a multitude of factors. In addition to determining a suitable mix of investments based on your financial goals, investment time frame and risk tolerance, you need to be able to decipher:|
• Maturities
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• Prices
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• Credit ratings
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• Yields
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• Coupons
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• Taxable status
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• Call features
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A.G. Edwards Can Help With Your Bond Investments
Your A.G. Edwards Financial Advisor can help simplify the complex process of investing in bonds. And because your Financial Advisor isn't bound by any Home Office requirements or product sales quotas, he or she is free to help you select individual bonds and customize your bond portfolio for your unique situation.
Investors should keep in mind that as interest rates rise, existing bond prices of already outstanding fixed-income securities tend to fall. Long-term bonds are generally more exposed to interest rate risk than short-term bonds.
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