Skip to main content

Buy Bonds for Xmas

Christmas is right around the corner and this year, I am getting an early start with Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, others in my family are the same way. In fact, some family members have already bought entire shopping bags of toys for the little ones in my family. So, to avoid adding to the clutter, I've decided to give zeros for Christmas.

Zeros (or zero coupon bonds, in other words, EE savings bonds that you can get at the bank where there is no interest paid out regularly...) are a great option if you have someone in your life that already has met a quota of reasonable amounts of toys/gifts for Christmas.

Deals abound this year, that is certain. So shop around both online and in the brick-and-mortar stores and resist the urge to buy lots of items that people don't need just to fill up the space under the tree. In the end, I think that nearly any decent investment aimed at the long term (like a zero bond) is the best choice for the little kids in my life.

There may be some advantages if used for education.

There are options if the money is needed for a down-payment on a car or house though.

Certainly the interest rate is not great; and if inflation is a real concern, perhaps IBONDs are a better bet. Buying these electronically was also an option, but for now, I opted for the old fashioned method of buying them at a bank.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Buying a Lifestyle...with a Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Despite all of the back and forth about sub-prime mortgages and the housing bubble, I am feeling just fine. The reason is that when purchasing, I followed some old advice: Don't expect to flip. In general, I've been told by many people that you shouldn't buy a home unless you plan to hold on to it for 7 years or longer. If the market does well and you decide to sell, fine. But if you want to be sure not to lose money, don't buy something that you only want for a year or two. I've been in my current location for more than 3 years. I like it. And I have no intention of leaving in the short or medium term. It seems to me, that real estate, like any asset class, has its ups and downs. But as a practical point, I don't look at my home as an asset per se. Rather, I consider it to be a fixed expense that I need to survive, much like food and water. Therefore, as long as the payment is reasonable and it functions to keep me warm and sheltered and comfortable, that is a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Better With Your Time

Recently, I've been extremely busy with some work commitments. The interesting thing for me is that this increased work activity has really helped crystallize some of my feelings with regard to time. And these ideas are a critical part about my view on personal finance. I'm curious to know if others feel similarly. Time is money. That is, Time, in some way, contains energy. Money, is also energy. In the act of working, I am able to compound and increase the amount of money that I have. I am exchanging my time and effort and thought which are components of my work, for the productivity that I produce. And this production gets me money from my employer. However, the first dollars that I make each day, week, or month are the most valuable. Then the ones that I make at the end are the most valuable. (Forget about taxes for a minute.) The reason is, the first ones help me have a place to live and food to eat. And the last ones are the ones that I can use to really improve my life lo...
3 comments
Read more

Quantitative Easing Round Three

It appears that we have another round of Quantitative Easing in the works. If you've been listening to any of the money shows over the past several months, you'll note that most of the major players were not anticipating that! However, a recent update from the Bernanke indicates that the possibility of Quantitative Easing Round Three (QE3) is a very real one....but not in the near term. This article from International Business Times does a good job of explaining the thought process around a possible QE3 and why the timing is not likely to be now. All that being said, the CPI is up and the price of energy is skyrocketing. It is not an easy thing for people to get to work in cars that are not efficient. However, that is not stopping people from certain segments of the political/media spectrum from announcing dirty secrets about Clean Energy . I find that Google News has a great mix of stories from all over and this story -- the increased energy costs is certainly one to watc...
Post a Comment
Read more