Are US savings bonds a bad idea?

>>1107614
Tippity top lel. That summarizes this board perfectly.

>>1107614
Not if you're looking for long-term safety. You won't get gains that even outpace inflation but it's safer than losing money. Typically a good idea if you're older and close to retirement and are highly risk adverse. Also good for kids under 18 who are going to go to college because there's tax benefits there.

>>1107631

So putting $200 of my tax return into one isn't a terrible idea but it isn't really a good idea?

>>1107635
Better than your savings account assuming your rainy day account is already fully funded.

>>1107637

I've already got my (what I've calculated to be three to six months of expenses) stuck in there, yep.

File: Capture.png (27KB, 582x497px) Image search: [Google]

27KB, 582x497px

>>1107635
here

you decide if its ok

File: Capture.png (27KB, 601x499px) Image search: [Google]

27KB, 601x499px

>>1107637
>>1107642
ignore the first one
this one has the correct (200 dollars)

>>1107645

What website/what have you is that?

>>1107648
united states one

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPln

Saving bonds barely beat inflation lol
Best bet is large companies with solid earnings every year, store and save it. Don't fuck with it, dividends are key too

>>1107651

Barely beat is better than a lot of programs.

I thought investing with companies that pay dividends had some crucial flaw that everyone on /biz/ said I was retarded for not seeing.

to be more helpful OP

savings bonds are not terrible, they are a solid choice to have a small portion of your money in, however, the younger you are, the more time you have to handle "risk" in the stock market, so they suggest balancing your portfolio to handle a larger amount of your holdings in stocks. When they talk of stocks though, they mean mutual funds or index funds that focus on having every stock in order to spread risk out. It is also cheaper for younger and poorer investors to get started.

As an example one share of Vanguard Total Market Index Fund is a little under 50 dollars and covers every stock on the Dow Jones.

certificates of deposit

>>1107656

You need $3000 to get into vanguard's online, which makes it rather attractive to me. I'm trying to beat debt before I get involved with that, though.

>>1107654
the crutial flaw is putting all of your money into dividend stocks, which has some flaws.

If the company is doing poorly, they can lower the dividend, which results in everyone pulling their money out, which means fairly big losses for anyone still holding shares

If a company goes bankrupt it can mean getting almost nothing on your investment, or losing everything, which is why buying individual shares is fairly risky and people like to do index funds.

>>1107645
Buy 7 shares of Cheniere instead. They'll start paying a better yield than that once cashflows start coming in. Plus capital appreciation after their first shipment of LNG leaves the station next week and people see the operation running smoothly

>>1107658
if you want anything other than a retirement account, then yes
1000 for a starting vanguard retirement

File: Picture1.png (29KB, 480x360px) Image search: [Google]

29KB, 480x360px

your welcome

File: Capture.png (34KB, 667x264px) Image search: [Google]

34KB, 667x264px

>>1107658
ill give you this advice since i used it 6 years ago

while they say you need 3k, you can actually set up your account as a "non retirement" acount, then manually buy 1,000 of star and then contribute to it monthly

then when you have 3k, you can transfer that 3k from star to a regular fund, thereby bypassing the 3k requirement.

>>1107659
usually, if a company lowers the dividend, there's a 5050 chance it's trying to save money in a move to better the company, which smart investors will see and pile more money into the company. when they raise the dividend rate, it's a big red flag that the company is desperate to raise cash so smart investors actually get the fuck out.

>default rate
>fairly risky

>>1107666
Lol this right here, NEETs will never know. Taking an intro to Finance class online (atleast) before doing anything with your money

>>1107667
Nice ID

>>1107666
Don't forget about your report 2

>>1107994
Nothing to contribute but kek

>>1107666

So Satan is in my thread and he can't work out how you, you're, and your work.

>>1107668
>increasing dividend is bad
>dividends raise cash
What is going on in your mind?