Bank Perpetual Bonds: What you need to know before buying
Several banks offer high-yielding perpetual bonds. In this article, we discuss the basics of a perpetual bond and what investors need to know before buying them.
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This is the archive of all of our articles on bonds
RBI 7.75% Bonds no longer available: Where to invest now?
The RBI has announced the cessation of its 7.75 per cent Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2018 with effect from the end of business day, May 28th 2020. Where should one invest now?
Continue reading →Tax-free bond vs RBI 7.75% bonds: Which is better?
A comparison between tax-free bonds that are available in the secondary market and RBI 7.75% bonds that can be obtained in the primary market. Which is better and how demand for tax-free bonds have quickly made them less attractive.
Continue reading →Worried about Recession, market crash & job loss? Focus on this instead!
We are living in a time where half a data point is enough to announce trends, patterns prophecies. Every week one guy says the markets are going to tank and another says it will do well. The latest such development is the so-called inversion of the US bond yield curve and its association with the…
Continue reading →Do not buy Government Securities (G-sec) from retail platforms (Zerodha, NSE goBID)
Here is why you should not buy G-secs (Government Securities) from retail platforms like Zerodha and NSE goBID and keep it simple with fixed deposits or debt mutual funds. Even if you wish to buy G-secs at the very least give several months for the platforms and the process to evolve before committing money. So…
Continue reading →The Bond Yield Curve as an indicator of what’s going on with the economy
The yield curve is a plot of the current yields of bonds from the same type of issuer versus their respective maturities. Observing the bond yield curve is a way to determine what is going on with our economy. In this post, I discuss how one can do this with some examples. First, let us…
Continue reading →Why are PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi interest rates still so high?!
The government announced the interest rates for small saving schemes yesterday and surprising or should I say unsurprisingly, the interest rates of many schemes, especially the long-term ones like PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi are still too high! Why is the government not sticking to policy? If you are surprised by the title in spite of…
Continue reading →Gold Price Movement: USD vs INR
Tracking gold-price movements in terms of USD and INR is a simple, but intuitive way to understand the strength of our economy. Here are some observations from staring at the historical gold price movement in USD and INR. The domestic price of gold, that is INR is the equivalent price in USD times the exchange rate….
Continue reading →Sovereign gold bonds: What you need to know before buying
Here is what you should know before buying sovereign gold bonds either in the primary market (when the next tranche is released) or secondary market (1st tranche issued in Nov 2015). In my opinion, there is only one thing that someone buying paper gold should know: just how volatile returns can be!! The fin min says They…
Continue reading →How to buy tax-free bonds in the secondary market
Tax-free bonds are purchased in the secondary market via a Demat account when either new ones are not available or not attractive. How does one decide between buying existing tax-free bonds and new ones? Should we just look at the coupon rate and choose the one which is higher? It depends on the purpose of the…
Continue reading →Term spread as a macroeconomic indicator
A discussion on how the term spread, which is the difference between the 10-year & 3-month government bond yield, can be considered as a macroeconomic indicator A macroeconomic indicator is one which gives an indication about the current state and future trend in the economy. Macroeconomic indicators can be used to change the asset allocation in…
Continue reading →Do not buy Sovereign gold bonds If you don’t know when to exit!
Here is why one should not buy the sovereign gold bonds which are on sale from Since Nov. 5th 2015, despite the sovereign guarantee and the 2.75% interest rate. From today (5th Nov. 2015), Sovereign gold bonds will be available for subscription at an issue price of Rs. 2,684 per gram. Subscribers can buy bonds which…
Continue reading →Tax Free Bonds – Interest payout reinvestment calculator
Many investors would like to park their lump sum in tax-free bonds, and invest the interest paid out each year in mutual funds, stocks or PPF. What if the lump sum was invested in a mutual fund/stocks instead of these bonds? Which option would fetch the investor more returns? Here is a calculator to evaluate…
Continue reading →Tax-free Bonds: Do not invest if your retirement is a long way off!
Do not invest in tax free bonds if your retirement is a long way off. Even if are retiring soon, do not invest in these unless you have thoroughly evaluated your options. There, I said it. That is the message of this post. I have been wanting to say that for a long time. Ever…
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