Difference Between Bonds and Preferred Shares

By Category: Bonds, Preferred Shares | 2 comments

Preferred SharesMany corporations either use bonds or preferred shares for raising money. Both types of investments are similar in certain aspects however there are a few key differences that set them apart. The type of security they represent is one of the biggest. For example, if a shareholder invests in preferred shares, the stock will be considered as an equity instrument. This means that the shareholder will be entitled to a partial ownership of the company instead of a creditor. On the other hand, investing in a bond would mean that the shareholder is a creditor of the company.

As you can see, I have been sharing more information about the fixed income sector as I believe it is a necessary complement to dividend investing. Below are some related posts if you want to read further:

Payment – Interest or Dividends

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Are Bonds as Safe as they Seem?

By Category: Bonds | 20 comments

BondsWhen talking about safe investments, bonds are typically referred to as the safest asset class.  However, how safe are bonds?  Bonds carry many of the same risks as stocks, so it is important to understand how they work.  Here is what you need to know about the safety of bonds.

How Bonds Work

A bond is essentially an IOU or debt instrument issued by someone, usually a company or government entity.  Think of it as the reverse of a loan – you are lending someone money, and they pay you interest for doing it.  When you buy a bond, you are lending money to the company or government that issued the bond.

All bonds have the following features:

-       Maturity: How long the bond is held until it is repaid

-       Coupon: The interest rate paid on the bond

-       Price: The face value of the bond

-       Frequency: The frequency that you get paid interest (monthly, quarterly, annually)

-       Callable: Whether the bond can be called and repaid early

Amazon ImageWith a bond, if you buy it when they are issued and

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Weekly Blog Round: Researching Bonds

By Category: Bonds, Weekly | 7 comments

RESP PlanningAs part of my RESP Planning, I have started looking into bonds. I will admit that my dividend investing accounts have no bonds at the moment. It’s not because I don’t believe in it, it’s because my company RRSP plan covers that through the mutual funds offered – I am indexing my defined contribution plan as it is the best option for that account.

Researching Bonds

I started looking at bonds ETFs and I was faced with quite a number of options to my surprise. I started looking into Vanguards ETFs first as they are highly recommend by Andrew Hallam. I also looked into iShare CHB as a friend has money in them and it has done well. Other than that, I will be going through the list of ETFs and comparing them to one another. I’ll need to figure out what kind of bonds I also want to invest in such as government bonds, corporate bonds or junk bonds. I am really just starting and we love to hear your experience.

Readers, do you have a bond ETF you like?

Lunch Update

For the past month,

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