Stocks continue be the best means of building wealth over time, but that does n’t mean bonds should be left out of your portfolio. The advantage of bonds is that their values tend to fluctuate less frequently and drastically than banal values while they still offer some income in the shape of interest .
Treasury bonds and corporate bonds tend to get the lion ‘s share of care, but municipalities such as states, cities, and counties issue bonds, excessively. There ‘s a big market for investing in municipal bonds, or “ muni ” bonds. And just as with their bodied and federal politics counterparts, there are batch of adept reasons to add municipal bonds to your portfolio .

here ‘s what you need to know about investing in municipal bonds .

How municipal bonds work

A municipal shackle is a debt issued by a state or municipality to fund public works. Like other bonds, investors lend money to the issuer for a predetermine time period of time. The issuer promises to pay the investor interest over the term of the bond ( normally twice a year ) and then return the star to the investor when the bond matures.

For exercise, if you invest $ 5,000 in a 10-year municipal bail paying 4 % interest, you ‘ve loaned $ 5,000 for 10 years. In return, the municipality will pay you $ 200 annually in sake — typically in semiannual installments — and then return your $ 5,000 at maturity in 10 years .
bond values are normally more stable than stocks, since the measure is easy to calculate : You add up the bond ‘s face respect and the interest it will pay. The main thing that affects the value of a bond is the sake pace. A alliance that pays a higher interest rate than a newly publish — meaning brand-new bonds equitable coming up for sale — is worth more money, while a chemical bond that pays a lower matter to rate than a newly issue is worth less money. That ‘s because the price you could sell the bond or buy it for is adjusted up or down based on stream available yields .

Types of municipal bonds

municipal bonds come in two varieties : general obligation and gross bonds. general duty bonds are used to finance public projects that are n’t linked to a particular gross pour. Revenue bonds, by contrast, are used to finance public projects with the potential to generate tax income. There are advantages and drawbacks to investing in each type .

General obligation bonds

general obligation bonds are used to fund populace projects, such as building a ballpark or improving a school system — things that do n’t inherently make money but better the communities they serve. general debt instrument bonds are backed by the broad religion and credit of the issuer, meaning they ‘re not secured by any specific asset that bondholders could repossess. As such, general obligation bonds have traditionally been one of the safest kinds of bonds you can buy .

Revenue bonds

tax income bonds are issued by municipalities to finance revenue-generating projects like a toll road or concert hall. The cash generated by the stick out will pay back investors in those bonds. gross bonds have higher default rates than general obligation bonds since the funds are used for a specific project that may or may not be completed on time and within budget and may not generate the project revenues. So it ‘s important to inquiry the issuer ‘s credit rating rat before risking your capital .

How to invest in municipal bonds

There are three means of investing in municipal bonds :

• New issues
• The secondary market
• Bond funds

New issues are bonds that a municipality sets up for a newfangled plan. The secondary grocery store is where you can buy bonds that are already issued from other investors or sell not-yet-matured bonds you already hold. Bond funds are investments in a fund that owns bonds. You own a venture in the bonds via your ownership of that fund .
In all of these cases, you ‘ll buy and sell through a agent, similar to how you invest in stocks. It ‘s authoritative to understand the fees you ‘ll pay, a well as the likely “ markup ” — a sell monetary value above face value — of the alliance .
Brokers who buy and sell municipal bonds are required to register with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ( MSRB ), which governs the muni bind market. They ‘re required to disclose certain price information so that you, as an investor, can understand what you ‘re paying.

A reciprocal investment company or exchange-traded fund ( ETF ) that invests in bonds might be appropriate as well. Your investment in a muni bond fund gives you a minor stake in every municipal bond the fund owns. The benefit is moment diversification, which can help you avoid losses from being besides exposed to a single adhere. The downside is potentially high recurring fund management fees .

Benefits and risks of municipal bonds

On the unharmed, municipal bonds have a low nonpayment rate. Between 1970 and 2015, only 99 muni attachment defaults were issued. Of these, only nine general obligation bonds defaulted, and not a single municipal bond with the highest credit rat defaulted. municipal bonds have been 50 to 100 times less likely to default than corporate bonds .
however, municipal bonds still are not risk-free. In holocene years, some governments have defaulted on their municipal bonds, including Detroit in 2013 and Puerto Rico in 2016 .
municipal bonds broadly offer lower interest rates than corporate bonds, although, as with Treasury bonds, the interest is tax-exempt. ( Keep in mind, however, that the tax benefits of municipal bonds only apply to concern payments — not capital gains. If you sell a bond for more than you paid, those gains are silent taxable. )
Muni bonds carry “ interest rate risk “ a well. If concern rates go up while you inactive own a detail muni bond, you will earn a lower yield than you ‘d be able to get from a new consequence in the future. Interest rate changes will affect the value of your bonds on the secondary market, besides. If you have to sell a alliance in the future, you may have to sell it below redemption value to compensate for the lower yield if rates go up .

Municipal bond rates

There are three major ratings agencies that rank bind issuers based on their likelihood of meeting their fiscal obligations versus defaulting on them. They are S&P Global ( NYSE : SPGI ), Moody’s ( NYSE : MCO ), and Fitch .
broadly, the higher an issuer ‘s credit rat, the lower the interest rate its bonds pay. conversely, issuers with a lower rate generally must offer higher interest rates to offset their associated risk. But remember that bond ratings can change. Just because an issuer starts out with a hard evaluation does n’t mean it ca n’t get downgraded if its fiscal circumstances change .
Muni bonds have a high rate of recovery flush when they default, but your capital can be tied up longer than the term of the bond, and investors rarely recoup matter to not paid. so be sure to consider all the implications when picking which municipal bonds to buy .

Municipal bonds versus corporate bonds

municipal bonds differ from corporate bonds in the tax treatment of the interest they pay, and they besides have lower default rates. This is why municipal bonds by and large pay lower yields than similar corporate bonds. additionally, muni bonds by and large require a $ 5,000 minimum investment, while corporate bonds start at $ 1,000 .
In abruptly, the risk-reward profile for munis and corporate bonds is unlike. If less gamble is your precedence, munis come out ahead ; if better yields with more risk suits you, bodied bonds get the nod .

Should you invest in municipal bonds?

The answer to this question depends on your fiscal goals and position. equitable as with other bonds, the biggest cause to own them is lower risk of losing capital, in exchange for lower electric potential total returns. This is peculiarly crucial with funds in which you want the lowest horizontal surface of hazard of permanent losses, or as part of a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds.

When considering muni bonds, specially if you ‘re comparing one or more to corporate bonds, do n’t forget to factor in the early benefits, like historically lower risk of losses and electric potential tax benefits that result in higher after-tax concede .