Municipal Bonds May Be Good For Your Portfolio

If your investment portfolio consists of only equities, you may want to diversify.  Stocks and other equity securities are an important part of your investment mix, but you may also want to consider some fixed income investments like municipal bonds.  These will not only provide you with federal- and, in many cases, state-tax-free income, but they may also provide you with the satisfaction of supporting valuable projects or services in your state or community.  Keep in mind, municipal bonds may be subject to the alternative minimum tax.

When you purchase a new-issue municipal bond, you actually make a loan to the issuer, which may be a city, township or school district, for example.  These entities use the funds raised from the sale of bonds to finance new streets, water and sewage systems, hospitals, parks, and many other improvement projects.  In return for the use of your money, the issuer promises to pay you not only the principal amount back when the bond matures, but also a set interest rate, or coupon, during the term of the bond.

For many investors, the most favorable aspect of municipal bonds deals with the federal-tax-free income they offer.  Investments must offer a substantially higher rate of return to be able to match the after-tax return available on a municipal bond.  For example, if you are an investor in the 33 percent income tax bracket, you would have to find a taxable bond paying 7.46 percent to achieve the same after-tax return as what you would get from a municipal bond yielding 5 percent.

High-quality municipal bonds also provide a range of interest rates at various maturities, to help you plan for short-term or long-term income needs.  To illustrate, if municipal bonds priced near par value were providing coupon rates ranging from 2 percent to as much as 5 percent, you would receive from $20 to $50 per year federally tax free for each $1,000 principal bond you own.  Depending on which bonds you choose, you can plan for income now and in the future as municipal bonds are issued with various maturities ranging from one to 30 years.

It is also important to note that municipal bonds typically have very low default rates.  According to the Bond Market Association, less than 1 percent of municipal bond issues sold since 1940 have gone into either technical or actual default.  However, past performance does not guarantee future results.  Municipal bonds are also usually issued with a credit enhancement, such as bond insurance or a bank letter of credit, which helps provide a stronger assurance of timely payments.

Some important points to remember: Yields and market values will fluctuate if the bonds are sold before maturity.  Bonds are subject to market risk and, if sold prior to maturity, may be worth more or less than their original cost.  Investors should keep in mind that as interest rates rise, existing bond prices of already outstanding fixed income securities tend to fall.  Long-term bonds are generally more exposed to interest rate risk than short-term bonds.

Now that you are considering greater diversification within your portfolio with some fixed income investments, it is also important to realize that you can find a lot of diversification just among municipal bonds themselves.  This is because they are a major means of financing growth and expansion in a wide variety of communities and are issued in all parts of the United States.  This provides you with a large selection of bonds from which to choose.  In addition to geographic diversity, you will find an array of maturities, prices, coupon rates and other features that may be a good fit for your future needs.

Working with your financial advisor, you can determine whether municipal bonds make sense for you when considering your tax situation, objectives and tolerance for risk.  Your financial consultant can help you choose bonds that are not only a good fit, but may also give you the opportunity to support projects within your community.

Wachovia Securities is not a legal or tax advisor.

This article was provided by Jay R. Spector, CRPC®, Financial Advisor, Wachovia Securities, LLC, 8777 N. Gainey Center Drive, Suite 152, Scottsdale, Arizona 85255.  Phone: 480-315-5250; Website: www.jayspector.com

Wachovia Securities is the trade name used by two separate, registered broker-dealers and nonbank affiliates of Wachovia Corporation providing certain retail securities brokerage services: Wachovia Securities, LLC Member, NYSE/SIPC, and Wachovia Securities Financial Network, LLC (WSFN), Member FINRA/SIPC.

The accuracy and completeness of this article are not guaranteed. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Wachovia Securities, Wachovia Securities Financial Network or its affiliates. The material is distributed solely for information purposes and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. Provided courtesy of Jay R. Spector, CRPC®, a Financial Advisor with Wachovia Securities in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, please call Jay R. Spector, CRPC® at 480-315-5250. Wachovia Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC, is a separate nonbank affiliate of Wachovia Corporation. ©2009 Wachovia Securities, LLC.

Investments in securities and insurance products: NOT FDIC-INSURED/NOT BANK-GUARANTEED/MAY LOSE VALUE.

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