Should You Buy Bonds?

• If you're looking to invest in stocks or any other investments, bonds cover your butt. Even if the real estate market tanks or your stocks take a swan dive off Wall Street, bonds are likely to still keep making you money. You can still lose money on bonds, but it's less likely.
• If you've bought mutual funds, you may already have some bonds in your portfolio. Fund managers often toss them in to keep things a little more stable.
• If you've already made your millions, bonds are also a good choice because you can make an annual amount by investing in bonds; that way, you don't have to worry about fluctuations the way you do with stocks.
• If you've made enough money for your retirement, you can switch to government bonds to make an annual income with some tax benefits.

How Do I Buy These Things?

You can buy bonds as part of a mutual fund or individually through your bank or brokerage service. If you're interested in federal government bonds, just hop on over to TreasuryDirect to buy.

Before you spend all your savings, though, take a minute to check out Moody's or Standard and Poor's. These companies rate bonds based on how likely companies are to actually pay you back with interest. Make sure that the bond you want to buy is relatively safe.