Bonds: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth

We expect more return from our personal investing than can be delivered. Because of this disconnect between expectations and reality, we are vulnerable to buying a bill of goods. We reject reality because reality is not to our liking.(Don't we listen to Warren Buffet?) This book is about more than bonds. It is about reality. It is about you and me and how we want to get by on the cheap. We want the good deal. We want the free lunch. We want the bargain. We want to get 2 and pay for 1. We want the out-sized return with no downside risk. What Stan and Hildy Richelson are saying is what we do not want to hear: There are limits to what investing in any financial instrument can deliver. And, at the end of the day, bonds are not only cleaner than stocks but produce a more reliable, competitive return. Look, what this book tells us is that some investments present a more honest picture of their upside and downside than others. Stan and Hildy believe bonds are safer, more transparent and compete favorably with other investments which are less transparent and reliable. That's all they're saying (which is a lot!). And I agree. They are not saying bonds transcend the limits and inherent risks of investing. No. They are saying we have become conditioned to the lunacy of talk show pundits who dummy-down the complexities of navigating the treacherous waters of financial investing. As much as broadening access to investment markets has been a boon to capitalists, it has not been a commensurate boon to naive 401(k) participants required to become sophisticated investors overnight in order to retire. Basically, broadening access has been a sham. It has been sold as a blessing to the producers of real value but really it has simply been a gimmick to substitute investing for saving. Popularizing stock investing and promoting individually directed investment choices (instead of offering guaranteed income from a pension) exploits workers. Freedom does not equal making your own investment choices when you are unsophisticated in sophisticated investments. Freedom does not equal transferring a known income in retirement to an unknown investment return. Given the structural dysfunction in our system, this book adds a modicum of sanity. True, it does not relieve all the financial woe facing us today. However, it is a step in the right direction, it demythologizes investing. It presents a sane alternative for the few willing to transcend the noise and panic of the moment. I recommend it.

I have been an equity investor all my life and have pretty much bought the common wisdom that equities outperform bonds over the long term; that is until I came across Stan and Hildy Richelson's book: Bonds, the Unbeaten Path To Secure Investment Growth. Finally, someone made the case for buying bonds as the core investment strategy. It made me stop and ask harder questions about my real risk in holding such a large percentage of equities and by the way I don't think I ever timed a market top or bottom in my life. As I became more intrigued with their premise I was glad to see that the book also gave me access to getting a better grasp on the physics of how bonds actually work . I'm an independent sort of guy when it comes to investing and haven't done half bad but I think I've been shortchanging myself on the bond front. Kudos to the authors for pointing this out.

I have struggled for years to feel in control of my investments. In the first 20 pages of their book, not only do the Richelson's substantiate my nagging feelings of insecurity and frustration around stock market investing, but they provide a straightforward and achievable path out of the stock market and into something comprehendible, financially rewarding and secure - through bonds. Over the years I have diligently read books about stocks and investing. I've consulted various advisors. I managed to find a good enough broker. Nonetheless, I always end up with an investment "plan" that feels shaky and confusing. It seems that everyone else out there "gets" the stock market, what's wrong with me? Well, it turns out there's nothing wrong with me. It's not simply that I'm not a financial whiz (which I'm not, and will never be - just like so many other investors). It's that the stock market is not what it's cracked up to be by all those brokers, analysts and pundits. The Richelson's bring much needed clarity to fundamental investment issues. Best of all, after reading this book I know for the first time in my life that I am on the road to financial security and freedom. It's great to have discovered that there is an escape route from chronic financial mystification!

" Hildy and Stan Richelson, principals of Scarsdale Investment Group, a successful bond advisory firm for individual investors, have produced a clearly written, comprehensive primer on bond investing: BONDS: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth . Their book adheres to one of Warren Buffet's principal investment strategies: " when investing...do not lose money!!!". This excellent book does not deny the fact that SOME equity investments may produce better returns than bond investments. However , on the basis of " risk /reward " analysis, the book points out that one can get very decent returns on bonds if held to maturity without suffering the market risk to which equity investments are exposed. In fact , this book promotes the contrarian notion of a 100 percent bond portfolio. In his laudatory Forward to the book, John Brynjolfsson , Managing Director of Pimco, the extremely successful $600 Billion bond titan, supports the wisdom and logic of an all-bond portfolio.. If you buy this book and adhere to its principles, you will avoid the turbulence in the equity markets, sleep well at night, and provide for a secure retirement. This superb book is a MUST read ! "

Having been in the financial field for almost 40 years, I am not a novice to investing and thought I possessed a clear understanding of the nuances of Bonds and the risk reward versus the Equity investments. However, this book has provided me with a new awareness that allows me to make much more informed choices after careful consideration of not only my goals and objectives, but also the true relationship of risk versus reward as it applies to Stocks versus Bonds. It is clear from the outset of Chapter One the authors have intended this book to not only be a thorough explanation of Bonds but also to contribute to the well being of the investor through the use of the 100% "vanilla bond" strategy. They have debunked long held myths of investing and clearly explain that investing in Bonds is on a par with, and can even exceed, the return on investment versus Stocks over the short and long term. A must read for investors at all economic levels.