Buying U.S. government bonds is among the safest investments you can make. In fact, people often put their college funds and retirement savings into bonds. In the midst of recession fears, bonds are often referred to as “risk-free” because there are only two ways you can lose money:
1.) The government defaults, which is almost certainly not going to happen, or
2.) You sell the bonds early at a loss, which contributed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank
This might make you wonder how safe bonds really are, so WSJ explains why they’re still a good investment.
0:00 Recession fears have caused investors to flee to safe investments
0:46 Savings bonds, the primary market and government defaults
3:36 Other government bonds, the secondary market and selling at a loss
WSJ Glossary
Markets and economics are complex. It's easy to be overwhelmed by a sea of wonky indicators and lose track of why they matter. This series breaks down the basic terms and ideas that move the markets.
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