The Inside Scoop on Muni Bonds vs BAB Bonds
Careful investment is a very important part of good financial planning. As any investment adviser will tell you, a sound investment plan has two parts–risk and stability. Risk always provides higher yield but comes with the higher probability of a loss; stability provides lower yield, but you can be sure that you will get some money.
The most important investments that provide stability are government bonds. Government bonds act as a hedge against riskier market investments. They do not yield as much as stocks, but they have relatively more assurance of a payout.
Not all government bonds offer similar yields and stability. There are two types of government bonds. There are muni or municipal bonds and BAB or Build America Bonds, and investment planners can offer advice about muni bonds vs BAB bonds. There are two types of muni bonds–GO bonds and revenue bonds. GO bonds are for welfare projects like building non-profit institutions (i.e. hospitals). These bonds have a lower yield. Revenue bonds are used to fund for-profit government projects like tollways. These have a higher yield as long as the for-profit project provides good revenue. If it does not, the bond holder stands to lose. Both kinds of muni bonds are exempt from federal capital gains taxes, so these are good vehicles you can use to hedge your investments.
BAB bonds are issued by local or state governments with tax subsidies from the federal government. While muni bonds usually attract domestic investors, foreign investors have a good deal of interest in BAB bonds because of the possibility of a higher yield over longer periods of time.
Whether you invest in one or the other, make sure you know the details of the bonds. For example, muni bonds generally come with a 10 year term, while BABs come with 20 year terms.
New Mexico Tourism Department Promotes the State
- Image via Wikipedia
New Mexico tourism is a definite boost to the state’s bottom-line economy. Currently the responsibility of advancing tourism in New Mexico falls to the New Mexico Tourism Department. According to its website the mission of this organization is to market the state by spotlighting the destination areas of the state; attracting tourists from around the world as well as the United States; and to encourage those tourists and visitors to prolong their planned stays.
The New Mexico Tourism Department touts the State’s landscapes and natural resources and being rich and diverse. It states that there are adventures of all kinds for any type of traveler, including snow and water skiing, hiking, biking, boating, sailing and so much more.
New Mexico has plenty to do and see such as art, exploring history that includes conquistadors and dinosaurs. Among some of the activities to be found include exploring old ranching, railroading and mining towns. You can learn about the history of these towns including stories about Pancho Villa, John Chisum and Billy the Kid while traveling on the wonderfully scenic highways. You can also stop and visit many state and national parks, ancient lava flows, ice caves and archeological sites. New Mexico has a wealth of geology and sites to be explored.
There’s also high-tech to be discovered in New Mexico. The state is home to Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos, the Very Large Array and many space observatories. The state’s wide-open landscape has been a home to much aerospace industry advancement since Robert Goddard started his space and rocket research in the 1930s. Goddard is considered to be a frontier of modern rocketry and started his research in Roswell. And of course if you are visiting Roswell, you should visit all the fascinating venues surrounding the aliens of Roswell, whether you are a believer or not.
There is so much to do and discover in New Mexico—there will be something for everyone!
Marijuana Initiatives and the Damocratic Vote
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As super controversial as it may seem, there’s just no dancing around the issue anymore. Polls show that marijuana initiatives built into a democratic candidate’s platform and campaign are becoming the no-fail ticket to winning an election. Much like a gay marriage ban or abortion ban have long been a conservative republican’s ticket to winning favor in the party, so now is a pro-marijuana slant to a democrat’s constituents. Why is that? Maybe it’s that our country, now largely ruled by liberal leaders, is just leaning further left than ever before. Or maybe, in our seemingly stagnated economy, where jobless claims are climbing dangerously close to the ten percent mark, people are beginning to think outside the box in terms of job creation and revenue building. Maybe it’s a combination of these, or maybe there’s an entirely different explanation.
Despite the reason for this surprising shift in America’s public view of marijuana, one issue becomes increasingly clear: marijuana equals money. And right now, America needs money. It really IS that simple. Fourteen states (and the District of Columbia) have already legalized medical marijuana – and its use is on the rise in every one of those states. Come November, Republican-run California will vote on a similar initiative to legalize and tax the sale and recreational use of the drug – and recent polls show almost 60 percent of Californians are in favor of the bill. For an explanation of this strange shift in opinion, look no further than California’s bankruptcy filings. The state is currently in financial dire straits, and perhaps Democrats and Republicans alike agree that in this case, money’s money, honey!
Certainly, this is a galvanizing and polarizing subject, and one that will no doubt only become louder and demand more attention as we approach November’s election season across the country. America is headed into uncharted territory this year, and it will be fascinating to see where we land on the recreational marijuana tolerance map. Especially for democrats – whose success may lie solely in a marijuana initiative – it will be a wild ride. Just don’t forget the Doritos.
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