Bonds: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth (Bloomberg)

I wanted to learn more about bonds (I only had a basic knowledge), so I bought this book. It delivered: It gave me a good overview of bonds, and certainly piqued my interest to learn more.In short, it is a good intro book on bonds, and if you want to learn about this area, this book will deliver.Some points:- You will learn a LOT about bonds -- perhaps more than you may even want to know. But it's largely readable.- I would like to see it updated to 2011, post the financial crisis. It was last updated in 2007, so I would be curious if the authors had anything more to add after the debacle, and given the fact that interest rates are currently practically non-existent.- Some of the sentence structure was confusing. I am literate, but sometimes I found myself scratching my head. So if you find yourself in the same position occasionally, you are not alone. It's not a major problem, however.- This book is built around the premise of a "100% bond portfolio". This is not necessarily a bad position for the lazy investor. However, there are arguments in favor of equities, especially around investing in equity funds using some basic market timing methods (as outlined, for example, in  All About Market Timing, Second Edition (All About Series) . Perhaps the answer is somewhere in the middle. I really don't know, as I'm still learning myself. It's worth noting that you can still ignore the "100% bond" argument and get a lot out of this book.- Their explanations of bond funds (which the authors seem to dislike) are a bit confusing -- sometimes recommending them, other times not.- I suppose it would have been nice if they'd simply given a straightforward prescription of what to buy and not buy. Yes, that's pretty lazy, but in the bond market, the breadth of choices is staggering (no exaggeration) and to just have a simple guideline would have been appreciated. At some point, the investor can get more sophisticated, but right now, I am still a bit dizzy about the choices of agency bonds vs. treasuries vs. general obligation muni bonds vs. school bonds vs. revenue muni bonds vs. corporate bonds vs. UITs, ETFs, open-ended bond funds, stable value funds, etc., etc. (you get the picture).In summary, if you want a good overview of bonds, this book will do it. I'm sure there are other books which do an equal or better job, but if you're tired of reading reviews on Amazon.com to find what is a good introductory bond book to buy, then just click Buy and get this one.

Overall, this is seems to be an excellent simple first primer on bonds. I have no formal background in investing or finance. With all due respect, I disagree with 'Texas Critic's' analysis of the complexity of bond trading and bond portfolios. Additionally, I think despite getting to the "meat of the matter", much of the value or meaning of book and investment style may have been lost on 'Texas Critic'. I believe portfolio appreciation is not the goal of bond portfolios. It seems that the authors have gone to great length to point that out. Certainly you may see portfolio appreciation, but at the end of the day downside risk mitigation with sustained income seems to be the underlying theme.The material is dry, succinct and throughly approachable. Moreover, I have found bond traders (through various financial institutions and independent traders) who will buy/sell analyze bonds for you with relatively small portfolio maintenance charges (much less than seen in the leveraged bond funds or most mutual funds). I can not debate the viability of a 100% bond portfolio or any other investments. The ideas presented at worst will force you to think about alternative(s) to current mainstream "dogma" on asset diversification. Particularly useful may be the shift from asset appreciation strategies to liability coverage strategies. I highly recommend this book (and the one by annette thau) if you're interested in learning more about credit markets/bonds. I would emphasize that this is likely a book for beginners who want basics about bonds. I sincerely hope this review is useful.

If you expect to earn most of your retirement funds from your work rather than from investing in the stock market, Bonds--The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth, is for you.Hildy and Stan Richelson have told clients for years that they will earn more from a portfolio of bonds rated A or higher than from equities. Today's markets reinforce their position, but the book is worthwhile at any time, under any market conditions.It is totally readable, with clear explanations of how bond markets operate, concise descriptions of different bonds and the relative merits of each bond for your objectives. Read it cover-to-cover, then keep it handy as a reference on every bond you are likely to encounter--or for those moments when you just can't remember how TIPS adjust for inflation.

This book can really get you started on bonds. Covers all types, but especially Munis