Why Municipal Bonds?
IT’S OUR PASSION.
We’re all in this together. We love our state, our county, our city, our schools, our sports teams, our downtown and suburbs, our streetcar, our zoo, our hospitals, our rural communities, and much, much more. Municipal bonds provide for the need of the people everywhere. From roads and highways to streets and bridges to water and sewers to airports and hotels to affordable housing and senior living, and all sorts of economic development and industry. Municipal bonds touch our lives on a daily basis in ways we just take for granted. It’s how infrastructure for a livable and vibrant community gets done.
All the while folks can earn tax-free interest income for any number of reasons, including retirement, medical needs, grandkids’ education, starting a new career, funding a new business, or plain-old extra spending money for vacations, weddings, and other family occasions. Tax-free municipal bonds take into consideration not only what you earn, but how much you keep. Often, too, it’s not so much the return on your principal, but the return of your principal. Municipal bonds can be a great way to shelter wealth.
All this is to say, we’re in the business of sharing our passion and helping people live well and accomplishing their goals by doing good. We’re likely the only investment firm in town that specializes in municipal bonds. It’s fine and well to go to your primary doctor to quarterback your overall health care, but also see a cardiologist, a specialist, for certain matters. Likewise, it’s good to have a financial advisor to help develop a comprehensive financial plan, but also talk to Valdes & Moreno about municipal bonds.
Municipal bonds are much more than just a tax-free way to diversify your investment portfolio. They’re the framework of a community, a tangible representation of the hard work of building and sustaining your hometown. Infrastructure is now and the future. When you’re taking your kids or grandkids to the new soccer complex, the family to a new performing arts center, or flying out of your new airport, you can look back and say “my money helped build that.” Municipal bonds are a source of civic pride. And that’s what makes the community you live in your home.
Lest we not ever forget, ultimately, it taxpayers and users of all stripes like you and us that pay off the bonds that that pay for the project.
A TAX-ADVANTAGED INVESTMENT THAT MAKES YOUR FUTURE AND THEIR FUTURE BETTER.
Through Valdés & Moreno, investors can buy individual municipal bonds. Municipal bonds are smart investments providing predictable, tax-free interest income. Municipal bonds can be double tax exempt. Not only is Interest earned on municipal bonds typically exempt from federal income taxation, but the interest is also exempt from state income taxation in some states like Missouri and Kansas. In investing in municipal bonds or bonds in general, the proposition is straightforward. You know the interest rate you’ll receive and when you’ll get your money back. If the interest rate over the life of the bond syncs up with what you think is fair and matches a budgeted need, then the bond is likely a fit for your portfolio. Bonds, municipals included, typically pay interest every six months.
Investments can be a nervous venture for some folks. It’s true that municipal bonds carry certain risks. Cities, counties, and states are fallible. Civic leaders are human and make mistakes. It’s our job to help measure the risk for you. At Valdés & Moreno, we do our homework. We do the research to find the best opportunities in the municipal market to invest in, all things considered. Part of it is your investment objective, time horizon, risk tolerance, and your own knowledge and intuition. As we explain an opportunity, does it make sense to you? Do you have a personal connection to the project? Are you passionate about it? Does it fulfill your social consciousness? As we like to put it, our job is to separate the diamonds in the rough from the pigs in the poke for you individually.