How to Buy Municipal Bonds

Video Transcript

"Okay. So how to we purchase a municipal bond? There are a number of different ways to purchase one. You can purchase one on the original issue. There may be a new bond measure or something in your community or a community that you're familiar with, or even one you're not familiar with, but a municipality that is putting out a new issue, and you can buy that at the par value of when it's issued and get the original price. The other way to buy a muni bond is to buy one on the open market. The market is constantly trading municipal bonds. They are a traded issue. And you can buy the security at any time of your choosing. The one thing that will happen if it's not an original issue will be that the price is changing on a daily basis, so you may run into a price that's higher or lower than you originally anticipated. And the best way to go about purchasing them is either through a brokerage house, whether it be online or face-to-face retail front on the, you know, local main street. Or you can go to the municipality if it is a new issue. Sometimes, they will have a public offering, and you can actually bypass some of the fees and charges you might otherwise anticipate."