How to Buy Government Bonds

Video Transcript

"Uncle Sam wants you. Well, no, no, no; not you physically, but he does want your money because the U.S. government has done a horrible job over many, many years of balancing the amount of money that they bring in, versus the amount of money that they spend. They're like a perpetual kid in that they're perpetually broke. They have to fund that somehow, and they do that by issuing U.S. government bonds. Today's lesson is about how to buy them, and I'm Roger Groh. If you go to your local bank or stock brokerage firm, or even onto the U.S. Treasury website you can buy treasuries for all different lengths of maturities through, directly through any of those institutions. It might be easier to buy them through a bank or a brokerage firm, because when it comes time to sell em' you can do it instantly online. If you do it through the government it's a little more burdensome, although fees differ between the two, and you need to look at what you're going to make after fees and after tax to be sure that you pick the right way for you to note or to generate the highest after-tax, after-expense rate of return. So, how do you do it? Go back to your brokerage firm, to your bank, or to the U.S. Treasury's website and do it directly through them. I'm Roger Groh, and thank you for spendin' a few minutes with me."