Welcome to the Stay Wealthy podcast. I'm your host Taylor Schulte, and today I'm kicking

off our four-part series on investing in bonds. Contrary to what most people think, the bond market

is actually more complex than the stock market. But don't worry, I'm here to translate everything for you

into plain English. In today's episode, you'll learn three big things about bonds. Number one,

a short history lesson on savings bonds. Number two, a breakdown of individual bonds versus

bond funds. And number three, how I think most people should invest in this asset class.

So if you're a retirement saver who wants to better understand the world of bonds and how they

work, you're going to love today's episode and this four-part series. For all the links and

resources, head over to you staywealthy.com forward slash 85. Okay, first things first. I feel like we should address the

traditional savings bonds that many of you have probably had an experience with growing up.

So just a little short history lesson for those that are interested.

Savings bonds were first signed into legislation by Franklin Roosevelt

in 1941 to help Americans save money during the Great Depression. At least, that's how it was

positioned to the public, because as you might know, savings bonds were issued and used to also

help the government raise funds during World War II. And here's how it worked.

When you buy a savings bond, or any bond for that matter, you're essentially loaning your money to that

organization. And in this case, with savings bonds, that would be the U.S. government. The U.S.

government then uses your money for whatever they want, in this case, funding

World War II, and then in return agrees to pay you back at a later date with some interest. People,

the public, they liked these safe long-term investments that were backed by the U.S. government,

and in the 1990s, they gained even more popularity because Congress created

tax exemptions for bonds used to pay for tuition, very similar to a 529 educational savings account

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