Municipal bonds are debt instruments issued by states or municipalities that allow them to borrow money for a specific purpose. The funds raised by a bond sale might be used to build roads, improve infrastructure, build schools, or might even support projects that are beneficial to the community as a whole, such as hospitals or health centres.
A bond default is considered to occur in cases when the issuer of the bond fails to make a payment in regard to the interest or principal within a time period which is already specified. Municipal bond defaults are possible but extremely rare.
Top 5 Municipal Bonds for 2019
- Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (NHMAX)-
The Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond gives investors access to the segment of market that lets them demand more for holding the bonds that have a higher than average default risk. High Yield Bonds are riskier than Investment Grade Bonds and thus are much like stocks and do not necessarily follow the other bond indices.
- Texas Bonds-
Texas is US state that is on the rise and has a booming economy and thus in need of infrastructure. The residents of Texas do not pay any state income tax, so there is no extra tax advantage at state level for Texas bond investors. Yields for the Texas General Obligation (GO) Bonds are strong along with other bonds. Some bonds even have coupon rates as high as 5%.
- BlackRock MuniYield Investment Fund (MYF)-
BlackRock MuniYield Fund, Inc. is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc. The fund is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. It invests in fixed income markets. The fund primarily in long-term investment-grade municipal bonds with a maturity of more than ten years. It is exempt from federal income taxes. Despite seeing two cuts recently, the bond is still capable of offering a high tax free income clocking in at a TEY of 9.04%.
- Invesco Muni Income Fund (VKMMX)-
It is an Investment Grade bond fund. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests a minimum of 80% of its net assets along with any borrowings for investment purposes in municipal securities at the time of investment.
- Florida Bonds-
Just like Texas, Florida also doesn’t have a state income tax thus saving investors from an extra tax advantage on buying municipal bond funds. The US state’s economy is continuously on the rise and has several projects going on that can be invested in with coupon rate as high as 5%. One such bond that can be invested in is Florida DOT.
These are some of the best municipal bond funds that you can safely invest in, in 2019 with the added benefit of tax saving along with profits on share selling. These are bonds you should buy now, and keep forever.