Bonds may be lower risk, but they are not risk-free. You should research bondsjust as you would stocks before purchasing them. Learn how and where to buy bonds
Now that you what bonds are, you might be asking yourself how to actually get into the bond market. Let’s take a look at how to buy bonds, where to buy bonds and what to look out for.
Where to buy bonds?
Bonds can be bought either online or with a broker.
Directly from the Fed
In the U.S., you can buy bonds directly from the government through TreasuryDirect. All transactions and interest payments are done electronically. The Bureau of the Public Debt started TreasuryDirect so that people could bypass a broker completely if they wanted to.
Through a Broker
Be careful when using a broker. Typically, the broker will slightly mark up the price and happily tell you that the trade is totally commission free. This mark up will essentially be the same thing. The best thing to do is to simply look up the latest quote for the bond to make sure you’re not being taken advantage of.
Through a Mutual Fund
Buying individual bonds makes sense if you own a lot of them and hold them to maturity. Most people don’t do that, though. Most are better off buying bonds through a mutual fund, if only for diversification’s sake.
How to buy bonds (effectively?)
There are a number of important questions to ask yourself before buying bonds.
- What is the maturity of the bond?
- What’s the price?
- Does it have early redemption features such as a call date?
- What is the credit quality?
- What is the rating? Is it insured?
- What is the interest rate?
- What is the tax status?
Bonds are not nearly as liquid as stocks and ETFs, and therefore there is not nearly as much information publicly and freely available. If you are going to buy bonds, always buy them from a reputable source and always check your prices to make sure you are getting a fair price. Also, you must remember that when you buy a bond your return is called the Yield to Maturity and NOT the Coupon Rate. If you buy a bond below $1,000 you will yield MORE THAN the Coupon Rate; and if you buy a bond above $1,000 you will yield LESS THAN the Coupon rate.
All of this information on how to buy bonds can be overwhelming. Although bonds are technically lower risk, it’s still really important that you understand both how and where to buy bonds. Our Investing in Different Markets course covers all of it and more.
Ranking of Top Stock Newsletters Based on Last 3 Years of Stock Picks as of August 16, 2025
We are paid subscribers to dozens of stock and option newsletters. We actively track every recommendation from all of these services, calculate performance, and share our results of the top performing stock newsletters whose subscriptions fees are under $500. The main metric to look for is "Return vs SP500" which is their return above that of the S&P500. So, based on August 16, 2025 prices:
Best Stock Newsletters
| Rank | Stock Newsletter | Picks Return | Return vs SP500 | Picks w Profit | Max % Return | Current Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Alpha Picks | 74.7% | 51.1% | 78% | 969% | Sept, 2025 Promotion: Save $50 |
| Summary: 2 picks/month based on Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating; Retail Price is $499/yr. See complete details and analysis in our Alpha Picks Review. | ||||||
| 2. |  Moby.co | 52.5% | 18.1% | 73% | 2,406% | Sept, 2025 Promotion:Next pick free! |
| Summary: 60-150 stock picks per year, segmented by industry; Retail Price is $199/yr. Read our Moby Review. | ||||||
| 3. |  Zacks Top 10 | 33.0% | 15.1% | 73% | 170% | Sept, 2025 Promotion:$1, then $495/yr |
| Summary: 10-25 stock picks per year based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Zacks Review. | ||||||
| 4. |  TipRanks SmartInvestor | 18.6% | 7.6% | 65% | 386% | Current Promotion: Save $180 |
| Summary: About 1 pick/week focusing on short term trades; Lifetime average return of 355% vs S&P500's 149% since 2015. Retail Price is $379/yr. Read our TipRanks Review. | ||||||
| 5. |  Stock Advisor | 41.7% | 6.1% | 76% | 299% | Sept, 2025 Promotion: Get $100 Off |
| Summary: 2 picks/month and 2 Best Buy Stocks lists focusing on high growth potential stocks over 5 years; Retail Price is $199/yr. Read our Motley Fool Review. | ||||||
| 6. |  Action Alerts Plus | 25.9% | 4.9% | 65% | 210% | Current Promotion: None |
| Summary: 100-150 trades per year, lots of buying and selling and short-term trades. Read our Jim Cramer Review. | ||||||
| 7. | Rule Breakers | 35.6% | 1.2% | 78% | 273% | Current Promotion: Save $200 |
| Summary: 2 picks/month focusing on disruptive technology and business models; Lifetime average return of 355% vs S&P500's 149% since 2005; Now part of Motley Fool Epic. Read our Motley Fool Epic Review. | ||||||
| 8. | Zacks Home Run Investor | 3.5% | -1.3% | 44% | 200% | Sept, 2025 Promotion:$1, then $495/yr |
| Summary: 40-50 stock picks per year based on Zacks' Quant Rating; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Zacks Review. | ||||||
| 9. | IBD Leaderboard ETF | 11.4% | -1.8% | n/a | n/a | Sept, 2025 Promotion:Save $129/yr |
| Summary: Maintains top 50 stocks to invest in based on IBD algorithm; Retail Price is $495/yr. Read our Investors Business Daily. | ||||||
| 10. | Stock Advisor Canada | 23.5% | -4.6% | 69% | 378% | Sept, 2025 Promotion: Save $100 |
| Summary: 1 pick/month from the Toronto stock exchange; Retail Price is CD$199/yr. Read our Motley Fool Canada Stock Advisor Review. | ||||||
| Top Ranking Stock Newsletters based on their 2024, 2023, 2022 stock picks' performance as compared to S&P500. S&P500's return is based on average return of S&P500 from date each stock pick is released. NOTE: To get these results you must buy equal dollar amounts of each pick on the date the stock pick is released. Investor Business Daily Top 50 based on performance of FFTY ETF. Performance as of August 16, 2025. | ||||||