Do you invest in Church Bonds?

Discussion in 'Stock Market Education' started by SteakTartare, May 22, 2014.

  1. SteakTartare

    SteakTartare Senior Investor

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    Hello all. Something I did a bunch of research on years ago was Church Bonds. They looked interesting, but I opted not to invest as there were plenty of more mainstream bond offerings to reach my goals. Anyway, I was skimming through some financial articles the other day and I saw a mention of them. I'm curious if anyone has used this investment as part of their investing strategy. Thanks much.
     
  2. Kate

    Kate Senior Investor

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    Church bonds aren't guaranteed or insured... (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong :D ) The "loan" is secured by the church property itself... it doesn't really sound too safe or profitable to me. Could be wrong... wouldn't be the first or last time!

    I'll watch this thread because the idea of it (I think maybe schools do this as well) is something that would generally interest me... if there'd be more safeguards in place.
     
  3. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

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    I'm not familiar with them, but it's not likely that I'd do that either. It sounds like a church is issuing bonds - aka borrowing money. Maybe if it was THE Catholic Church or whatever I'd be less reluctant. Otherwise, I'd probably pass if it was just some local church or whatever. Either way, I'd need to see the books, and I'd expect a pretty good return if I ever did. And it wouldn't be with a huge amount of my $.
     
  4. Philosophydaddy

    Philosophydaddy Member

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    What exactly are church bonds? What do they fund? How do you get a return on your investment? This seems like an interesting option to me and I'd like to learn a bit more about this. Do you have any of the links that you researched?
     
  5. SteakTartare

    SteakTartare Senior Investor

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    There are several, but one you might check out is: Church Bonds: Winners or Sinners?

    While I did look into them, the yield wasn't enough for me to risk it.
     
  6. Gavin

    Gavin Active Member

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    I don't really know much about the church bonds, but I do know from reading a little bit about it, that it doesn't sound like a great investment to jump into. I think that if you don't have a lot to work with you should look for more secure areas or just get a nice and easy mutual fund setup. Just some thoughts on that from a guy looking from the outside.
     
  7. firelily99

    firelily99 Well-Known Member

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    This just came up for me recently when a friend's church approached me about church bonds. I was leery and did not go into, the feeling based not on knowledge of those types of bonds but a negative gut feeling. Knowing that they are not insured has me relieved that I listened to myself.
     
  8. richc3

    richc3 Senior Investor

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    Certainly shaky on the thought myself. I can see why some people would feel compelled to do it and why others would avoid it like the plague.
    Personally, I wouldn't touch it for a wide array of reasons -- I guess in a strange way I also like to feel unattached with my investments as well.
     
  9. lovemwaf

    lovemwaf Member

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    I think that a church bond is something really risky. A lot of churches are usually not well managed and their finances of always up-and-down. Also churches tend to be in debt most of the time. On the other hand if you look at the structure of how churches are supposed to their finances you'll notice that their business model is really good and is generally geared to was the church being a financial success so in theory a church bond would be the way to go. As someone mentioned earlier Catholic churches are usually much better at that financial management so I might be less reluctant if it was a Catholic Church.
     
  10. firelily99

    firelily99 Well-Known Member

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    Even though I don't have a lot of experience with stocks I knew of church bonds and how risky they are. I used to volunteer at a church and had to decline the opportunity to buy in. The fact that they are not insured or guarenteed was enough to push me off of them.
     

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