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Buying a bond essentially means loaning a sum of your hard-earned money to a corporation or government. Some bonds are issued for a fixed time frame, after which they reach maturity.
However, there are also zero-coupon bonds that do without the interest, but are issued at a discount. This sort of stability can be useful for retirees looking for extra income to supplement their daily needs.
Spreading your investments lowers your risk. The stock market promises attractive returns, but it can also be volatile and subject to world events. Now, keeping your capital intact is important to you. Some bonds can be very safe, such as those issued and backed by stable governments.
To understand why bonds are considered a safer investment class, we need to take a step back. Bonds are debt instruments, while stocks represent equity ownership. In general, investing in debt is safer than investing in equity. It provides many safeguards to ensure the fairness of investigations and trials. For anyone that becomes involved in a legal proceeding there are a number of different courts in which their case may be heard - depending on the nature and seriousness of the case.
There are also a number of different higher courts to which appeals can be made. The number of and types of judges that hear cases and make rulings may also vary depending on the type of issue involved. There is no such thing as a jury trial in Germany and judges take on a more active role in court proceedings. Court procedures are otherwise similar to a jury trial in the USA.
Under German law the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. In minor cases there may be only a single professional judge presiding. Or, if the charges are severe and the accused faces heavy penalties, there may up to be five persons hearing the case; three professional judges and two lay judges or five professional judges.
Lay judges are ordinary citizens selected by a committee to serve a pre-determined length of time. All judges serving in the federal courts are trained in the legal profession.
They have to be professional judges or lawyers. Ordinary Courts hear matters relating to civil, criminal, family and marriage laws. Local Courts also take care of company registrations and other administrative matters. These are the most numerous courts in Germany. There are four tiers of Ordinary Courts.
Local Courts Amtsgerichte , can have a single professional judge or up to two professional judges and two lay judges. The next level is the Regional Court Landegericht where up to three professional and two lay judges hear cases. After that comes the Higher Regional Courts Oberlandesgerichte that seat three to five professional judges. It has five professional judges that hear cases.
Criminal cases can be assigned to any of the first three Courts. Civil matters are normally assigned to the first two Courts.
Appeals can be made to two higher courts. The special Administrative law courts Verwaltungsgerichte have three levels and hear cases regarding government regulations and actions. Labor law courts Arbeitsgerichte also have three levels and hear cases regarding employment issues, working conditions and collective bargaining agreements.
Social law courts Sozialgerichte have three levels and work with cases involving the various social benefits. However, there are also zero-coupon bonds that do without the interest, but are issued at a discount.
This sort of stability can be useful for retirees looking for extra income to supplement their daily needs. Spreading your investments lowers your risk. The stock market promises attractive returns, but it can also be volatile and subject to world events.
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Now, keeping your capital intact is important to you. Some bonds can be very safe, such as those issued and backed by stable governments. To understand why bonds are considered a safer investment class, we need to take a step back.
Bonds are debt instruments, while stocks represent equity ownership. In general, investing in debt is safer than investing in equity. In the event a company goes bankrupt, debt holders are ahead of shareholders in the line to be paid. All bonds are not created equal.