[villages07]

Caroline,

I did go to a Lawson Financial seminar one day. They and FMS bonds seem to be the two outfits that advertise the most locally. Both have websites where you can browse their current bond offerings.

They seem to deal in the resale market for bonds. Take the Villages CDD bonds for example...when they are originally issued mostly hedge funds and institutional investors (not you and me) scooped them up. With recent economic problems, investors have made requests to cash out of some accounts so the hedge funds, etc had to sell bonds to pay off investors. Companies like Lawson and FMS buy these resales then, in turn, sell them to individuals. I am no muni bond expert, by any means.

I did recently buy some resale CDD5 Villages bonds from FMS .... 6.5% yield, mature in 2033 (issued in 2003) but callable in 2013. Tax free munis. These are the infrastructure bonds that go with the house, not the amenity/recreation bonds that the IRS is investigating.

If you look at the two company websites, you'll see a variety of offerings from near term maturities in the 4-5% range, to 30 year plus maturities for lower rated offerings at reduced coupon prices that now yield over 7%...but, are riskier. I consider the Villages CDD bonds a pretty safe investment but would shy away from many of the other offerings they have. Also, they seem to rarely have the Villages bonds...when they get them, they get sold out pretty quickly.

So, if you are interested, go to Lawson's seminar...it was informative and you'll get a free meal. There was no pressure by the reps.

www.fmsbonds.com

www.lawsonfinancial.com

Look for bond offering links on both sites.