When a successful investor wishes to avoid risk he has in mind three important requisites of any investment he may choose:

First

Security, or safety of the principal invested.

Second

Convertibility into cash in case a change of investment be desired, or ready money needed.

Third

As high a rate of interest as can be obtained without sacrificing either steadiness of income or safety of principal.

When one buys bonds from a banking house which has, through wide experience and trained knowledge, made a satisfactory and rigid examination of the property securing the bonds, he is obtaining these requisites in high degree. For example:

Safety

Special precautions are taken by the Harris Organization at the time the bonds are issued to see that its own money is safeguarded, so that when the bonds, in turn, are sold to customers the principal of the investment and the interest thereon shall be safe beyond any reasonable doubt and be paid promptly when due. To indicate more particularly the general safety of carefully selected bonds, the United States government accepts many different issues as security for deposits of government funds and postal savings bank funds. A large portion of the assets of national, state, savings and private banks is now invested in bonds. Bonds to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars are now held for investment by the principal insurance companies of the world. Furthermore, bonds not only are regarded as the most satisfactory form of safe investment for the wealthiest individuals, but are also extensively used for safeguarding the carefully accumulated savings of people of small means.

Marketability

One of the greatest advantages of bonds as safe investments is the ease with which, under all ordinary conditions, they may be quickly converted into cash. It is possible to borrow money on a bond bought of the Harris Organization from practically any of the banks of the country, because the bond is so prepared that it is readily recognized and may be used as security for a loan. Again, it is an important advantage for the investor, if he so desires, to be able to sell his bonds promptly for cash at current market prices. Serving such a large list of investors as this institution does, it has such a constant demand for the kind of bonds it can recommend that the investor has a broad market in which to dispose of his bonds under all ordinary conditions.

Steady Income

Finally, the income derived from bonds does not fluctuate, can be counted upon as a definite sum and is paid at regular intervals.

Choosing Safe Investments

When it comes to the final matter of the choice of any particular bond for a safe investment, the investor realizes there are numerous technical points which must be properly understood and investigated by experts so that the safety of the bond under consideration is assured. Even if he is a man of affairs, well versed in such matters, he probably has neither the time nor the inclination to examine all the minute details of the bond issue. The one real essential in selecting bonds is the recommendation of a responsible and conservative banking house of large experience and trained judgment, having a definite system of safeguards for investors from the day their money is invested until the final payment of interest and principal.