Is it worth investing in OFZ-n (federal loan bonds for the population)?

Federal loan bonds are a reliable investment tool for individuals. OFZ-n securities issued for circulation by the state in 2022 can be purchased at VTB or Sberbank from March 15 to September 14. Provided that government bonds are purchased during this period and held for 3 years, the profitability of OFZ-n will exceed the benefit from any deposit in a Russian bank for the same period.

What are people's bonds?

Federal loan bonds (OFZ), formerly called public loan bonds, are a long-known financial instrument for investing in the state economy. These are bonds issued specifically to the public that are not popular with sophisticated investors. But ordinary people just starting to understand financial literacy may like this tool.

The difference between the new OFZ-n is their availability to individuals and the relative ease of purchase. Now it is possible to use federal bonds as an alternative to deposits.

Federal bonds are both easier to understand than other investment instruments and more profitable than interest on bank deposits, and their reliability is guaranteed by the state economy . Unlike deposits, the loss of OFZ-n threatens only in the event of a country’s default, and the ruin of the agent bank will not affect investors.

What are federal loan bonds for the population (OFZ-n) and is it worth purchasing this financial instrument, they will tell you in this video.

Combination with deposit

Having closed the first IIS three years later, I put 200,000 rubles into a regular deposit with the possibility of partial withdrawal, and use the remaining 139,000 rubles to replenish the newly opened IIS (type A). In the second year, I take 100 thousand from the deposit for the next replenishment of the IIS. I do the same thing in the third year. Thus, I use the one-time accumulated 339,000 rubles to receive a tax deduction again.

You can immediately deposit the entire amount into a newly opened IIS (type A). However, our life is unpredictable. If there is an urgent need for money, I will not be able to take it from an individual investment account (according to its terms, the money must be in the account for three years). Of course, it can be closed early. But in this case, I will need to return all the tax benefits received. Using a combination with a bank deposit, I can use the funds in his account at any time.

Find a deposit with a high rate

State goals

According to the explanations of Finance Minister Siluanov, federal loan bonds were issued with the aim of creating a public institution that would increase the financial literacy of the population.

Filling the state budget with raised funds will not have a significant impact on the economy, so the Ministry of Finance launched this program to teach people to use investment instruments instead of deposits and to encourage the population to make medium-term savings . This also has an impact on the financial sector as a whole and helps banks improve the quality and availability of their services.

The main beneficiaries, after the depositors themselves, will be the banks selling securities. For the Ministry of Finance itself, the OFZ-n program has social development significance. Government bonds were issued to create an alternative to deposits for the population.

How reliable?

OFZ is relatively reliable. If problems arise, the region can pay off bondholders using a tranche from the state.
For example, for this purpose, regions are provided with preferential loans at 0.1% per annum. There are also legal restrictions for subjects. For example, the state debt of a region cannot exceed its income (federal subsidies and interbudgetary transfers do not count), and if the level of subsidies is higher than 40% of budget revenues, the debt cannot be more than half of the income. Also, debt servicing costs should not exceed 15% of the total budget expenditures. In general, it is unlikely that the federal authorities will allow a default to occur in any region. But in this case, there may be delays in payments - it’s worth remembering.

Where can I buy?

Federal loan bonds issued for circulation between March and September 2022 are sold to individuals at branches of VTB and Sberbank banks . To purchase OFZ-n, you need to come to the bank, open a personal account, draw up an agreement and buy securities. Existing clients can purchase bonds remotely through their personal account. The third batch of people's bonds arrived at VTB and Sberbank on March 15, and will arrive until September 14. After the expiration of this period, the sale of bonds will cease.

Important! People's loan bonds are prohibited from circulation on the secondary market, donation and use as collateral. OFZ-n are handed over only to the same bank where they were purchased, or are passed on by inheritance.

In a separate article you can read what methods exist for purchasing OFZ by individuals.

Coupons can be withdrawn to a separate account

When opening an IIS, in the settings, specify a separate account for withdrawing coupon and dividend payments. Then, at the end of each month, transfer them again to your IIS. This strategy will increase the amount of tax refund. This money will also be counted as an annual contribution, and you can get an income tax refund on it.

Let's look at two examples. I topped up my IIS with 100,000 rubles. Coupon payments in the amount of 10,000 rubles were credited to it. I can claim 13,000 ₽ in the form of an income tax refund.

Let's say I replenished my IIS with 100,000 rubles. Coupon payments in the amount of ₽10,000 were credited to a regular bank account. I transferred them to IIS. This maneuver gives me the opportunity to claim a tax refund in the amount of 14,300 rubles, since the actual contribution amount will be considered 110,000 rubles.

Read on the topic: 10 features of IIS that you might not know about

The opinions of column authors may not coincide with the opinions of the site's editors. The user makes all decisions on the use of any financial instruments independently at his own peril and risk.

Who is eligible to purchase?

OFZ-n can be purchased by adult citizens of the Russian Federation who are individuals. The purchased securities cannot be transferred for registration to other banks and depositories, sold or transferred in any other way, or used as collateral. People's loan bonds can only be returned to the same bank where they were purchased.

After the expiration of the 3-year period, the cost with additional interest will be credited to the client’s personal account, after the application, or automatically. You can sell bonds before they expire, losing part of your investment income.

It is better to open an IIS only for 3 years

During my practice, this is the second time I have opened an individual investment account of the first type (type A). Thanks to him, I manage to annually return the income tax withheld from my salary in the amount of 13%. An impressive amount in the current economic conditions. Why three years? Using the minimum amount of money, I manage to get the maximum result. Let's look at a simple example.

In the first year I deposit 100,000 rubles and receive a tax refund in the amount of 13,000 rubles.

The same thing happens in the second year. I deposit 100,000 rubles and again receive 13,000 rubles as a refund.

In the third year the situation repeats itself. I contribute another 100,000 rubles. The state is returning the promised 13,000 rubles to me. Now I am closing my IIS. I have at my disposal the amount of 339,000 rubles. It is used to open a new IIS.

Read on the topic: How to get a tax deduction for IIS?

Price

Federal loan bonds of the 3rd issue, put into circulation on March 15, 2022, cost 1 thousand rubles in the first couple of days. Further, their prices are slightly adjusted and updated daily. You can check the current price on the Ministry of Finance website. From the moment a security is purchased, its cost and profitability are fixed, ceasing to depend on the market. This makes bonds a more reliable instrument than securities trading, and more profitable than a deposit.

Reference! The face value of each public loan bond is 1,000 rubles. You can buy from 30 to 15,000 securities of one issue. The cost of all bonds issued by the Ministry of Finance into circulation amounted to 15 billion rubles.

What to look for?

Before buying, study the basic information about the bonds: the maturity date of the securities, who issued them, the cost, as well as profitability and liquidity.
The yield on bonds issued by entities is usually slightly higher than the yield on OFZ bonds. Thus, on August 6, order books were formed for 5-year bonds of the Belgorod region and bonds of the Yaroslavl region with maturity in 6 years. Their yield at the time of placement was 1% and 1.1%, respectively, higher than the average yield on OFZs. But the liquidity of regional bonds (the ability to sell securities quickly at market prices), on the contrary, is lower than that of OFZs. They are traded much less often, so if an investor wants to urgently sell his bonds, he will not be able to do this. The opposite situation may also occur: the investor will want to buy additional bonds, but there will be no sellers on the market.

Study the debts of the regions . The more there are, the more likely there are problems with paying interest on bonds. If the debt burden is more than 100% of the region’s income, it means that current income will not be enough to pay off its obligations. At the end of 9 months of 2022, the Sakhalin region had no debts, and the Moscow, Tyumen and Leningrad regions also had the lowest level of debt (1.2%, 1.4% and 2.3%, respectively). The Republic of Mordovia (221%), the Kostroma region (98.3%) and the Republic of Khakassia (96.1%) owe the most in relation to their income. Data on regional public debt can be found on the RIA Rating website.

Price today

The price for purchasing OFZ-n changes every day. They are posted on the official website of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on this page. To view, you need to go to the “placement prices” document. The price will be indicated as a percentage of the face value. The denomination is 1000 rubles. Those. if 98% is indicated, then one bond will cost you 980 rubles, and 1010 rubles if 101%. In addition, you will need to pay on top and the accumulated coupon income (ACI) for each security, if it is not zero.

Profitability

To receive income from bonds after their expiration, it is not necessary to contact the bank, since automatic repayment to the client’s account is provided after 3 years from the date of purchase . An appeal will be required in case of early surrender of bonds, however, it is important to take into account that early repayment is unprofitable due to the specifics of interest calculation.

To obtain the expected return, it is necessary to hold investment securities for the entire period of their validity, that is, 3 years. In this case, the profit from each coupon will be 219.53 rubles.

Federal loan bonds provide investors with high interest payments compared to deposits. However, to stimulate long-term investment, a gradual increase in interest charges is provided every six months. According to the document of the Ministry of Finance, the interest rate and yield of the security by date will have the following values:

1. From 09/26/18 – 6% per annum (coupons for 32.05 rubles).
2. From 03/27/19 – 6.5% (coupon 32.41 rubles).
3. From 09/25/19 – 7% (coupon 34.9 rubles).
4. From 03/25/20 – 7.5% (coupon 37.4 rubles).
5. From 09/23/20 – 8% (coupon 39.89 rubles).
6. From 03/24/21 until the end of the term, the bonds will yield 8.6% per annum or two coupons per year of 42.88 rubles.

Thus, over 3 years of validity, the bonds are guaranteed to cover the investment and bring 21.95% profit. The average interest rate is 7.25% per annum. For comparison, a deposit for a similar period brings 5.5 – 7.1%. In addition to the investment amount, the date of acquisition is important for profitability, and bonds purchased in the first days will bring slightly more income to investors.

Attention! Although OFZ-n are classified as securities, they cannot be sold to others. The only possible operation is to return them to the bank to receive interest. Therefore, people's bonds are something between shares and a deposit.

How much do OFZ cost?

The entry threshold is minimal - the nominal value of debt securities is 1000 rubles

. This means that immediately after the start of the placement, investors can purchase them by paying exactly 1,000 rubles. After all the securities have been purchased, they are traded on the stock exchange and can be traded either at a discount or above par.

The price depends on the rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

, we will discuss this issue in more detail below.

The exception is 2 types of bonds

:

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• Shock-absorbing
  . For them, repayment is carried out in parts, due to this the denomination is gradually reduced. The price of the paper depends on how much of the face value the borrower managed to repay.
• With indexed denomination
  . The peculiarity of bonds of this type is the annual increase in the nominal value by the amount of official inflation.

Securities are purchased on the stock exchange, the volume here is measured in lots - 1 lot is equal to 1 bond, that is, the minimum amount for purchase is about 1000 rubles (there will also be a small commission, it depends on the broker).

Types and explanations

Debt securities can be classified according to several criteria. In the case of OFZs, several groups of bonds are distinguished depending on the maturity period and the type of bond itself.

According to the terms

:

Short-term bonds, maturity up to one year

. In Russia, a wary attitude has developed towards GKOs (government short-term bonds) due to the fact that in 1998 there was a default on short-term bonds.

During that period, GKOs turned into a real financial pyramid, which undermined confidence in this instrument. In 2014, the Russian Central Bank supported the idea of ​​the Ministry of Finance to return GKOs; perhaps in the future short-term bonds will regain their former popularity.

Medium term – from 1 to 5 years

.

Long-term – from 5 to 30 years

. In theory, it is possible to issue securities with a maturity of more than 30 years; other countries have such bonds, but the Russian Ministry of Finance has not yet issued them.

There are 5 types of OFZ issued in Russia:

1. With a permanent income (PD)

. By constant income we mean a coupon known in advance; even before purchasing a bond, the investor knows what coupon he will receive. These are the most popular debt securities on the Moscow Exchange.

2. Indexed (IN)

. For these bonds, the yield is formed both due to a fixed coupon and due to indexation of the face value by the amount of official inflation.

Coupon reduced compared to OFZ-PD

. There are few such securities on the market. Securities of this type are beneficial if high inflation is predicted; a low coupon income is rather a pleasant addition to the indexation of the face value. In terms of profitability, securities of this type can outperform OFZ-PD.

3. With floating coupon (PC)

.
The yield is tied to RUONIA
- this is the interest rate that financial institutions use when lending to each other overnight.

The RUONIA indicator is calculated by the Bank of Russia. To make the paper more attractive, RUONIA is added to the average rate 1,5-2,0%

.

4. Damping bonds (AD)

. The face value is returned to investors not at once during the redemption of the bond, but gradually. Depreciation does not begin immediately, but several years after the issue of OFZ.

For example, according to OFZ-46023-AD

depreciation began in 2022, placement took place in 2011. The coupon percentage is slightly higher than that of a PC, but due to gradual depreciation in foreign currency, the profitability is comparable. After the start of partial repayment, the coupon will be calculated from a constantly decreasing denomination.

5. People's bonds (OFZ-N)

. The peculiarity of this type of securities is that they are not available on the stock exchange, and the sale of bonds is carried out through bank branches. For example, OFZ-53003-N could be purchased at Sberbank and VTB Bank branches.

The principle of operation is the same as that of OFZs with constant income, but restrictions are introduced on the maximum number of bonds sold into one hand. The minimum volume for purchase is 15 securities; with a face value of 1,000 rubles, the starting capital must be at least 15,000 rubles

.

Not the most common option for government bonds, the yield is approximately the same as that of the PD type. From the 2nd quarter of 2022, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation abolished commissions for the purchase of national OFZs and lowered the entry threshold to 10,000 rubles

and increased the number of agent banks (Promsvyazbank and Pochta-Bank were added).

Another innovation is that OFZ-N can act as collateral for loans.

You can earn money on any type of OFZ. For ordinary investors, fixed income options are most attractive. They can always be resold, and the profit is known in advance.

Nomenclature of government bonds

For each paper there are 2 alphanumeric designations in which basic information about the bond is encrypted - ISIN

(international format) and state registration number. Below, as an example, the designation OFZ-25084-PD is analyzed.

For this paper, the ISIN looks like RU000A101FA1

, on isindb.com you can check whether this code is up to date. The check shows that the code is up to date.

Next in the ISIN code is a 9-character alphanumeric identifier. The last digit of the code is another verification code.

ISIN does not match the state registration number of the bond. For the same paper it looks like No. 25084RMFS

, Here:

• The first 2 digits (25) indicate the type of bond, assigned taking into account the maturity date and its type. The number 25 corresponds to a bond with a maturity of 1-5 years and constant yield.
• The next 3 digits show the serial number of the issue of this bond, 084 means that 001, 002...083 and then 084 were previously issued.
• RMF – this abbreviation hides the name of the issuer. Since we are talking about OFZs, the issuer is the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation ( Russian Ministry of Finance
  ).
• S – indicates that the security is denominated in national currency (rubles).

They also use the names of bonds like “OFZ-25084-PD”. This form of recording indicates:

1. Type of instrument – ​​federal loan bond.
2. Type, maturity date and serial number of the issue.
3. Type of bond - constant income, indexed par, with amortization, popular or with a variable coupon.

The accepted designation format allows you to fit maximum information about OFZ in 2 numbers.

How to choose OFZ

When choosing debt securities, the following are taken into account:

• Time remaining until maturity.
• The rate of a federal loan bond directly affects the profitability.
• Type of OFZ, detailed characteristics of each of them were given above. The type of bond also determines the yield.
• Cost, bonds can be traded at a premium to face value and at a discount to compensate for the low coupon yield.

As for which federal loan bonds are best to buy now, you need to take into account the monetary policy of the regulator. If we assume that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation rate will decrease in the future, then it is profitable to buy long-term securities with a maturity of 10-15 years.

If this scenario is not suitable, you can buy “short” bonds in order to lock in returns above bank deposits with the same reliability.

As for the type of OFZ, the most convenient option is investing in securities with a constant income. They are simpler and more understandable for the average investor; you don’t have to understand depreciation and the features of indexation of the nominal value.

Also, when purchasing, the market value of the bond and the coupon yield are taken into account. Knowing the nominal value of the OFZ, you can estimate its yield in rubles by the maturity date.

In general, selecting government bonds is easier than analyzing and selecting stocks. The yield of all types of securities is comparable, reliability is also at the same level (the issuer is the same). The investor's task is greatly simplified.

Are they taxable?

The only fees that a people's bond is subject to are bank charges. Agent banks, which are VTB and Sberbank, charge a commission when closing a bond. For an amount up to 50 thousand rubles it will be 1.5% of the transaction, from 50 to 300 thousand - 1%, and from 300 thousand - 0.5% of the total amount. The state does not impose taxation on this type of securities.

Read in a separate article all the features of taxation of OFZ, corporate and foreign currency bonds.

Before opening an IIS, you need to calculate the amount of taxes to be refunded

In the speeches of many financial experts, the figure for the maximum contribution to an IIS is 1 million rubles. However, there are significant features here:

• You cannot return taxes of more than 52,000 rubles per year. They are equivalent to a contribution amount of 400,000 rubles.
• You cannot get more taxes back than you paid.

To calculate the maximum amount for replenishing an IIS, you just need to take the figure of your salary for 1 year.

Let's say I earn 25,000 rubles a month. To estimate the maximum possible amount to replenish an investment account, I need to multiply 25,000 rubles by 12 months. It makes no sense for me to contribute more than 300,000 rubles. The state will not be able to refund my taxes beyond this amount. By the way, 13% of 300,000 rubles is 39,000 rubles. They will be my profits from using an individual investment account of the first type.

Advantages

Let's consider the advantages of investing in OFZ-n, both in general and in comparison with independent trading on the stock exchange with other OFZs.

• Receiving more income than from deposits.
• A simple purchase procedure through a bank (Sberbank and VTB).
• People's bonds are extremely simplified and do not require the investor to understand the market situation, offering a stable income.
• High reliability, income guaranteed by the state if it does not go bankrupt. Does not depend on the affairs of the bank.
• There is no risk of financial losses from changes in market prices, compared to other freely traded OFZs.
• You don’t need to choose among a huge number of different OFZs on the stock exchange.
• There is no risk with an incorrect assessment of the value of OFZs, in the case of the complexity of their structure (for example, OFZ-IN).
• There is no operational risk (when you enter an order by mistake when trading independently).
• Increasing financial literacy, nurturing an internal investor, you can become interested in other securities and subsequently open a brokerage account.

It is worth adding that investing in other OFZs is more profitable due to the absence of bank commissions. But you will have to figure out how bonds work, how to open a brokerage account, set up a QUIK trading terminal, select bonds and trade on the stock exchange.

What are the features of the new OFZ-n compared to deposits?

1) Previously, the agent bank charged a commission for the purchase and sale of bonds, but with the new issue this service is free for the depositor - the Ministry of Finance covers the costs.

2) When selling a bond after more than 12 months, the investor can receive not only the face value of the bond, but also accrued interest income for the holding period. In other words, after 12 months, income from OFZ-n is accrued daily and can be received in full. This is what sets these bonds apart from a bank deposit: it accrues interest only over multiple periods of time, most often 1 year. For example, when selling OFZ-n after 15 months, income will be received for the entire period, while on a deposit, income for the last 3 months will in most cases be lost.

3) Another advantage is the upper limit on the number of bonds that one individual can own. If the state-insured amount on deposit is only 1.4 million rubles, then you can invest up to 15 million rubles in public OFZs.

That is, we can highlight the following key differences between OFZ-n and a bank deposit:

1. Long investment period, up to 3 years.

2. Possibility of early withdrawal of funds without loss of accumulated interest after 12 months from the date of purchase.

3. No commissions when buying and selling bonds, as well as no additional requirements for generating income (using debit cards, maintaining card turnover, using insurance and other bank products, etc.).

4. The maximum amount under state protection is about 15 million rubles.

In addition, OFZ-n, like most deposits, are exempt from personal income tax, and the return of invested funds is guaranteed by the state.

How are they different from other federal loan bonds?

In addition to public bonds, there are many different OFZs traded on the securities market . Everyone has different coupons, their payment mechanisms, expiration dates, and even the denomination may vary. There are, for example, OFZ-PD (permanent income), OFZ-IN (indexed nominal value), OFZ-AD (debt amortization) and many others. All of them are traded on the secondary market and are available for sale only on the exchange.

To purchase them, an individual needs to be serviced by a broker by opening a special account, i.e. You cannot buy them through a bank, as is done with OFZs for the population.

But the opposite is also true. You cannot buy OFZ-n on the stock exchange; they are sold only by agent banks. Other OFZs are also free of bank commissions and can be sold to other market participants at any time without loss of accumulated income.

Introduction to Bonds for Beginners

First, let's figure out what a regular bond is.

Bonds are debt securities that pay a predetermined coupon.

Depending on the issue, the coupon profit can be either constant (determined for the entire period of validity) or variable (determined periodically). Typically payments occur every six months.

Not everyone can carry out emission. The one who issues the bonds is called the “issuer.” These can be large companies, the state (Ministry of Finance), municipal districts. In most cases, the denomination of 1 piece is 1000 rubles.

Each bond has a specific maturity date. Most often, the terms are quite long: 3, 5, 10 years, etc. The expiration date is called expiration. On this day, the issuer is obliged to buy back the entire issue of securities at the nominal price.

The coupon income is approximately equal to the Central Bank key rate. If the rate decreases, long-term bonds rise in price, thereby reducing the yield for new buyers. Conversely, if the Central Bank rate rises, then the price falls and bond yields rise.

In general, we can say that a bond is very similar to a bank deposit. But it has the following advantages:

• There are different repayment terms (1 year, 5 years and even 20 years). That is, you can book your income in advance for the entire period.
• You can sell at any time without losing the accumulated interest.
• Profitability is higher.
• You can invest any large amounts.

Ordinary bonds are traded on the stock exchange. They can be bought/sold during the trading session. Access to exchanges is provided through brokers. I recommend working with the following:

• Finam (promotion: Free Trade tariff, trading without commission forever)
• BCS Broker

After registration, you can open a brokerage account. It can store both money and securities. You will be able to manage it through trading terminals, access to which will be provided by the broker.

You can read more about bonds in the following articles:

• How to buy bonds - step-by-step instructions;
• Eurobonds - what are they?
• Corporate bonds;
• Investments in bonds;
• What is the duration of a bond;
• Bond offer;

Purchase without intermediaries

Issues of OFZ-n are carried out by the Ministry of Finance for individuals who are not familiar with exchange trading. Purchasing securities directly from an agent bank requires a smaller volume of transactions; you just need to open an account and conclude an agreement. On the other hand, purchasing OFZ-n from a bank reduces the profitability due to the commission to 1.5%.

To obtain the maximum benefit from a bond, you can use brokerage services; such companies operate both as separate structures and as subsidiaries of the same agent banks.

Opening a brokerage account is no more complicated than opening a bank account, and there are no large commissions for the purchase of securities. The inconvenience is the need to install a trading terminal on your computer and independently purchase bonds through it. The positive aspects include savings on the service, and the ability to purchase any number of bonds and resell them without financial losses.

Alternatives and plans

One of the most popular questions in September that was asked to the Ministry of Finance regarding “family” OFZ-n was the question of why it is impossible to purchase these securities on the so-called “individual investment accounts”, IIS. Those who asked this question already knew very well what an IIS is, how to open and maintain it, how much it costs, what tools are available with it and which are not available, how much specific benefit an individual loses from the inability to purchase OFZ-n on an IIS. Meanwhile, just in order to work with IIS, you need to know exactly all the words in your personal investment dictionary (what is a “bond” and how does it differ from “stocks”, “blue chips”, “metal deposit"), what taxes must be paid when selling precious metals, what liquidity is, how a brokerage account is structured, how to calculate the amount of agent interest and fees in the amount that you seem to receive.

For the majority of the population in Russia, including those who are in complete need of investment instruments, they need a completely different “internal vocabulary” associated with personal investments, savings, savings and investments. And it, of course, must be exclusively personal and completely understandable. Learning four to five dozen terms applicable to the stock market is not as difficult as it might seem for an adult who has learned to earn a living. But the point is not at all to discuss bonds with advanced friends and then make a ridiculous miscalculation in some operation, the meaning of which you have not had time to learn. OFZ-n is an idea from another part of the everyday world: it is rather about how to restore order to the system of planning expenses and income for the years ahead, which is now in the usual chaos.

For example, you realize that your small business now brings you income that allows you to save tens of thousands of rubles a year. You already know that you do not intend to spend it in the next five years. However, you understand that this money should remain your family reserves under almost any circumstances - and it should be protected from inflation, and it should generate some income. At the same time, due to these restrictions, they must be absolutely liquid - you do not have the right to lose them, you must have them even tomorrow, if you need them, nothing should happen to them. And you are not ready to pay the inflation tax, keeping money just under your pillow, you are no longer ready to check the dollar-ruble exchange rate every day, you are not ready to think how much a security system, a room safe, a safe deposit box in a bank costs. You need a solution that works for the average person.

Below, a person who has already decided for himself that such savings, or, if you prefer, investments, are necessary for him and his family, should apparently have a complex table of alternatives. Bank deposit? Here are the returns, here are the timing, here are the risks (they are well known). Gold? Here is the purchase price, here is a chart of the cost of gold, here are thoughts about taxes and the possible purchase price. Real estate? Here is the result of thinking about how quickly real estate can be converted into money back, here is a potential calculation of profitability. Investing in stocks? Investments in microfinance organizations, in loans on p2p platforms (if you already know what we are talking about, apparently we are wasting your time)? Investing in a joint small business with a neighbor or partner?

And if we take into account that in 2022 there is no longer a “completely simple” household in Russia, then we should take into account loans - existing and future, including, possibly, a mortgage, and the future price of existing real estate, and expenses for the education of children , and possible expenses for advanced training. But it makes no sense to count only expenses - there is professional growth, salary growth, the opportunity to expand your own business, and much more. No “exact table” of what you will earn or lose in the next decade can be compiled without you: you can only be more or less sure of what you already have, and everything you can count on depends on the risks, which you are ready to accept.

Nowadays in Russia it is customary to accept these risks headlong—or, conversely, to shy away from any investment idea. This is the real problem: a society in which they can calmly and routinely calculate returns is, in almost all cases, richer.

Which of all of the above is real and which is fantasy, what do you have the qualifications, time and nerves for, and what do you not? It is absolutely impossible for someone else to compile such a table for a person: this is life. Let’s just say that OFZ-n in this scheme looks very simple, certainly not the lowest profitable and, apparently, the most secure option.

But there is another part of the table that no one can compile for you and your family. How do you plan to spend your earnings over the next decade? What funds might you need in five, seven, ten years, and where will you get them, when will you need them, and how much will it cost you?

How to combine all these variables into something more or less understandable? What parts will be in this financial equation that you have never solved before and therefore had problems that you remember now? In this sense, OFZ-n is the idea of ​​the Ministry of Finance, which consists in the fact that one needs to learn this approach to managing one’s own wealth. Moreover, learning on “toy”, fake instruments in a completely artificial environment in this case simply does not make sense, just as it does not make sense to learn to build houses from foam bricks and silicate glue.