Financial Liquidation for Bail: What You Should Keep, What You Can Throw Away

Having wealth can be convenient, especially when a family member is arrested and held in a jail cell. The wealth that you have intentionally set aside for your heirs or for your own retirement can rescue the family member in jail. You may have to liquidate a few assets to get a bail bond, and that is where you need to examine which assets you can liquidate and which ones to keep. In relation to bail bonds, there are definitely some assets you should leave alone just in case your family member decides to flee the country. There are a few others you can liquidate without feeling tense or guilty about doing so.

Junk Bonds

If you invested in junk bonds and you can now liquidate them, do so. There may be a moment where they may yield slightly more than what you are getting for them now, but considering the highly speculative nature and their potential failure, you are better off letting them go and getting what you can for them. They are bail bond cash in your pocket that you do not have to feel bad about, and you already may feel more anxious about losing money to your junk bond investment than you do about liquidating them for bail.

Certificates of Deposit

No matter how much money you invest in a certificate of deposit (CD), when it reaches maturation it cannot possibly garner any more money to cover inflation. Federal savings bonds used to be the same way. You could safely invest in these products, but ultimately, five, ten, or twenty years down the road when you cash them in, they were not worth much. If you have a CD or two that is about to mature, consider cashing that out for bail money. The interest will not be much, but at least you will get back your original investment of thousands of dollars. 

High-Yield, Medium- to-Low-Risk Investments in Your Portfolio

You should leave these investment products well enough alone. They will be your "bread and butter" when retirement finally arrives. If all of the other investments that you cashed out do not cover the bail bond amount needed for the bail bond agent's fee, consider dipping into college funds or into your 401k. As a last resort, you may also consider credit cards, but the interest is often a little steep for drawing money for bail. 

For information on how to come up with bail, talk to a bail bonds company like Alda Pauline's Bail Bonds.

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