[lemma]

You don't need to be accredited. The debt of a company is higher in the capital structure than its equity (creditors come before shareholders in bankruptcy), so it's a more conservative investment. That's not to say that any bond is safer than any stock, and there are plenty of bonds that are very risky (companies have credit ratings just like individuals and countries). Keep in mind also that bonds tend to have a minimum purchase size (usually $10k face value) and minimum increments thereafter ($1k usually).