Investors seek advice on bond selection for safety
18 posts across 4 communities in the last 30 days; 33% from r/investing.
“TIPS solve that problem for yah. They even have solid yields these days.”
“Because most people cannot grasp how bonds work. Price up / yield down or price down yield up. Because yields have been rising that means the price of bonds and bond funds have been falling. People just look at a graph of a bond fund and see a slow and steady decline and think…”
“I’m trying to switch my portfolio from 100% stocks (VTSAX) to 80/20 bonds. Planning to retire in about 10-15 years. I am a little bit lost on which ones to buy. I read a bit about TIPS and i-bonds and they seem pretty good. I saw BND and VTIP are also recommended but I see that…”
Multiple users are questioning the best approach to bond investments, specifically regarding US 10-year yields and whether they represent a safe investment. They want clarification on why higher yields might not be beneficial for bond investors.
SOURCES (32)
“I’m trying to switch my portfolio from 100% stocks (VTSAX) to 80/20 bonds. Planning to retire in about 10-15 years. I am a little bit lost on which ones to buy. I read a bit about TIPS and i-bonds and they seem pretty good. I…”
“Hi, I’m currently 50/50 in equity index and short term treasury index. My banker says I should buy single name IG bonds with 4-6 year duration to lock in 6% yield and hold to maturity unless rates fall and I get a bump in price. He says etf’s are not good because it won’t hold to maturity as it keeps buying. I suppose there is some merit in this since you can’t lock in yields and if rates fall you start getting lower yields and vice versa. Now, the treasury give me 4% and I know I can sell anyti”
“When markets are doing well, bonds vastly underperform. Even so and even when we were decades from retirement, we still kept a percentage of the portfolio in cash-like holdings. That way, when prices sharply drop, we have a pot of money to buy. It was quite nice to have some cash available when (for example) the S&P 500 dropped in March 2025 and March 20206. We tend to keep cash-like holdings in SGOV and PAAA because the share prices are not volatile. We sold off our bond ETFs because the to”
“Buying a fund does not do that, look at look at FXNAX and FTBFX for instance, lots of volatility and negative returns. Does buying a individual bond and holding it to maturity ensure the rate? I am looking at this wrong? Is there a way to buy individual securities like that with Fidelity or Vanguard? I am looking to park a fairly substantial amount for ~6 months. Should I just get a CD instead? submitted by /u/thank_u_stranger [link] [comments]”
“What do you think about the risking from the market and investing in SGOV? I’m looking to take advantage of bond yields. Is there an symbol or ETF to take a peek at? submitted by /u/Mundane_Bath1600 [link] [comments]”
“I am 55 and I have $175,000 that i've had in a US treasury bond and i keep rolling it over. which scenario if either would you choose to maximize the $ five year target asset moderate 40/45/15 stocks/ bonds/short term or balanced 50/40/10 stocks/bonds/short term I have an emergency fund, 401(k) and a Roth IRA thanks submitted by /u/Icy-Butterscotch8913 [link] [comments]”
“I've seen some posts about people asking to which short term government bonds ETF to buy to decrease risk. I compared SGOV to my brokerage money market account current yields, they are about the same (money market account has 0.10% higher). Why buy short term government bond ETFs if the money market yields are similar? There's not much price fluctuation, if at all, in either case. Only thing different is making transactions into other brokerage investments, buy from/sell into the money m”
“With brokerage CDs you sell them, so could break even, gain, or lose depending on current rates”
“Do you need to track the individual bond values? I think the most important thing to track is the 20 year mark with EE bonds and the fixed rate assigned at purchase with I Bonds. You can eyeball the current interest rate for individual bonds pretty easily at Treasury Direct.”
“If bond yields go up, then bonds you bought when those yields were lower are now worth less, because people would rather buy bonds with a higher yield. So a fund that bought a bunch of long term bonds last year are losing value because rate are up. And because we expect that rates may keep going up, those older bonds are expected to keep losing value. This is called duration risk. Now, it could be this is a good time to buy. If you think rates are as high as they are going to go and may come dow”
Why buy 10 year bonds when the 2 year bonds are nearly the same yield?
“Why not just an intermediate term Treasury index? Liquid and not locked in - pays interest still.”
“Don’t buy bond funds with rising interest rates. You dont own the bonds so your short and long term losses are magnified significantly. If you own the bond you can hold until maturity and never have a loss. Not so with a bond fund! The reverse when interest treated start falling then bond funds give you leverage of the changing yield plus the interest. Virtual no risk and equity or above returns”
“I mostly only hear people discuss SGOV whenever they're investing in bond ETFs, but there are higher yield options out there with some different compositions while retaining the flexibility of being an ETF. Looking at TLT or APLU for my more short term cash float, I'm curious if there's something I'm not seeing or better options someone can suggest. submitted by /u/Lucifers-Reprieve [link] [comments]”
“Given the continuous news about the US bond market condition, what are your opinions on BLV for relatively safe cashflow? This is just extra money and as close to gambling as I get. I was thinking of BLV or a cover call etf. submitted by /u/ComfyMillionaire [link] [comments]”
“Because most people cannot grasp how bonds work. Price up / yield down or price down yield up. Because yields have been rising that means the price of bonds and bond funds have been falling. People just look at a graph of a bond fund and see a slow and steady decline and think "Wow what a bad investment" However today you can buy a bond fund like BND and it will give you fairly stable 5% interest. So pros A fairly stable interest payment of 5% for the next 7ish years if you buy in at t”
“I'm no financial expert, but my understanding is that the reason you buy bonds is because they have historically moved in reverse of equities. Not always, but most of the time. This gives you an ability to rebalance when equities are up or down. If you are all equities, you can't do that. It reduces risk. Personally, I was mostly equities until a few months before I retired at 63 I shifted to 20% BND, 5% Cash, and then when from all US equities for the rest to 60% US equities, 10% Intern”
IRA with 70% stocks, 20% bonds and 10% cash. Thinking about selling some of my bond funds. BND- down 3.7% since purchased, VCSH- up 9%, VTIP- down 1%. Which to sell? Given…
“Is anyone changing their asset allocation now that bond yields are attractive? For most of my life bond yields and cash were extremely low but now cash is yielding 4% and gov bonds are at 5% and climbing. I was taught to pick an asset allocation and stick with it, don’t make changes based on market conditions, but I never had access to decent bond yields before. Maybe the 60/40 is back in vogue? submitted by /u/PotatoInMyHat [link] [comments]”
“I don't really get the appeal of nominal bonds over TIPS right now. Nominal 30yr is ~5.4%, TIPS 3.17%. So the market is basically betting inflation stays under 2.23% for 30 years. That's when nominal wins. When does that actually happen though? Fed targets 2% as a floor not a ceiling. If inflation drops too low they start printing. So the scenario where nominal wins is the exact scenario the Fed won't let happen. And even if it does, cheap money means the economy is getting juiced so”
“Obviously I am highly regarded and I don't know what I am doing. At the same time I don't understand why I should not buy bonds now. This is my thesis: - 10y bonds are paying pretty well, let's say 5% - the stock market is kept up by AI hope - AI is a bubble and the evaluations are highly regarded - the bubble will pop, give it a year max - the shit show after the pop will be massive - the economy will suffer - interest rates will be cut to help the recovery - my bonds' price wil”
“Sorry I have just entered retirement and I am learning this thing about "bond ladder." My question is comparing, as an example, iShare 7-10 year treasury bond ETF (IEF), vs. iShare iBond Dec 2036 term Treasury ETF (IBTR), which may be part of a bond ladder. My understanding is that with IEF, the manager can trade as is allowed and the underlying price can fluctuate, whereas with IBTR, the manager has to wait for the bonds to mature and therefore, although not quaranteed, I will eventua”
“I have ~80 savings bonds (series EE) that my father purchased for me when I was a child between the years 2000-2006. I am 34 now. Would you cash in and reinvest, or keep holding? submitted by /u/isthison4920 [link] [comments]”
“I really don't know much about Treasuries...I've been using CDs for a fund that eventually I'd like to use for a downpayment, but all this talk about US Bonds in the news drew my attention to US Treasuries and I'm seeing that they're exempt from state tax. Any potential downsides I should know about? submitted by /u/ContributionWaste518 [link] [comments]”
“I am struggling to understand the concept of bonds in investing. I understand that observation dictates that it usually goes up when stocks go down. So the allocation for “safety” would make sense. However looking at some bond ETFs like VAGF, these are ~-10% over the last 5 years. I would be freaking out to have that in my long-term investment plan… So I basically have a few questions, if I may: - Are bond ETFs vs actual bonds really so different. Could this artifact that I mentioned above be du”
“I want to buy some bond fund etfs, but I don't like those that keep buying bonds no matter what interest rates they offer. Seriously why would these etfs buy almost 0 interest rate bonds a few years ago? I am looking for some etfs that put some threshold like 3% for example into their buying requirement, meaning if the market is offering bonds with the interest rate less than 3% then this etf will pass and not buy automatically. Does etfs like this exist? Update: please forgive my ignorance”
“It seems that historically the prevailing Boglehead advice has been domestic bonds is mostly what you need. Does that still hold true or are international bond funds now recommended? submitted by /u/skifreeme [link] [comments]”
“In my 30s definitely some years from retirement Plan for my holdings are 50-60% in VTI 30-40% IN VXUS 10% in GOVT I am happy with vti+vxus but is govt the right bond choice for me? Or should I be looking at something else? submitted by /u/joshua9663 [link] [comments]”
“I realize that the higher yield for US 10-years is a bad thing for the government, but why isn't this good news for a bond investor? If I looking for a safe "asset protection" kind of investment, why wouldn't investors buy these bonds or ETFs that hold them (e.g. FXNAX)? Seems like a good, safe place to put cash versus Gold or a HYSA. I believe my logic is wrong but not sure why. Educate me, please. submitted by /u/StinklePink [link] [comments]”