BND

spack12

Price charts don’t show distributions paid. BND pays distributions monthly (I would think).

Notorious_Fluffy_G

What am I missing on BND? Upon inception of the fund back in 2007, it was at ~$74/share. As of Friday, the fund was at ~$74/share.

ifinance674

There are bond index funds just like there are stock index funds. Vanguard has their total bond index fund (BND), as you mentioned. The price of bonds and in particular bond funds are influenced by different factors. The predominant factor is interest rates. Typically during an economic recession interest rates decline and the prices of bonds increase. You can see in the case of BND that it has had largely positive performance except it's 5 year returns which are a small negative. So bonds aren't fool proof. That said, they offer much more price stability and tend to offer a good balancing factor during an economic recession.

throwaway4whattt

Jesus ya'll are vicious. OP started off by pointing out that they're still learning didn't they? OK so OP I'm 45 and since you didn't mention your age I'm going to assume you're in the same age range (if you're younger you should be more aggressive).  Firstly everyone (even the people who are being dicks) are correct about the fact that nobody can time a recession. So, my first suggestion is, invest regularly. Whether it's a few hundred or few thousand, invest regularly and diversify this regular investment depending on your age. Put the majority in ETFs (S&P, Nasdaq, Russell, Total Market, All World, Momentum, Mag7, etc. Etc.... Plenty of ETFs to choose from and to diversify into). Put some percentage in bonds (BND is a good choice). Put some percentage in Gold (GLD is a good choice). Put a very small percentage in Bitcoin. At 45 I current an going 70% ETFs, 15% BND, 10% GLD, 5% BTC. The regular investing even through crashes will help protect your overall portfolio.  Regarding your current assets, IF you feel strongly that a crash is coming, then the 70-30 ratio you mentioned is fine in terms of being defensive. You could consider adding GLD and BTC in some small percentages. One more very important thing. Nobody can time the market but just as importantly, nobody can confidently state which assets will act as protection in a recession or a straight up depression. The rot which causes recessions usually has its own flavors. Depending on the size of the bubble when it pops, you could very well see all asset classes suffer and suffer greatly. Any 'defensive' portfolio is just a guess at defense at the end of the day. Know that whatever you do, there is always risk. No asset class is risk free, especially when the markets are burning down. 

BlueSkyRighteous

SGOV is unlike BND. SGOV is like putting money into a Savings account and not have to worry about it. The dividend from SGOV ETF only gets Federal tax. The Treasury bond ETF that is somewhat volatile but usually goes up with interest rate drop is TLT. Could get substantial gain or loss and it is not nearly as safe as SGOV.

Guilty-Report-3971

Yes but who are the idiots buying this, is it packaged up for the BND bogleheads

ConcentrateOk523

I wish I owned it. Wish I owned Nvidia. I am tired of my diversified portfolio with BND, BNDX and VXUS. VXUS has had like 6 months of outperformance this year but VTI comes back strong since April. I could have so much more if I just pulled the trigger and went with this tech AI revolution.

Inner-Chemistry2576

67 % Stock 19% Bonds 14% Short Term. We are retired 61 y/o no debt pension. My IRA VWENX wife’s VTI,BND& VXUS. ROTHS VTI & VXUS. Simple stupid like a monkey throwing darts.

Various_Couple_764

Moving assets to income producing securities should be done before you get to retirement to secure reduce your risk. BND is a good choice but there are many good choices. Funds like JAAA 6% yield, JBBB 7.8%, CLOZ 8%, UTF 7%, and UTG% 6.3%. All have higher yield than BND and other government bond funds and historically are very safe investments. less safe but still not terribly risky are PFFA 8% yield, PBDC 9%. But you also need to factor in your expected income needs. you need to have a good estimate of your income needs in retirement and then gradually work on configuring your portfolio to generate more than that income. IF your account generates more than you need and you reinvest the excess income you will never run out of money.

StinklePink

I have the same question although someone nuanced. I'm 5-7 years away from retirement. I'm a little concerned that although I'm fully Bogled' currently and have been for a long time, if the market does completely "shit the bed" in the next few years, I won't have enough runway to recover. Been slowly moving some of my $ into BND and some other short-term Govt Treasury investments, but still unsure.

FirefighterOk8898

I do boring VTI, VXUS, and BND, recent events have made me raise VXUS about 10%.

Complex-Note-5274

SGOV and small amount quality corporate bonds are my emergency fund. BND has not been too bad either. Get an interest free cc just in case. Once youre laid off credits are harder to come by

ConcentrateOk523

I lost out the last nine years owning 20 percent of portfolio in BND and BNDX and small cap value has unperformed for so long I wish I never invested in it.

ConcentrateOk523

Too complex. Just own VTI and VXUS or VT. Stay out of bonds. Biggest mistake I made was owning BND and BNDX last nine years as Vanguard advised me.

ConcentrateOk523

I do own small cap value and international funds. I am planning on selling BND and BNDX and just keeping a couple years expenses in a money market.

Recent_Register_2952

I need a 10 bagger. Is TLT a good choice? What about BND?

ConcentrateOk523

All of these people diversifying and the US stock market just goes higher. I got a portfolio review from Vanguard in 2016 at age 49. The advisor told me to go with 35 percent bonds BND and BNDX and 26 percent VXUS. I did 20 percennt bonds and 20 percent VXUS. Yet VTI went higher and higher and these other funds have been dogs. If I just went 100 percent VTI or VTI and chill I would have been much better off.

ConcentrateOk523

You have that correct. I only reason I have 3 million is because of VTI. VXUS, BND, BNDX, VBR have been failed investments for me. Diversification did not work for me.

ConcentrateOk523

Nothing wrong with that. VXUS has been a real dog in my portfolio along with BND and BNDX. VTI is the reason I went from 1.1 million to 3 million in 9 years. International stocks have really only done okay from 2000-2008.

ConcentrateOk523

The pain trade is always higher. Today will be another day of stocks going up. Owning 20 percent bonds has cost me over a million dollars this last decade. I am at the point of selling BND, BNDX, VTIP and going 100 percent stocks. Tom Lee and others on CNBC know what they are talking about.

ConcentrateOk523

BND has returned less than 2 percent annually the last decade. Very poor returns versus owning just VTI.

pnw-techie

Why are you trashing bonds if your problem is TIPS? That's like 1% of the bond market. It's only for unexpected inflation. You don't want unexpected inflation, so you don't want TIPS to do well. I have never owned TIPS. I have owned bonds for decades. I've made lots of money from bonds. Just by buying BND. That's the normal standard bogleheads pick.

Late-Tadpole-2318

Evidently middle aged guys find Oasis live concerts very affirming. Can someone confirm this while I watch BND hit 75 again (don’t do that, BND)

DaemonTargaryen2024

VTI + VXUS. + BND depending your age and risk tolerance. Or any comparable fidelity/schwab funds

Delicious_Soup_Salad

Sure. 40/40/20 VTI / VXUS / BND I'd move into a shit efficiency apartment within walking distance of a grocery and library, sell my car, and live on 16250 a year. It is enough for market place insurance, rent, rice and beans. SS kicks in and I'm loving large. Until the I read and write at the library and go on camping trips with the boys.

Late-Tadpole-2318

Nah, I’m out, buying back in when I see BND below 75

Late-Tadpole-2318

Flight to safety, generally. I don’t know if it’s related to volume or not, but BND has been -too- good of a leading indicator in my port. I won’t gamble on it but I do watch it and it’s been weird.

ConcentrateOk523

Could not hurt to buy it. Better than owning bonds or BND for last 9 years.

LuckyLuckierLuckest

Cash. I have been moving off risk for the last six months. A little less in each of my funds (except for GLD) and a little bit more in BND, BNDX, and Cash.

Late-Tadpole-2318

BND staying too high, something’s brewing

SassyPapayas

As an alternative to some comments I’m seeing on here suggesting investing in ETFs only I’d suggest opening a couple different brokerage accounts to scratch the itch of stock picking. I opened a Robinhood account with <10% of my savings and I call it my gambling account, because I got to be honest with myself about what it is. The rest of my savings I keep with Schwab and follow the advice of the rest of the comments you see here(ETFs, BND). I would strongly advise looking at subreddits like r/bogleheads for advice on your serious portfolio. Just set a rule with yourself that you won’t continuously fund your gambling account. Seed it and let it ride. People like to trash Robinhood but I’ve had accounts with them, Schwab and TD Ameritrade when they existed and I still find myself using Robinhood with pull stock data. Use whatever you like the interface of.

skilliard7

You want to diversify a bit into things like international(VXUS), REITs(ie VNQ), bonds (ie BND), etc

Impressive-Bee-5183

Hey, good for you for wanting to get more serious about this. 28 is a great age to start building real wealth. Here's my honest take: First - Stop picking individual stocks for a while I know that's not what you want to hear, but real talk: most people (including pros) can't consistently beat the market. That "researching and going off what others say" approach is gambling, not investing. You've been lucky - but luck runs out. Start with index funds instead This is the boring answer everyone gives because it actually works: Put most of your money in broad market index funds (VTI, VOO, SPY - these track the whole S&P 500) Add some international exposure (VXUS) Maybe a small bond allocation if you want stability (BND) That's literally it Over the last 30 years, the S&P 500 averages like 10% annually. Most active traders don't beat that. Just buy the whole market and let compound interest do the work. The 90/10 rule If you REALLY want to scratch that stock-picking itch (I get it), do this: 90% boring index funds 10% individual stocks you research That way you can still have fun trading without blowing up your retirement. When that 10% goes to zero because you YOLO'd into some Reddit stock, you still have 90% growing steadily. Robinhood is fine, but consider upgrading Robinhood works, but better options: Fidelity - better research tools, actual customer service, no payment for order flow shenanigans Schwab - similar to Fidelity, great interface Vanguard - if you're serious about index investing, this is the OG All three have zero commission trades now. The main advantage is better tools and you're not the product being sold to hedge funds. Tax-advantaged accounts matter WAY more than stock picking This is huge and nobody talks about it enough: Max out your 401k match first - that's literally free money Open a Roth IRA ($7,000/year limit for 2025) - tax-free growth forever Then max traditional 401k if you can ($23,500/year for 2025) Then mess around with taxable brokerage accounts The tax savings will make you way more money than trying to pick the next Tesla. Actually learning this stuff Instead of watching FinTok gurus, check out: "A Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins - best beginner book, period "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham - if you want to understand actual value investing Bogleheads forum - Reddit but for serious boring investors who actually make money r/Bogleheads here on Reddit Skip the day trading courses and options "masterclasses." They're selling you the dream while they make money off course fees. The honest truth about "knowing what you're doing" Most professional fund managers don't beat the market consistently. Even Warren Buffett recommends index funds for normal people. The secret isn't finding the next GameStop - it's: Starting early (you're doing this ✓) Investing consistently (automate monthly deposits) Keeping fees low (index funds charge like 0.03% vs 1%+ for active funds) Not panic selling when the market drops Time in the market > timing the market What I'd do if I were you today Open a Roth IRA at Fidelity or Schwab Set up automatic monthly contributions ($583/month = $7k/year max) Buy VTI or VOO with every contribution Literally do nothing else Check it once a quarter max In 30 years that'll be worth way more than trying to day trade meme stocks. But you still want to pick stocks... Alright, if you insist, at least do this: Only invest money you can afford to lose Actually read the 10-K and 10-Q filings (financial reports on SEC.gov) Understand what the company actually does and how it makes money Look at P/E ratio, revenue growth, debt levels Ask yourself "would I hold this for 10 years?" If you can't explain the business to someone in 2 minutes or wouldn't hold it for a decade, you're gambling not investing. The fact that you're asking these questions at 28 puts you ahead of like 80% of people. Just don't overcomplicate it - boring index funds will make you way richer than trying to be the next DFV.

Plove848484

Sports cards and BND and BUZZ

helpwithsong2024

I can prove my investments if you want, but it's simple: Buy low cost ETFs, continue to buy them through thick and thin, and never sell. Tickers VOO, VXUS, and BND in a 70/20/10 ratio.

Complex-Note-5274

BND

Late-Tadpole-2318

I’ll believe in the V when the BND in my port is less green

FeelTheH8

If you want "medium" risk put half into VT and half into BND. The BND will help smooth out volatility in the VT. This may be slightly less than 10% avg return but not too far under.

ikeepeatingandeating

I'm "lucky" that my retirement is coming up, so my planned increase in fixed income coincides with a lot of current fear of a market crash. My plan was always to go from 20% to 30% fixed, 2 years of expenses in cash and 5 years in bonds. My "flight to safety" was to pivot half of my bonds into TIPS, and half into intermediate duration bonds (vs. longer duration, say BND or similar). I'm a dumb, but I'm making a tiny bet that TIPS could compensate for inflation and/or dollar devaluation, while still being in line with my overall investment strategy. I'd love to have holes poked in this plan.

ConcentrateOk523

I just retired and am staying at 77 percent stocks. I gave up too much money owning 20 percent in BND and BNDX last 9 years and rebalancing cost me more money.

Shah_an_shah

Why should I not convert all my BND to GLD?

Shah_an_shah

Why should I not convert all my BND to GLD?

sashagaborekte

Just go VT for equities and BND for bonds

bobdevnul

Bond funds have interest rate risk. If you buy $10000 of a bond **fund** with a five-year average maturity and prevailing interest rates for 5 year bonds increases by 1% the share price of the bond fund will decrease by 5% (approximately). The bond fund dividends will increase, but slowly. It will take a long time to recoup a 5% share price loss. This may not be what a retiree wants. I lost 16% on the intermediate term bond fund BND when the Fed started jacking interest rates in 2022. The current expectations is for prevailing interest rates to decrease over the next year which would result in bond fund share prices to increase. Nobody knows when interest rate increases will happen again. That is something that the Fed evaluates about monthly. The interest rate on 5 year bonds is primarily based on inflation rate projections (guesses).

GAV17

It's impossible to say what to do without knowing the full picture, like knowing what's on your IRA (and if it's a Roth or Traditional). If you are retiring, the textbook porfolio would be 50/50 bonds/stocks, with Stocks using something like $VT and for bonds $BND with a year or 2 of expenses in T-Bills. That's a portfolio that should last atleast 30 years withdrawing 4% every year.

theTrueLodge

I would look an ETF of some kind. Someone here recommended a world market one to hedge against volatility in the U.S. or any country. You’ll need to do your homework. Something like this might give you minimal risk - • 50% bonds (core intermediate-term, e.g. BND or AGG) • 10% short-term bonds or CDs (for near-term income stability) • 20% dividend/value stocks (e.g. SCHD or VYM) • 10% total-market or global equities (e.g. VTI or VT) • 5% inflation-protected bonds (TIPS) (e.g. SCHP or VTIP) • 5% cash or money-market fund (for immediate liquidity)

MrMoogie

I think Value stocks, international stocks and a diversified basket of bonds like BND or BINC will work as well as anything. You could also hold quality/dividend appreciating names like QUAL, VIG and JQUA. I’m moving towards this allocation. If we dip much further I’ll start buying more of all these things. Gold, tech, BTC, S&P500 all feel like they are all in a bubble.

neonam11

If they put a majority of their assets in individual stocks, panic sell and don’t have enough emergency funds, yes they will probably lose money. If they are patient and consistently invest in diversified funds like VOO, VXUS, and BND for decades, and have an emergency fund, and continue to have a job, then they will be fine.

Rom2814

Exactly - I built a TIPS ladder that will cover essential expenses between ages 57 and 67 (earliest I’d plan to take social security). That’s about half my bond allocation, the rest in BND and VGIT. From everything I’ve been reading, inflation can devour savings in retirement far more than a market downturn since it “forces” high withdrawal to maintain buying power - TIPS should take off some of the pressure in the case markets are not giving good returns and inflation is high.

Aggressive_Finish798

HYSA or some bond like fund like BND SGOV, even SPAXX as a core position isn't bad. Having it in a regular bank account is losing money. At least 3 percent a year, which will add up. If left alone in 10 years that money will have lost 30% of its value. Just not getting your money out of an HYSA can take like 5 to 7 days. So I also keep a smaller amount in my checking account to cover monthly bills.

BothDescription766

Me too! Just a gut feeling. Now must time entry back in. The only one of my holdings that did well on Friday was BND

BothDescription766

Yes yes, I’m no market timer but sold $500k google Thurs at 3pm. Something just didn’t feel right. Sold another 1mm early next morning (Fri). Got out losing only 30k out of 3mm. BND actually went up Friday and I moved 1.5mm into it Thurs late.

Complex-Note-5274

I want to be meme-ing but lots of folks felt pain yesterday. It’s gonna be fine. Next time hedge, if not options, have some BND/SGOV as dry powder. The casino is rigged, gotta have insurance yall

Rom2814

Well it’s a little more painful when you’re about to retire (next year for me), but over the last 2 years I’ve been switching from 100% equities to a 60/40 portfolio and am at around 70/30 now (glide path). It’s been interesting to go through a few downturns and watch how it impacts my portfolio compared to when I was 100% US stocks. I’d have been down about $68k yesterday with my old allocation but but it’s closer to $48k with my current one; not only were my bond funds not down they were all up a fair chunk (I think BND was up 0.4%). Of course I won’t gain as much from the rebound - it’s been hard to use portfolio analyzer and see how much higher the gains for my old portfolio have been compared to my current one but, as you say, my risk tolerance has changed since I’m going to start spending this money soon.

alone-in-the-chat

My friend chatgtp told me to put money in BND , will pay a premium account now

headcrabzombie

for safer long term: 40% VTI, 40% VXUS, and 20% BND (these are all ETFs) https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios

Alienware15rr3

AGG/BND is like the sp500 of bonds.. it tracks the whole bond market. Jack Bogle says to own the market, all of it.. and if you must own international, cap it at 20%... my allocation is bogle approved. Watch this jack bogle interview on asset allocation: https://youtu.be/TrFM7G4KhjU?si=NHWYez4nV6MAOjsw

neonam11

Yea, I used to invest in QQQM, VOO, and SCHD monthly. I am going to take a break from QQQM for a while and use that money for BND and VXUS.

SirGlass

I do not know why people think you need to be 100% invested into stocks or 100% cash There is a lot of in between , 100% invested in stocks and 100% cash Set up an allocation you are comfortable with , you could do a classic 60% stock / 40% bonds. Classic 60% VT / 40% BND Or maybe even a 50/50 allocation depending on your risk tolerance.

wiseflow

First, I must say there's no single perfect formula to this and your preference will differ. Here's my take... First split up the amount into time horizon buckets. What percent do you need for the next 1-3 years for safety and protection from a downfall - I'll call this bucket 'A'. What percent do you need for the next 3-10 years (property maintenance, auto, taxes, education goals, your own business goals, etc...) - I'll call this bucket 'B'. Then what percent do you need for everything further 10 years to retirement - I'll call this bucket 'C'. Breaking thing up into time horizon makes it so you can put the longer time horizons into more risky places and forget about it - because you have enough already in the shorter time horizon buckets. Now, I'm going to make super rough percentage estimates for the sake of sharing the idea... For more nuance, check out a book called "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing". * Bucket A: Put into the safest asset classes, Cash (HYSA), Money Market fund (T-Bill/Gov Bond backed), Bond ETF (e.g. BND). * Bucket B: 50% Stock, 50% Bond * Bucket C: 90% Stock, 10% Bond If you're feeling like the world's gonna end then add in some Real Estate and Gold into the mix for Buckets B & C.

nick2253

As someone who helped manage a corporate 401k plan, there are a lot more options than you'd think, but the plan managers tend to "recommend" that your employer only elect funds that have high fees. If you can figure out who your plan custodian is (aka, the person in your company that manages the plan), you can probably start talking to them about stocks and funds, and encourage them to elect more options. Prior to getting involved, our plan only had target date funds and a couple high-fee options. But I was able to elect super-low fee index funds like VOO, VXUS, BND, etc.

RandolphE6

FYI, buying more funds doesn't necessarily make your portfolio more diversified. You can be fully diversified with 2 funds, VT and BNDW. That gives you the entire equity and bond market. Though the common advice is for BND for the US bond market. And splitting out VT to VTI + VXUS to add a level of customization over the allocation of US vs INTL. This is the basis of the "3 fund portfolio" for which everything is measured by.

xiongchiamiov

Lifecycle funds are target date funds that don't change their allocation over time: they just stay 80% stocks 20% bonds, or whatever the number is, forever. BND is a popular vanguard fund that tries to emulate the entire US bond market. Continuing with vanguard TDFs in your other accounts would be a very reasonable option, and simple. Although, they aren't really designed for taxable accounts and can occasionally produce unexpected tax bills there. The complicated option is https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Tax-efficient_fund_placement , but personally even as someone who likes complicated things that's too much, and I just shove everything in the taxable account into the equivalent of VTI and VXUS. (There's a minor tax benefit to splitting them up, but you could just do VT instead.) That is assuming you're contributing enough to [max out all tax-advantaged accounts](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Prioritizing_investments). If not, just do the TDFs you've got and don't worry about it. Sorry, I'm not sure if that answers your question. Does it?

ChristofferMakela

Yeah, I have a pretty modest portfolio, 35k or so, mostly in things like SPY, VOO, BND, GLD, etc. I'm mostly just here for the meme. Some days I get really lucky and end like $400 in the green, and I think to myself "hey, that's more than I make in a day, what's the point of even going to work", and then the next 4 days I lose $100 a day and remember why I clock in every day.

ikeepeatingandeating

Some mix of US equity (VOO is fine), international (VXUS) and depending on age bonds (BND)

sparkly__trees

My main goal is to grow my retirement (I’m in my mid 30s) and just feel behind in general. My retirement account through my job has a variety of target date funds amongst other things that the company chosen for our retirement account manages. One’s a 403b and a Roth IRA. All of that is managed by one company. So I made the Vanguard account so that I could put away other investments besides what the employment retirement plans gives. What are lifecycle funds? Also is BND a general bond? Sorry somewhat new to all this.

HolaMolaBola

There's a formula you can use to get closer to the answer you're looking for: *durationInYears* x *expectedChangeInYield* = *expectedPercentChangeInPrice* BND has a duration of 5.79 years and yields at about that maturity are around 4.25% right now. So we can take a stab at it and guess yields might fall as much as, say, 2.25% from where they are now in a big stock market event. Therefore, 5.79 x 2.25% = 13.03% BND's portfolio has a roughly 50% stake in Treasurys and those will most likely enjoy the full price appreciation. BNDs 25% stake in agency MBS and 25% in corporate debt will probably be less responsive, but still close.

StatisticalMan

Not well which is why I hold treasuries not BND. I have added a few select high grade corporate bonds.

Apart-Selection5680

BND had a 5% return over 3 years, that’s lower than HYSA. I see a lot of folks here suggest bonds but with that type of return you are losing value with real inflation. Market is all about risk, no point being conservative on a 5-9 year horizon, fearing a crash. If that happens, so be it.

GAV17

It's actually hard to make a recomendation without knowing you, but I would say look at what vanguard does with their 2025 target date fund (for people hitting retirement now). https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vttvx 50/50 stocks/bonds. It's also what the 4% withdrawal rate mantra comes from, a 50/50 portfolio with a time horizon of 25/30 years. My general recommendation for retirement would be something like 50% VT and 50% BND or the equivalent mutual funds. With 1 years or 2 in a HYSA, T-Bills, etc. Not a bad idea to always get a 2nd opinion if you are unsure about your advisor. I personally would no bet on individual stocks, if you are looking for healthy dividends or something like that look at SCHD.

xiongchiamiov

> Hi all, I’ve upped my employment retirement contributions, but I also have a separate Roth IRA through vanguard. Currently I’ve just been investing in VTI and VT, but essentially they’re somewhat the same. They are not the same; VT adds every other country in the world. > I need to diversify my investments in this account and was looking for suggestions on how to do that? Add bonds or other ETFs? First, you should be diversifying across portfolios, not accounts: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Asset_allocation_in_multiple_accounts Second, it would be helpful if you had a goal for your diversification. Why do you feel the need to diversify, specifically? Thirdly, in general bonds are a common next asset class, and BND is a common way to do that. You could also get a target date fund or lifecycle fund instead of DIYing this. If you answer the previous question, we could give more targeted advice.

WayTooManyCookies

I'm sure you are working with a retirement specialist already but in case you arent, a retirement profolio should moves toward BND/TBILL, where the yield is less but it hedges against the market downturn.

ConcentrateOk523

I am 58 and am 77 percent in stocks such as VTI and VXUS. Staying right where I am because bond funds such as BND and BNDX do not excite me. 22 percent of my portfolio is in these bond funds. I do not want to miss out on more stock gains.

BiblicalElder

Look into taxable, traditional IRA, and Roth IRA accounts Target date funds can be great in the tax-advantaged retirement accounts But for taxable accounts, a simple 3 fund portfolio of VTI (US large/mid/small cap). VXUS (international stock), and BND could work. It would only take a few minutes to determine your asset allocation, and you can rebalance once per year. r/Bogleheads has some good information on this.

ConcentrateOk523

Decide on asset allocation and go with VTI or total stock market, VXUS or total international stock and BND or total bond market.

ConcentrateOk523

Yes I see what you are saying. I lost like $6,500 on JDS Uniphase back in early 2000s and was invested in many tech stocks at the time which declined. Now I just own VTI, VXUS, VBR, BND, BNDX and VTIP. My portfolio has gone from 1.1 million to almost 3 million in 9 years. Maybe just stick with index funds. I know I could have done better with the Mag 7 but based on past experience I just went with index funds.

SouledOut11

You can add a little bit of BND as well. Overall, that'll be a solid, sensible, three fun portfolio.

adminsarecommienazis

the traditional answer is BND, but i'm starting to look into [https://www.ishares.com/us/strategies/bond-etfs/build-better-bond-ladders](https://www.ishares.com/us/strategies/bond-etfs/build-better-bond-ladders)

weasler7

I don't like total bond market funds either. Look at how BND behaved during liberation day - do you really think bonds offer a lot of protection like in the past?

neonam11

Totally agree. I’ve been shaving off some of my profits and putting them in VOO, VXUS, and BND. Recent WSJ article says a lot of companies are spending so much money on building AI infrastructure, that altogether they have to sell 2 trillion dollars worth of stuff/services or in cost savings with less jobs to make it work by 2030. I think we will get there in the long run, but I think the market will freak out and start selling at the first news that excessive profits aren’t being made.

Zealousideal-Egg1893

We’re de-risking by putting two years of expenses in cash. I’m getting out of BND.

Objective-Feed7250

You can pair it with VXUS for international or BND for bonds depending on how much stability you want. 

ConcentrateOk523

VTI. Should have stayed 100 percent VTI 9 years ago and not diversified into BND, BNDX and VXUS. This diversification cost me a million dollars. The VTI and chill crowd has been correct.

xiongchiamiov

A couple ideas to consider: You can extend to the entire US market by substituting in a fund like VTI. You can extend to other countries via a fund like VXUS (or VT to include the US as well). You can invest in bonds via a fund like BND (or use a target date fund to essentially pair VT and BND). Those are all very normal, well-respected options. Some others that generate more debate: You can invest in other asset classes that may lead to lower overall returns but decrease expected volatility: https://portfoliocharts.com/2016/04/18/the-theory-behind-the-golden-butterfly/ You can pick a defensive sector and use an index fund that selects companies in that sector. You can buy BRK/B, which tends to move fairly opposite from tech performance as a result of the types of companies they own and how they approach using cash.

Sea_Pomegranate_4499

I do believe the 3-fund approach is probably the "best" way to invest, meaning best returns for the risk, stress and effort. BND is debatable these days but you can find plenty of posts debating that point. If you are interested in playing around I think 5-10% is fine, you'll learn things and can really help with FOMO that comes from reading all these reddit posts heavily filtered by success selection bias. All that said, I'd discuss this with your partner. There is plenty of rational support for a three-fund model, but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed. You could invest and see the market immediately go down - not because I have any insider knowledge, but because markets do that. Talk about that exact scenario. It doesn't mean investing is a bad idea, it's understanding and accepting risk. All this to say that I don't want you getting blamed for unfortunate timing (and them being forever traumatized about investing).

spicystreetmeat

46. 1/3 in CDs. 5% BND and not ready for more bonds. Investing for the long term. You’re all over the map buddy. What has your plan been up until now? Are you approaching retirement? Do you have enough assets? You don’t seem to have a good enough idea of what you need and are too focused on chasing gains and timing the market. It’s a recipe for failure

ArthurDent4200

So what are your instincts telling you to do? Go global? Buy more BND? What are the CDs paying? Art

ArthurDent4200

I would buy the VOO and at the same time would dump the BND and buy more VOO. Look at the 5 and 10 year return on BND. [https://portfolioslab.com/tools/stock-comparison/BND/VOO](https://portfolioslab.com/tools/stock-comparison/BND/VOO) Art

Just_Candle_315

Last week I sold my BND and bought GLD and SLV might be the best move I've made in a while

DietAny5009

You’ve somewhat nailed it. There is a large disparity between the two of us in terms of risk tolerance. She wants the only market exposure to be 401k and I find that to be crazy. I’m closer to a boglehead in terms of risk tolerance but I do like gambling a bit with 5-10%. I think it makes me safer with the rest. Would you recommend the 3 fund? VTI, VXUS, BND? I was thinking that the October infusion would be a good chance to expand to that. I could couple that with the cap idea the other person had and transition slowly to funding the 3 while maintaining my fun bets and her extra emergency fund.

ConcentrateOk523

I am ready to sell my bond funds. Stocks go higher no matter what happens. Rampant inflation and fed lowers rates anyway. Even putting money in gold is better than BND.

ConcentrateOk523

It just seems like there is so much money in the system due to the Fed and our government and it just keeps going into risk assets, gold, tech stocks, bitcoin. Bonds have been a big loser with these low interest rates. I really do not understand why the Fed is lowering interest rates. More money will just keep going into these risk assets. 9 years ago I put 20 percent of my portfolio into BND and BNDX as per Vanguard's advice. Also, I put money in VXUS. If I just stayed with 100 percent VTI I would have a million dollars more. Everyday it is the same story, US stocks just go higher. I feel like an idiot for diversifying.

BackstrokingInDebt

Just looked at BND on vanguard. - cumulative since inception = 74%. This looks like only price returns (no div returns) - summary where it’s broken down annually. That has NAV return (price returns), income return (div return) and total return (adding both together). - this one is good for total and you do a simple sum of total returns. Or a cumulative return (1+tr)*(1+tr),etc…

D1toD2

Thats a fair point. But I still think risk and DD on 3 or 4 stocks outweighs a 10-15 stock portfolio unless this is your full time job. Option b is simply VT / BND and chill

ConcentrateOk523

Just think what you would have being 100 percent VTI. Big mistake in that I listened to Vanguard and added BND, BNDX and VXUS to my portfolio 9 years ago.

ConcentrateOk523

Just keep buying VOO or VTI. Never buy BND like I did 9 years ago.

throwawayawayayayay

Short term cash can be any or all of paper money in hand, checking account, high yield savings account, or money market. Longer term cash needs like a down payment can be in any of those or if you're open to a little risk, something like BND, which has a bit of interest rate risk but not too much. Don't put your house down payment in any part of the stock market unless you're okay foregoing buying the house if the market drops. But if the timing is unclear, you'll lose ground by not investing it today, so you may want to invest at least a part of it in hopes of keeping up with house price inflation.

0x4C554C

nice, I've got 15% of my port parked in BND to use as dry powder.

ConcentrateOk523

You are absolutely correct! The biggest mistake and regret of my life was listening to a Vanguard advisor who told me to diversify into BND and VXUS. I only did 20 percent BND and invested in VXUS. However if I stayed 100 percent VTI I would have a million dollars more. Diversification no longer works in this environment.

alone-in-the-chat

Why BND going down?