BND

xiongchiamiov

Read the stuff you've already been linked; it's good. A few additional things that may be interesting. The most common options are a total bond fund like BND, or some holding of treasuries. Some of this depends on whether you're looking for stability from your bonds or negative correlation during a stock downturn. When you look into sequence of returns risk (which is the thing you're addressing), the "bond tent" concept will come up: https://www.kitces.com/blog/managing-portfolio-size-effect-with-bond-tent-in-retirement-red-zone/

RandolphE6

There's a lot of bad information on Reddit. Growth does not mean stocks "grow" more and have higher returns. In fact, historically growth lags value in performance. Also, dividends are not free money. It's simply taken out of the value of the stock when the dividend is paid to shareholders. This is useful when you get older and rely on investment income so you don't have to sell stocks yourself and help avoid making emotional decisions. Stick to broad market index funds like VTI and VXUS. The less risk tolerance you have, the larger your BND position should be. Bonds are useful at any age to reduce volatility and likelihood of acting emotionally which is the biggest risk to returns. A target date fund for your age would include about 10% bond allocation which would be considered aggressive.

Solintari

I would consider bonds and commodities a facet of diversification too. I mostly follow the three fund approach at 80/20 in bonds (VTI, VXUS, BND). When I it 50 I will shift to a 60/40 probably and stay there, and start adding muni bonds for better income in retirement.

TopherBrennan

BNDX now flat while BND still down, going international wins again.

helpwithsong2024

I'm 38 so I only have ~5% BND and BNDX, but I'll likely add more around 50.

ChokaMoka1

Don’t forget BND

peatoast

Is BND a good buy right now?

helpwithsong2024

1. Juat get rid of any stock under 3% of your portfolio. It's just noise. Keep FXAIX. 2. 59 isn't young anymore in the investing world. You really need to tailor your asset allocation. It's likely you'll need a hefty chunk in fixed income, probably like 30-35%. 3. I'd probably take the cash and do 30% BND, 50% FXAIX and 20% VXUS.

WickOfDeath

Xi takes the "Wuhan Virus" personally, becuase it is his error. But he wont act becuase he is pissed off. The virus came from there, the German BND (foreign intelligence) holds back that information "for not worsening the relations with China". He will act on a secret agenda... if there is a top top top very ultra secret in China then this is the Taiwan agenda. And he wont move if Taiwan is upping their military as well. Different from China every male Taiwan resident has a battlefield rifle at home and a camouflage suit... When Taiwan calls them in they will just outnumber the chinese army. It is also well known that Xi or PR China wont just jump on an opportunity... either becuase they saw none or becuse they thought they are not yet ready for taking Taiwan.

daviddjg0033

Bond funds exist. 60% VT 40% BND is down a few percentage points this year. I saw large outflows from US equities, US bonds, and the dollar corrected 7% or more. I think some of that money will not return to the US. That does not mean the 40 year stock bull market is over.

yoshiatsu

Dunno... BND is US bonds including corporates vs. IGOV is foreign government debt. The latter is going to be sensitive to the relative currency strength vs. the former is not. BND is a little shorter on the average duration and higher yield though. But if you think that the DXY is going to continue to drop, that's a tailwind to IGOV and not BND.

b88b15

Hm IGOV and not BND...hard for me to track the USD currency hedge part if I compare them. Would be interested in more context from you on that if you care to type it out.

eatyourchildren

Sitting in cash seems like the worst of all options, especially with weakening dollars. I'd buy BND, Treasuries, gold, VXUS, list goes on (not that long)

lwhitephone81

\>assets that would protect me in the case of a major crisis Ok, that's the goal. \>Gold & precious metals Nope, risky speculations \>foreign currencies All risk, no return \>international stocks, etc.? Another bad guess I'm afraid, as stocks are risky. Bonds are your safe investment. Some experts recommend starting out with all bonds then adding stocks as you discover your risk profile. BND is a good option.

mylefthandkilledme

I have roth ira but I dont have an brokerage account. I'm not great at picking stocks but I also dont want it to be redundant to my roth portfolio. Roth majority consists of VTI, VUG, VXUS, BND. Down for the year (arent we all) but overall portfolio has an 8.8% return. Advice for choosing stocks for brokerage account? Stock advice for brokerage?

artmatthewmakes

I sold my 2 shares of SPY. I think it will fall further. Maybe I’ll park it in BND until this all blows over

FluentInQuality

It's hard to miss with having some gold in your portfolio. But having primarily gold is a different story. Having a solid mix with stocks, ETFs, bonds, or gold will get you further, IMO. Something like 70% ETFs (Like VOO), 15% bonds like the ETF BND, and 15% gold would be an excellent portfolio. You're benefiting from the growth of VOO, the stability of bonds, and you got your gold position in there as well.

smartfon

Commenter1: QQQ all in, bro, what are you doing with all that unused cash? Sell a quarter of QQQ if you need the broccoli cut this Saturday bro the market is up anyway Commenter2: nah, go with QQQM for lower expense Commenter3: rate my portfolio (VOO 49%, SPY 49%, BND 1%, HYSA 1%), all growth bro

RubiksSugarCube

Yeah but I mean look at how many investors have strayed away from fundamentals as well. Exhibit A: This sub Turns out that posting modest but reliable gains on a blend of VTI/VXUS/BND/BNDX just doesn't reap that sweet sweet karma

Ferris61186

I think a 10% bond allocation is fine, I know a lot of Redditors would disagree. I don’t hold gold myself but I thought it was something you wanted. If you think 10% bonds is too much you might as well just do 0%. Go with 80% VTI, 20% VXUS or something like that. I started investing around your age with a 60% VTI, 30% VXUS, 10% BND portfolio. Ten years later my portfolio is almost 7-figures. I recently upped BND to 15%. Bond funds are complicated. I think it’s good to start investing in them now so you can start to understand how they work

Spiritual-machine1

You could buy BND or corporate bonds

Ferris61186

I personally feel that allocations under 10% aren’t worth it. 5% in defense isn’t going to noticeably affect your performance and just over complicates things. Maybe do something like 60% VTI, 20% VXUS, 10% BND, 10% GLD? If you don’t like nominal bonds you can swap out BND for VTIP.

adminsarecommienazis

Keep your job. Set your brokerage to automatically buy VT and BND, Never open it unless you need to change the amount you automatically buy due to a change in income.

TopherBrennan

The real problem with dollar inflation for international bond funds is that said funds are almost without exception currency-hedged. But so far it's at least shielded me from the Treasuries selloff (BNDX has outperformed BND since I shifted to it).

MyEXTLiquidity

I’ll be honest I don’t particularly understand futures since most things get trades roughly around the clock already.  No worries. ETFs are “exchange traded funds” - they’re like mutual funds essentially but you can trade them all day like a stock (mutual funds just do the buys end of day). They’re basically stocks that are bundles of other stocks. So for instance say you have $1000. You can pick and choose companies like Tesla or NVDA or apple or google or whatever. High risk and high reward because your putting all your eggs in whatever individual company you chose basket. Or you can buy SPY/VOO which are ETFs that track the S&P500. So rather than you having to pick individual stocks, you just own the whole S&P500. Still will get great gains and you own the “whole basket” You can do this with the whole world. The US. international. Etc. even sectors like say you wanted semiconductors, you can buy SMH which is an etf of semiconductor stocks. What I personally run is two accounts. In my IRA I have 70/20/10% split between VTI, VXUS, and BND. VTI is all of the US. VXUS is all international no US. BND is all us bonds. In my brokerage I do 50/50 VOO/VT. VOO is S&P 500. VT is the whole world.  I am overweighted toward the S&P500 but that’s by choice. 

Ldghead

Going from memory, I'm about 4 parts VOO, 2 parts BRK.B, 2 parts BND, 1 part VXUS.

Ldghead

I actually hold a Boglehead 3-fund (VOO, VXUS, BND), and Brk.b. i feel brk.b is an outlier in the individual stock crowd.

MelbourneBiology

Set up automatic transfers from your bank to a trading account. Set up automatic purchases spaced to whenever you can afford- once a month, once every 3 months, once every 6 months doesn't matter. Choose a strategy that is proven, no day trading or bull shit like that. Don't check your portfolio except for taxes and rebalancing. BC you will fuck up and sell at the wrong time. If you ever think you have found genius buy, you haven't. You aren't "early" everyone else just realised why it's a shit trade before you. Never try to be smart and come up with something original. "Smart ideas" are only allowed if you get an economics degree, then a job as an investment banker, then outperform everyone on your floor. If you don't tick those boxes, your next great idea is probably shit. Get the fuck off Reddit financial pages. Everyone is here to laugh at the idiots who are about to go broke. Approximately what I do based advice from a professional: 25% – VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market) Why: Broad exposure to the entire U.S. equity market (large, mid, and small-cap stocks) 10% – VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets) Why: Exposure to higher-growth economies like China, India, and Brazil 25% – ETF: VXUS (Vanguard Total International Stock Index) Why: Diversifies beyond the U.S. with developed and some emerging market stocks 15% – Gold ETF: IAU (iShares Gold Trust) or GLDM (SPDR Gold MiniShares) Why: Hedge against inflation and market volatility 25% – Bonds ETF: BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market) Why: Adds stability and income, especially useful during market downturns

AttitudeAndEffort2

I was almost pure VTI with a little BND but this insanity had me look for *something* as a hedge. We're in a world of all kinds of new firsts, if the economy crashes it's not going to be like normal where bonds shoot up when stocks drop because of why the depression will happen. Gotta hedge against the dollar becoming worthless, as insane as that sounds

g-unit2

What bonds have you purchased? Bond ETF? I’m not a Bond investor and when I look at the return of BND it’s up 2% 1YR and -17% 5YR Can someone explain how to actually invest in long term bonds for me please?

Momoware

I don't see how you can sell 69c for $6 on BND. What's the expiration date?

BiblicalElder

It doesn't look like you have exposure to international stocks I like Fidelity as a platform, but I recommend Vanguard ETFs for you, as your expense ratio may end up being much lower. Fidelity is using these zero fee products to attract new customers, and then inevitably they end up in higher fee products in the longer term. Here is a potential allocation, since you favor US * 75% VTI (US equities) , or FZROX * 25% VXUS (international equities) * BND (when you turn 21, start adding 1% each year to this allocation) If it feels overwhelming, start with FRBDX, the 2070 target date fund Also, spread out your contributions over time, once a year might be too infrequent

RetiredByFourty

That cult astroturfs and promotes funds like BND with an all time growth of -4%. You may want to direct your financial questions elsewhere.

blorg

The bigger issue is both those funds mean you're going entirely into cash. Also consider international equities and bonds, these will give you the currency exposure while still having long-term growth. https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?FXE,FXF,VOO,VXUS,VT,VGK,BND,BNDX&n=2989&O=011000

ChairmanMeow1986

Well without the allocation % I cant be specific, you have vxus for diversification,have you thought of BND, SCHB or JEPI/Q for income earning holds? I.e. a pseudo cash position. GLD is the same and performing unsustainablely great, imo. Their are currency etfs as well. Possibly diversify out of VTI (tech). I'd focus on hedging and diversification considering your overall position.

woo_woo42

Basically a total domestic fund like VTI, a total international fund like VXUS and then a Bond fund like BND. Then you just adjust the percentages based on risk appetite. I set my wife’s up as 65/25/10 as an example.

Technical_Formal72

Lol this is basic… OP don’t do this. This guy is suggesting swing trading (which requires market timing) likely on the basic and incorrect idea that SCHD is “safe” which lower drawdowns / better performance in a market downturn and then SCHG is “aggressive growth” with better performance in a bull market. This is a ridiculous strategy. You would likely be much better off with a simpler and more diverse strategy of buying and holding a fund like VT or VTI/VXUS and possibly some BND (~10%) or STRIPS if you have the proper understanding. If you’re looking to add compensated risk consider factor investing.

GraniteShares-ETFs

For diversification, consider VTI, VXUS, BND, and GLD for long-term stability. You can also add GraniteShares XOUT and GraniteShares HIPS to tailor your exposure.

Xexanoth

Counterpoint: - VTI (market-cap weighted US stocks): -10.4% YTD - VXUS (market-cap weighted ex-US stocks): +4.4% YTD - BND (US total investment-grade bond market): +2% YTD - GLD (gold bullion ETF): +24.7% YTD Portfolios diversified across multiple asset classes have outperformed those concentrated in US stocks only so far this year.

lwhitephone81

Maybe 20% BND, splitting the rest 2/3 US 1/3 stock.

lwhitephone81

Dividend funds, bad. Large cap only funds, bad. Three fund portfolios using total market funds (VTI, VXUS, BND for example), good.

RubiksSugarCube

[VLXVX](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vlxvx#portfolio-composition) is presently 53% VTI, 37% VXUS, 7% BND, and 3% BNDX, so the only difference between what you're doing and what the people who get paid to do this shit is a 10% bond exposure

garden_speech

> Yeah, but you aren't "recouping your investment" just because they paid a dividend and you DRIPped, it doesn't change your account value then. You don't actually have the value of your stock in money, you just have stock. I'll be honest I've spent part of my career in finance and I have no fucking clue what you're trying to say. ROI is based on the value of the assets you're holding. Dividends are unequivocally part of ROI. > It's just different ways of looking at it, "what I paid for what I actually have now (cost per share)" vs. "what the stuff I have is worth right now (spot price)" No, I've never heard anything remotely resembling this in my entire career, it's absurd. No professional I've ever met would try to argue ROI should exclude dividends because of... cost per share. By this logic BND has not retuned anything since it's 2007 inception, since it's share price is the same as it was then.

garden_speech

This is the absolutely ridiculous argument that I am talking about. Average yields were **18%**. It took less than half that time to recoup your money if you count dividends... Which.. Why the fuck would you not? https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/your-money/stocks-and-bonds/26stra.html Index prices mean nothing in a vacuum. By your logic bond funds have never made money. BND index price is the same it was in 2007.

BRK_B_

if you want to truly completely be hands off follow 1 of 2 strategies VT + BND + BNDX at a stock:bond ratio that suits you VTI + VXUS + BND + BNDX at a stock:bond ratio that suits you AND at a US domestic: international ratio that suits you I like VTI + VXUS so I can contribute 50:50 to both US and international but some people like VT because it is a self balancing ETF. VTI + VXUS is also slightly more diverse than VT and will likely expose you a bit more to emerging markets than simply VT

nivek_123k

>How long have you been trading options for? \~10 years. >What strategies have you found to be most successful? research a firm, check out an etf's top concentration, trust in positive drift and random walk. AVOID EARNINGS, MEMES, and il-liquid option pricing. there are only about \~150 or so trading vehicles that are worth trading. really narrows the playing field. also expect that the most highly liquid vehicles are major indexes and firms, reinforces the positive drift aspect. >When you changed strategies, what were the catalysts for making that change? March 2020. within those weeks I lost \~50% of my net worth... as a middle aged man... with no family or support. basically alone standing on the ledge. dark times, dark times indeed. >What market or underlying fundamentals, charts, etc do you follow that set your entry and exit points? the quick way is I still somewhat look at P/E, EPS, and price action. Some of these firms with 3 digit P/E and limited GPM or 80+% debt... it's a pass. Boring companies with stable GPM and net profit, who aren't in debt to the max are what I look for. i'll establish a 5yr trend if I'm really on the fence. also avoid price extremes. caught too many times by a hot falling knife or a panic rally that blows out a position. not a believer in technical analysis, maybe to look at price extremes. >What are the rules you set for yourself that if you follow, have led to success? I don't know how you would define success, but I am self employed, work my ass off, keep a small social circle, and also work weekend side gigs. My only real benefit is I don't sit in traffic, or spend time at an office. Anyway, I avoid trading futures, keep positions small, strictly control buying power, no more than 20% of capital in option trades. 70% capital spread out through broad market ETFs, BND, SGOV, and cash for a rainy day. >What has kept you going steady? i had an out of town gig, took me an hour and a half just to leave the city due to traffic. i'd gladly sacrifice some steady paycheck to avoid that bullshit everyday. my tolerance for BS in my old age is pretty low. >Have you dealt with overconfidence after a string of wins, and if so, what have you done to combat that? No. In fact I hardly count wins. A win is easily forgettable. It's the bad positions that I stare at everyday, the ones that take months to scratch or walk away from. I typically lack confidence on most positions, which is why I strictly protect my capital usage. >What is the biggest loss you've had to swallow, and how have you been able to overcome it? 2020. losses like that don't come back. it has forever changed the course and quality of my life.

Rich-Contribution-84

Tbh, my .02, BH is a decent philosophical framework but I feel like a lot of people are too orthodox about it. 60/40 BND/VT is a great conceptual portfolio for a retiree imo but by conceptual, I really just mean that I want to be majority bond/treasury/cash/cash adjacent/fixed income and minority diversified equities. No disagreement with what you’re saying from me.

Rich-Contribution-84

I think you misread my comment for a whole lot of reasons. I am only suggesting that a self managed brokerage will be way cheaper. I did not recommend that they buy VOO + VTI. Not only is that combination inappropriate for OP, it’s really a goofy combination for anyone. Way too much overlap. OP’s question wasn’t about the current/future composition of their assets but about whether or not Fisher is a good idea to manage their assets. As an aside - for OP, something along the lines of 60% BND + 40% VT would be about how I’d like to be allocated at their stage.

TopherBrennan

Every day when BNDX is green and BND is red makes me feel like a genius.

helpwithsong2024

1. Don't touch the mortgage! That's crazy low. 2. 45 isn't old, but it isn't young. Depending on your risk tolerance, a target date index retirement fund might be your best option (for example https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vforx) 3. If you two are more risk-tolerant, you could just throw it all into VT. That buys the entire world stock market (i.e. you just buy all investable markets, and that weighting changes every quarter) 4. Or, if you want say 80% stocks, 20% bonds, 80% VT and maybe 20% BND(total US bond market).

kiwimancy

It does not make sense. High quality bonds are mostly uncorrelated with stocks, not anti-correlates, so they are not a hedge. They are a diversifier though. FBND has the same trailing ten year return as the bonds it holds. Well actually it is an active fund so it may or may not have outperformed based on the managers' trading. It has beaten treasury bonds and bills over the past ten years. https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?FBND,BIL,BND,IEF,TLH&p=6

helpwithsong2024

You can, a good alternative is BND. It's more capital preservation vs. growth and returns.

Tay_Tay86

$US10Y $US20Y $US30Y on tradingview. TLT and TLH, BND etfs

Zakiahmed1976

I have equal weight in following. SCHD, SPLV, SPY, QQQ, GLD, and BND. It’s less volatile than VOO/QQQ.

Dr-McLuvin

If you think inflation is gonna go lower—what’s the best bet? TLT? BND?

SuperFeneeshan

That's what I did. Slightly diversifying with BNDX but also buying BND right now since I can get more. If rates get cut the cost of these will go up. Figure I'm saving about $10 per share right now as I keep DCA-ing in. That and IXUS to better diversify. Has worked well here in the short term. Also invested in RNMBY about a year ago as the war in Ukraine continued. Never thought Trump would put so much pressure on Ukraine but he riled up the European defense sectors so I guess it worked out. Probably should've invested in some European Defense ETF in hindsight but oh well.

Reasonable_Tower3816

buying gold is weird it's a rock that yields 0.00% u could buy $BND make 4.44% now and it will appreciate when we go into recession

NotARealJobEnjoyer

So I found [https://testfol.io/](https://testfol.io/) . My brokers website was not letting me put in as much info as I wanted. You didn't give me any specific investments, but another u/lwhitephone81 gave me VTI, VXUS, and BND. I did an allocation of 63% VTI, 32% VXUS, and 5% BND. I tracked the dates 1/1/2000 through 1/1/2025. I did this simply because of the invention date of ETFs. I adjusted the 1500 starting value per inflation down to $808. Cashflow was 0 and rolling window is 60. All tests are rebalanced yearly. [This is over the last 25 years.](https://testfol.io/?s=1UBA0peTmOK) [This is over the last 5 years.](https://testfol.io/?s=c4lwHzKgNvJ) Key takeaway, over 25 years mine gave the highest return with slightly higher volatility. That was switched over the last 5 years. I struggle to know how to do the exact math. If we were to consider the goals of the 8.5% over the next 30 years, u/lwhitephone81 would probably be the most likely to reach that if you consider the lower standard deviation. However, if the goal was to pick the one with the most likely highest return, I am unsure how decide this.

-Lorne-Malvo-

Ok, I get it now. A taxable account in this situation makes perfect sense. Be sure to scrutinize the funds you are considering and note many bond funds actually lose money, BND is a good example. People recommend really bad funds because they don't scrutinize what they are buying and everyone said to buy, so they did. If you want income look at actual bonds, or a money market fund. I managed my parents portfolio so I get it. I had a couple decades of experience before I did, which helped. And be wary of people suggesting you buy riskier things because they are getting started late. And also note we are in a trade war that changes it's face and focus every few days. Good luck to you and you're a great son to be looking out for your parents.

MicroneedlingAlone2

I mean, maybe. Look at the price of BND in 2020. Then they started printing for COVID, and look how the price has gone since then. Price is the inverse of yields. If you were fast enough yeah, but if you weren't fast enough, the value of the bond will fall out from under you and you're selling it for a loss.

StinklePink

Ok but if I buy a fund ETF (e.g. BND) I can pull the plug quickly if that happens and conserve, correct? Am I over simplifying?

RubiksSugarCube

If you want to allocate the same way that a professional investment manager would, check out the holdings of a targeted mutual fund (like VTTHX) and invest accordingly. To save you some time, MSPMX = VTI, VGTSX = VXUS, VTBIX = BND, and VTILX = BNDX

lwhitephone81

You'll want a simple 3 fund portfolio: VTI, VXUS, BND. Pointless to split out the US market into 3 funds. Avoid corporate bonds. Keep your bond duration short.

Coasterman345

The best strategy if you want to “set it and forget it” is to buy VT or a target date retirement fund. $VT is an ETF (basically a whole bunch of stocks nestled into one) of both US and international stocks. It’s recommended to have more bonds closer to retirement. $BND is a good bond fund. Target date funds allow you to choose what year you retire and will automatically choose what to invest for you. I recommend opening an account with Fidelity or Vanguard. If you can, specifically create a Roth IRA as well because all the money you put in grows tax free and when you sell it when you retire, you don’t have to pay any taxes either. It’s limited to $7k per year right now unless you’re older.

GAV17

Because the stock market went way down and faster while bonds retain their value better this couple of months. YTD VTI -8.6% vs BND +0.68% From this year's high SPY -12.88% vs BND -1.89%

accountinreddit

Piggy backing on your top comment about what else is the safe haven, if not US? No one is saying there is a safe haven now or let us all trust the China Government (CCCP). The point is this can be a starting point of geopolitical shift not in favor of US. These things take time, remember the ocean liner example by Obama in New Yorker in 2016: > They are like ocean liners: you turn the wheel slowly, and the big ship pivots. Sometimes your job is just to make stuff work. Sometimes the task of government is to make incremental improvements or to try to steer the ocean liner two degrees north or south so that, ten years from now, suddenly we’re in a very different place than we were. At the moment, people may feel like we need a fifty-degree turn; we don’t need a two degree turn. And you say, Well, if I turn fifty degrees the whole ship turns over. What the current President thinking is - US is the safe haven and global reserve so we have all the advantage in negotiation and where else are people going to go. So I can do whatever I want and I will come out on top. This will be true now and yes US will come out on top, but by doing so he has steered the ocean liner 2 or 3 degrees south (in not so favorable direction). For e.g. look at this table - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_largest_historical_GDP it took China nearly 45 years to be here and that too with some oppressive democractic ideas. Right now alliances are being rethought and everyone is redoing their long term plans with assumption US can be unreliable. Come on, we pissed off Canada, of all the countries Canada who has been like the most reliable brother you can have. You always have a friend who will show up no matter what and will do what you ask with "no questions asked", that has been Canada for US and you go and piss them off and mistreat them :( Before someone does a gotcha of "oh, so what are you buying now?" - yes I'm still buying VTI and BND. I'm not yet going to put my money in the Chinese market, but I'm more conscious than before about buying other developed markets and companies there.

RandolphE6

If you can't handle volatility you shouldn't be invested in the market. Standard 3 fund portfolio is VTI/VXUS/BND. Increase BND % the less risk tolerant you are. Should note that the higher the BND allocation, the more drag there is on long term returns, but the more stability there is. A small allocation is advisable even for young investors to help weather volatile markets and reduce the likelihood of making emotional decisions - the biggest risk to long term returns.

TopherBrennan

I have BND in a Robinhood watchlist but to double check I just googled "10 year yield" and the first result was a tracker on CNBC: [https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US10Y](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/US10Y)

TopherBrennan

TLT and BNDX serve totally different purposes. TLT is for gambling on interest rates, and yes all the gamblers have made it very liquid. BNDX otoh is a currency-hedged fund of non-US bonds, intended mainly for diversification but I made it my main bond fund because everything about the US makes me nervous. Given that it has outperformed its domestic counterpart BND recently, I feel good about that decision.

livinthegaybearlife

sad but true. Always been an aggressive investor, first year for investing in BND. A little underwhelmed with my returns. Thinking of splitting 50 K between MMF and laddered CDs. Still have exposure to NVDA, MU, NET, Oracle for the longer haul. Some exposure to ABNB and Uber, something I tend to use. Afraid to touch anything in the hospitality industry.

curiousthinker621

I include HY bonds in my bond portfolio by putting 70% in BND, 20% VCIT, and 10% in VHELX. I don't recommend it because it adds complexity, and it is probably best to take your risk on the equity side. I haven't looked over the last couple of months, but credit spreads were tight at the beginning of the year, so high yield wasn't very attractive at the beginning of 2025.

SilkBC_12345

>This isn't investing No, it isn't and no one ever said it is.  It is called "trading". >I hate to say it, but it's truly "dumber than a sack of bricks," No, you just have no idea what you are doing.  You would be better off just put your money into an index ETFs like SPY, IWM, BND, etc. and let your money do its thing. Check out r/bogleheads for something more your speed.

0x4C554C

Nothing. My cash is outperforming even my BND holdings.

skyzm_

It’s not even in the same universe. First off, great job realizing you’re getting honestly and completely fucked over by fees. You are. Regarding Bogle, this is the guy telling you that the 1% fee the other guys are taking will become a 25% *loss* over your investing period. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. He’s showing you how to invest intelligently without paying anyone anything. Go to any retirement calculator and throw some numbers for an estimated few decades. In the “estimated return” section, throw in a number like 7%. Then change it to 6%. If you do it correctly, estimate 35-40 years investing, estimate yearly contributions, you’ll see an absolutely massive loss at just 1% return difference. Your advisors are taking that 1%. Your advisors are probably also investing you in an overly complex set of funds and ETFs so that when you look at the statement, you’re like “this is complicated, I can’t do that”. Those mutual funds likely also have *their own* fees ranging from .5 to 1%, so just chop down your returns even further for whatever chunk of money is in those funds. It’s a well-studied fact that less than 10% of professional advisors beat the market. If less than 10% of pros beat the market, far less *casuals* are beating it. You can *be* the market by investing in simple, low cost, broad-market funds. This is where all your retirement money should be. If you want to gamble with extra investment money on top of that, sure buy some more targeted funds or individual stocks. Just know that, as I said, this is much closer to gambling. The Bogleheads view is typically a three fund approach comprising of a broad market US fund, a completely non-US fund, and a bond fund. This provides you exposure to the US market, external markets, and the safety and stability of US bonds. I personally do 65% VTI / 20% IDEV (most recommend VXUS) / 15% BND. This comprises all of my retirement funds. No more advisor fees. No more mutual fund fees. No more trying to beat the market.

Digital-Doc-777

High yield bonds are risk without reward; in other words uncompensated risk. Just buy an ETF such as BND or BIV, and no need for junk bonds.

GideonWainright

That's why global bond funds and ex-US bonds funds exist. The average person can buy them. Personally, I am slowly increasing my holdings in these as central banks may face different problems, so may not operate lockstep as normal.  I may lose out on some yield, but that tends to be the case when one diversifies away from different risk scenarios. What seems very risky is only investing in the USA assets.  For example, equities.  people have gotten lazy and greedy with around 20 years of USA over- performance to the extent that USA is running 33 or so P/E Cape, developed is around early 20s, and EM is cheapish (nothing is cheap cheap, except some value plays). I can tell you that we will have a period of sustained over performance of international over USA, and probably a sharp decline in USA equities, I just can't tell you when.  The odds of 2025 went up because Trump is a maniac at trade policy. So diversify holdings or vow to ride the US market down.  We're probably not Japan.  Probably. TLDR: VT instead of VTI, BNDW instead of BND, at least while we have uncertainty due to political risk in the USA.

zeppo_shemp

measured by total return, FBNDX outperformed BND over 5 and 10 year periods. https://portfolioslab.com/tools/stock-comparison/FBNDX/BND the data is very strong that active management has a measurable edge with fixed income.

zeppo_shemp

measured by total return, FBNDX outperformed BND over 5 and 10 year periods. https://portfolioslab.com/tools/stock-comparison/FBNDX/BND the data is very strong that active management has a measurable edge with fixed income.

loganedwards

Sure, do exactly this: 170k split into these three categories: 60% - VTI / VTSAX 20% - VXUS / VTIAX 20% - BND / VBTLX Set it and walk away, don't look for at least a year. Continue to contribute with the same 60/20/20 split when you have available funds. 5-7% returns most years. Stop gambling.

HatchChips

Try this podcast episode to learn about BND and types of bonds, and why you might hold one or the other https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/choosefi/id1187770032?i=1000471630706

RubiksSugarCube

Vanguard's [Target 2065 Fund](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vlxvx#portfolio-composition) is basically 54% VTI, 36% VXUS, 7% BND, and 3% BNDX, so that's what the people who do this stuff for a living would recommend you allocate right now

Due_Outside_1459

It's a good time to start shifting portions of your BND portfolio to international bond funds just to diversify in the face of uncertain times now....

rep3t3

* BND has an expense ratio of 0.03% * FBNDX has an expense ratio of 0.44% You may want to look into FXNAX instead which has an expense ratio of 0.025%

kronco

[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individual\_bonds\_vs\_a\_bond\_fund#Duration](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individual_bonds_vs_a_bond_fund#Duration) : *If interest rates rise after purchasing a bond fund, the NAV of the fund falls, which hurts you. However, the dividends that the bond fund throws off can now be reinvested at a higher rate. The duration is the length of time that an investor needs to hold the fund for the increased yields to compensate for the decrease in NAV.* ***In that sense, duration represents the length of time it would take for the total value of the fund, with dividends reinvested, to be worth exactly what it would have been worth had interest rates not risen. So, you should always hold bond funds with a duration equal to or shorter than the expected need for your money (****note that holding the duration shorter than your need for the money leaves you exposed to the risk of lower returns if interest rates fall).* And this discusses Treasury, vs. corporate and when to buy a fund or bond and the pros/cons [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individual\_bonds\_vs\_a\_bond\_fund#When\_to\_hold\_which](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individual_bonds_vs_a_bond_fund#When_to_hold_which) The whole thing is informative but a bit of a deep dive. Understanding duration is very important. Portfolio holding and duration for BND: [https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/xnas/bnd/portfolio](https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/xnas/bnd/portfolio)

SirGlass

BND is a index fund FBNDX is an active managed fund, and yes there is some evidence that with bond funds , its easier for managers to beat the index vs say equity funds So while I am not a fan of active managed equity funds, I am more open to use active managed bond funds

ChokaMoka1

BND and chillax 

Mowr

One 20 year at 4.6. And BND ETF.

curiouscirrus

Already moved a big chunk of my BND to BNDX, which I’m glad I did. Now thinking about doing the rest.

TopherBrennan

I've got a ton of BNDX but it's currency hedged, which feels like a tragedy right now. At least it's outperforming BND.

kiwimancy

A fund is not more likely to outperform other investments based on whether you in particular have losses in it. Your purchase price is in the past and no longer relevant. Ah, you mean estimating the NAV for the current day before it's published? Yeah, VLXVX would move at 0.542 × VTI + 0.359 × VXUS + 0.whatever × BND + 0.whatever × BNDX.

pm_me_ur_demotape

If bond yields keep going up, why BND flat/down the last couple weeks?

Sapere_aude75

Now compare that with 60% VT 40% BND

Sapere_aude75

Maybe it's related to your asset allocation? A well diversified portfolio wouldn't be down that much. BND is slightly up and VT is down like 8% since the election

SecretInevitable

My bond allocation is evenly split 1/3 BND (us) in 401k 1/3 BNDX (intl) in Roth ira 1/3 VTEB (munis) in taxable And a 1-year cash emergency fund in HYSA

SpectralPanda121

I strongly agree. I'm in my early 20's, right now investing 90% VT and 10% BND. I considered a VTI+VXUS combo, but I figured VT is simpler and just gives me domestic/international at the ratio of their respective market caps. I'm curious, what's your reasoning on the dividend ETF?

hv876

You should start with most of 1.5 in diversified mix of etf to meet your risk tolerance. VTI/VXUS/BND (60/20/20) is a place to start and you’ll have negligible fees. Once that is done, tons of free courses to learn about Options, get steeped in Greeks and Implied Volatility. Paper trade for 2-3 months, and then start with 30K to do wheel strategy to get a handle of psychology of trading. Once you feel comfortable, you can scale up.

DaemonTargaryen2024

VTI, VXUS, BND https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

-Lorne-Malvo-

I've heard it all before, instead of drinking the bogle kool aid I looked at the actual performance of BND and saw it's a money loser, and a portfolio drag. Go look at the performance of it over 1 year, 2 years 3 years 5 years 10 years And spare me the "past performance is no guarantee..." Shit performance and losses are no reason to reward a fund either lol

somolov

It's a pretty big mistake to look at price change to measure performance of a bond fund. The 5Y performance of BND with reinvested dividends is closer to -5%, or -1% annualized.

McKnuckle_Brewery

Yes. Bond investing is definitely a learning curve, but worth the effort. And I strongly agree that unlike low cost broad index funds with stock, taking the same approach to bonds – as Bogleheads espouse with their beloved BND - is often not the best approach.