BND
Vanguard Total Bond Market
stock NASDAQ ETF

For example comparing VGLT with US Bond Index (BND) and Total World Bond (BNDW) we see that, so far year-to-date, VGLT is down -10.54%, BND -5.58%, and BNDW only -4.35%.
I hold this up as an example of what I believe to be the benefit of diversification (owning the whole pie instead of a narrow slice).

I would chatgpt a few condos if I were you to try and understand how bonds work. It's taken me quite awhile to get to my own level of understanding with them. If I were you I wouldn't directly add a bond fund, but maybe just add a fund that incorporates them into their strategies. Equity+bond, bond + mf, bond+trend, active bonds, etc. Or just go with a simple ultrashort duration, that's fine also. 
Just don't arbitrarily dump 10% of your funds into VGLT, BND, AGG and the like. The bond market in the US is actually quite volatile right now. 

Great analogy all the way through thanks.
Couldn’t there be a liquidity crunch in a drawdown then for these bond funds? If they hold a pool and sell shares and say there is underlying volatility in the bond price (like right now) and if the owners of BND shares want to cash out?

Longterm bonds are actually attractive here. Not BND but TLT for example is very sensitive to market rates and can easily buffer a market downturn.

You’re right. A bond ETF like BND bundles ownership of 10,000 ugly dogs together, with various durations, yields, etc.
In addition to making it easier to manage, the ETFs also make the ugly dogs a liquid asset. Instead of trying to sell one dog to a single buyer, your shares of the ETF can be bought and sold on the market. No laddering bonds or managing reinvestment either.

Yeah dude, you’re paying like a .35% management fee for this also. Like the other commenter said, you can literally just buy VT over and over and come out way ahead. If you absolutely want bonds, can just purchase some FXNAX or BND to mix with VT.

The future returns of bonds went up, making bonds more attractive. A bond held until duration or a bond fund held for the duration of the bonds inside, will come out ahead, as the reinvested income will keep buying higher yielding shares. So if you buy EDV, you should hold it for 30 years. If you buy BND, you should hold it for 10. It's also a hedge against deflation.

Now is a good time to buy BND with it yielding over 5%. If the yield keeps going higher the more you buy

It’s a good plan except for the ladder aspect. You are treating the inherited IRA as part of your overall portfolio and locating the least tax-efficient assets there. That’s perfect. But if you weren’t subject to RMDs, would you be putting most of your bond exposure in a ten-year ladder? If you would then, great but most people who are not retiring in that time period would have a longer average duration- all BND or a combination of BND and VTIP.
As your ladder collapses, you are going to be selling short-term bonds and rebalancing into BND in your 401(k) or whatever fund they use which is likely intermediate-term bonds. You’ll be changing your duration risk now (going shorter) and then again annually (going longer and working back to where you are now).

Signed up with wealth management in March as we retired and had to move the 401k. I have nothing bad to say in general except I can’t stomach the fee.
I am content with how they have me allocated. I cannot wrap my head around paying them $500K over 30 years. I have looked at the equities and they pretty much track indexes, no significant difference had I put that money in SPY. To add to this bonds are not doing well but I’m losing about a 1% with fees. Honestly, I don’t see the problem with throwing it into BND and calling it a day.
Where they fell short is I’m having to figure out how to manage my MAGI. I’m making sacrifices so healthcare is affordable, oxymoron I know, but then having them selling assets to pay the fee kind of messes that up for me.
I definitely like the hand-holding and not worrying about stuff but I think I can do just as well with a 3-fund portfolio or a couple of funds.
I don’t know what I don’t know and they have been helpful but I don’t see it as a long-term plan. They helped create the framework and I think I’ll take it from here. We plan to exit by the end of the year.
Again, no disrespect at all they have helped me understand my financial picture a lot but I think I have seen the light that it’s a luxury I don’t need. I will continue to lean on Fidelity to set up a self-directed plan. A little more work but not much.

For VT you might do:
-INTL COMPANY INDEX (about 40%)
-US LARGE CO INDEX (about 50-55%)
-SMALL CAP EQTY INDX (remainder)
This leaves you without U.S. midcap, but large call is the most important part anyway.
For BND you could use US BOND INDEX FUND.

VT is about 60% US, 40% International. US is about 4 or 5:1 "S&P500" to "everything else" (Russell 2000 is a fine approximation for the latter).
Your "US Bond Index" is following this same index as BND.
So if you want 40% bonds, using the options you have:
29% US Large Co Index
7% US Small Company
24% International Company Index
40% US Bond Index

Hi all. I'm trying to replicate VT and BND with my Verizon 401k options, as seen on the attached menu. The U.S. Large Company Index Fund tracks the S&P. The U.S. Small Company Fund tracks the Russell 2000. Will Large Company plus International Company Index get me there for VT, or should I add a certain percentage of the Small Company Fund as well?
The U.S. Bond Index Fund tracks BBg US Agg Bond. Would that be suitable for broad bond exposure? Should I add any of the other bond fund as well?
I have been mostly using the Verizon 2045 Fund until now. But it's got a pretty high expense ratio of .51%, whereas the expense ratios for these index funds are de minimis. I am also rebalancing my portfolio to get to 80-20 equities-bonds, and ditching the target date fund would enable me to do all the bond allocation in my 401k. I would have to go 40-50% bonds in my 401k to achieve 80-20 balance with my brokerage.
Thanks for any thoughts.
|**EMERGING MARKETS**|
|:-|
|**INTL COMPANY INDEX**|
|**INTL COMPANY**|
|**REIT FUND**|
|**SMALL CAP EQTY INDX**|
|**US LARGE CO INDEX**|
|**US SMALL COMPANY**|
|**VERIZON STOCK FUND**|
|**INFLATION PROTECTED**|
|**INTERMEDIATE US BOND**|
|**US BOND INDEX FUND**|
|**US CORE BOND FUND**|
|**MM PORTFOLIO**|
|**PRIVATE GLOBAL RE**|

SPY and VIG 60/40 beats SPY and BND 60/40 10.5% to 8% annualized. 

It all depends on your risk appetite and how much you need.
I buy individual treasuries and hold to maturity.
No longer interested in the standard recommended bond funds. Paying someone an expense ratio to flip bonds while you lose to inflation, no thanks. It makes money managers more money than it will you.
If you’ve lived through multiple crashes and didn’t sell, I’m sure you’ll be fine without lame BND lol.

Equities with high dividends or distributions are not replacements for bonds. Bonds are to lower volatility when withdrawing because withdraws plus volatility is how retirement portfolios diminish.
Standard Deviation for
[BND](https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/xnas/bnd/risk) is 5.50
[JEPQ ](https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/xnas/jepq/risk)is 11.22
[SCHD ](https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/arcx/schd/risk)is 13.75
Yes bonds have been a low return asset class recently due to historically low interest rates and a spike in rates in 2022. Bond funds are in a significantly better spot now as the rates for bonds are closer to historical norms. 2022 was basically the first time ever where bonds dropped by double digit in a year.

Inherited IRA, RMD years 1–9 plus empty by year 10, currently all equities — and you want the bond sleeve \*here\* so other accounts keep equity tax treatment. That framing is solid.
The iBonds ladder + BND top-up isn't \*wrong\*; it's just more moving parts than "hold BND (or a short Treasury fund) and sell \~1/years-left each year above the RMD." If you'll actually maintain the ladder, keep it. If maintenance becomes a second hobby, the simple slice wins.
Caveat: don't let ladder perfection delay the equity→bond shift. Sequence of \*forced\* withdrawals matters more than whether rung 7 was bought at this month's rate.

well, I'm still learning about bond allocations. I thought BND would be akin to VT as a set and forget solution, but I've read in multiple locations it isn't. So, I'm trying to understand better how to understand where I put the money as I steadily rebalance.

How much money do you want to cost yourself?
Around 1990 there were studies that showed 90% of the difference in portfolio performance is attributable to asset allocation--how much you allocate to stocks, bonds, and cash. Historically stocks return about 10%, bonds about 5%, and cash 3%.
So by owning 20% in BND you are lowering your expected returns over time, and over time that will just cost you money. 1% in BND will lower your returns. 10% in BND will lower your returns. 20% in BND will lower your returns.
You can do what you like, it's your money. But your only expectation should be that you will very likely have less money by doing what you are thinking about doing.

I like the iShares iBonds ladder if you're spending it, but since you're reinvesting it when you take it out, you can have it invested however you want. iBonds are fine if you like a predictable system, but there's no reason not to stick with BND if that's what you are likely to be buying when you withdraw. Or VTIP/VTP if you like the inflation protection and stability.
IF you want that bond allocation in your overall portfolio, that's a good place for it to reduce the dollars that you need to withdraw and pay taxes on. When you take the money out, you can also use that to backfill your paycheck as you withhold a larger amount in your 401k to reduce your taxable income each year.