Bond Funds
Bond Funds
Assume I have $100,000 that I will be needing in about 14 years and it will not be included in my stock allocation. Does it make sense to invest it in a long term bond fund such as VG LT Investment Grade and then shift it to an intermediate fund such as VG Intermediate Term Bond Index after the 8th year and then shift it again to a ST bond fund after another 3 years or so?
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Re: Bond Funds
Don't know. I'm not a pro at this. But, I'd have to ask what's the difference in average maturities among the funds? If the gap between long term and intermediate bond funds is fairly large, you could get caught selling low and buying higher in a few years if interest rates rise. That's just a guess that the long term fund would drop farther than the intermediate fund for a change in interest rates across the yield curve.Prudence wrote:Does it make sense
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Re: Bond Funds
You did not state if this was taxable. I would be more inclined to select a single intermediate term fund, Vanguard GNMA or Total bond, and just stick with it.
Re: Bond Funds
Probably the conventional financial analysis would suggest buying bonds that mature in fourteen years and simply holding them. That would imply dealing only in Treasuries as only Treasuries would be free of single issuer risk. Otherwise the idea of trying to match maturity to need is correct and bond funds are awkward because they are designed to maintain a constant maturity.
Aren't there some ETF's out there that have a target maturity date that is set in advance?
Yes, see this page:
http://thefinancebuff.com/target-maturi ... -etfs.html
Aren't there some ETF's out there that have a target maturity date that is set in advance?
Yes, see this page:
http://thefinancebuff.com/target-maturi ... -etfs.html