This post looks at investing in Bond Funds vs. the Stock Market. 

For investors that invest in bonds (not bond funds) they will argue that you should put your money in bonds because bonds mature and bond funds do not. This means if you buy a bond and it sinks in value (as long as it is good quality) the bond will mature and you will get all of your principal back plus the interest earned.   This is very true, but when it comes to 401K Investing you are limited to of course the funds in your 401K.

Setup: Looking at 3 portfolios using Vanguard Bond Funds and SPY.  (one bond fund, two bond funds, and the S&P 500) we will examine returns.

What we see over the long haul is what are are familiar with, that is, the Stock Market has the highest return.  But when you look under the covers what you see are gut-wrenching downturns, and measures that look at investment risk / reward the stock market has a worst risk / return ratio than simple buy and hold bond funds. 

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