2025 BND Returns--and future implications

[I wrote about this over a year ago.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/comments/1dwi5oe/why_you_should_own_cash_equivalents_over_bonds_now/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) My thoughts haven't changed. When I wrote cash I did mean cash equivalents. I use a Vanguard money market fund. My reason is, the marginal extra return you MIGHT get from owning a bond fund is not worth the change in asset value. Cash has a consistent value, bond funds do not--as investors discovered in 2022 when both stocks AND bonds dumped. Plus, if an investor is looking for distributions (as opposed to total return), the distributions from a money market fund these days are very comparable to a fund like BND. As I point out, a large chunk of the 2025 was not from distributions, but from changes in NAV. If the investor is unwilling to sell shares, the change in NAV is not of current value to the investor. I believe--and have for 25 years or so, including the last 13 years in retirement, in the equities and cash equivalents approach suggested by Jonathan Clements of the WSJ. In 2016, a similar approach based on a Warren Buffett suggestion, was validated by Javier Estrada (Google Javier Estrada 90 10). Understand, both bonds and cash equivalents will suffer equally from inflation, so I don't think that should be a factor in your decision. Thanks for the question, and I hope I've answered your questions.