One word, yes. Here is why…

A great article from Morningstar (here) pointed out that since 1974, the US stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, has recorded 10 years with a loss. Not bad when considering that those 10 years with a loss occurred over a 50-year period. How much would you have invested knowing that you could make money 80% of the time? But, alas, hindsight is 20/20 and no one owns a crystal ball - such is the risk/reward paradigm.

However, since 1974, did you know there was an asset category with a positive rate of return in 9 of those 10 negative stock years? Yep, you probably guessed it, bonds. Bonds, as measured by the US Aggregate Index, produced a positive rate of return 90% of the time when stocks lost value. Can you guess the one aberration? See the table below from Morningstar (article link here) for your answer.

If you have questions about bonds, your investment portfolio, or your particular retirement planning needs, please feel free to contact Intelligent Investing at www.mynmfp.com/new-clients for a no-obligation consultation.

At Intelligent Investing, we believe in a consistent and disciplined, long-term investing approach.