While the returns can be good at times, there are two other probably more important reasons:
* Reducing volatility of retirement funds (the primary reason most people are saving/investing) as the age of retirement approaches.
* Rebalancing opportunities: having bonds means having capital that can be liquidated to purchase equities when they dip.
A lot of folks talk about the "lost decade" of the S&P 500 between 2000 and 2009. But if one rebalanced, and were not 100% equities, then the returns were actually pretty good:
* Reducing volatility of retirement funds (the primary reason most people are saving/investing) as the age of retirement approaches.
* Rebalancing opportunities: having bonds means having capital that can be liquidated to purchase equities when they dip.
A lot of folks talk about the "lost decade" of the S&P 500 between 2000 and 2009. But if one rebalanced, and were not 100% equities, then the returns were actually pretty good:
* https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2010/12/17/the-lost-de...