The worker in his 50's shouldn't buy bonds unless he's going to retire in five years. That's my investment philosophy, anyway.
Dear sinkspur,
Well, my own personal plan is to become rich enough that I won't have to worry about it. ;-)
Although it's hard for me to see it myself, I guess bonds are appropriate for folks who get the willies every time the market drops a hundred points. Folks like this (and it's more than will care to admit) are most likely to buy high and sell low.
Having 25% or even 50% of one's portfolio in bonds can give some folks the peace of mind needed to let the other portion of their portfolio do the heavy lifting over the long-term. Having lots of bonds, then, might make them less likely to sell their equities in a panic, and less likely to try to buy into a "good thing" at its peak.
A portfolio like this will certainly be dramatically smaller when retirement day comes, but for a lot of folks, it's not about getting rich, just about having enough. And if between the time they start working and the time they retire they sleep better at night for following such a strategy, that seems reasonable to me.
sitetest