Quick Read – BND now yields nearly 4% after its price decline, and selling here locks in the loss while surrendering that income to the next buyer. – TLT dropped roughly 34% over five years due to its long duration, while BND’s shorter duration kept its five-year decline near…
Retirees and income-focused investors who sell BND after its drawdown risk sequence-of-returns damage right when the yield is finally competitive. – The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NASDAQ:BND) has spent 2026 crossing back and forth over the zero line, with a year-to-date total return that ticks positive one week and negative the next. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is up roughly 13% this year
That gap is why BND holders keep asking whether the bond sleeve is doing anything at all. Selling here is the wrong move, even though the temptation is understandable. BND yields close to 4% because its price has already fallen, and whoever holds the fund from here buys that forward income at a marked-down price.
Whoever sells hands it to the person on the other side of the trade. Most holders should keep holding. But the case against BND deserves a fair hearing, because rates at multidecade highs cut both ways.