u/ATPsynthase12

So I see it’s pretty often recommended to use bonds or bond ETFs like BND for portfolio stability when looking through the wiki. I’m 32 in a high paying, recession resistant career (physician) and have 10% in bonds. It cuts my beta by quite a bit and my portfolio stays in line +/- 1% compared to the S&P 500. However, it is the biggest dead weight holding back long term growth in my portfolio, well that and my 5% in VDE.

My big issue with bonds is most of the bond ETFs seem to be at best stagnant or lose value over time. And while growth isn’t the purpose of bonds in a portfolio. Wouldn’t the better solution be to go with gold or gold ETFs like GLD or IAU? That way you get at least some growth and they tend to grow in value a little better than bonds as you hold the ETFs. Gold also tends to spike in price during bear markets which could help offset portfolio drawdowns.

So why not a stable commodity that holds value and grows like gold vs. bonds which seem to at best stagnant and at worse lose value as the asset is held?

In other words, talk me out of selling my 10% in bonds and doing IAU or GLD instead lol

Basically the title. If you’re looking to purchase and hold assets over 30 years, and logic pretty much dictates that a commodity like oil or gasoline is going to be integral to society for the next 30 years AND it is a limited quantity, to me, it seems like a good sector tilt.

I currently have like 5% of my portfolio in VDE which has had consistent good returns over the 1/3/5/10 year range, handily beating VTI, but the price fluctuates every time the president makes a tweet or or a middle eastern OPEC country farts funny.

Take today for example, very bullish for the market, but VDE is down 4%. Curious what you guys think over the long term.

Can someone explain why sectors that society and thus our economy is dependent on, are volatile and subjected to ups and downs so frequently?

For example, tech is very integral to our society. We are closer to an AI singularity and colonizing the moon than going back to analog clocks and dial up. So why is tech so bumpy and subject to the bull market, bubble, then bear market cycle so frequently.

The same goes for energy. Without our current energy infrastructure, the global economy will collapse in a matter of weeks to months. Why does that make it a volatile ride when everything still runs on oil/gas.

Shouldn’t these sectors be steady growth drivers and not boom and bust economic sectors?