There is one nasty “heads I win, tails you lose” feature of bonds. If interest rates go up, the price of your bonds will go down. But if interest rates go down, the issuer can often “call” the bonds away from you (repay the debt early) and then issue new bonds at lower rates. To protect yourself, make sure that your long-term bonds have a ten-year call-protection provision that prevents the issuer from refunding the bonds at lower rates.
