Markola
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
The way I think of it is that with a bond ladder I have more control than with a bond fund. In theory, a rolling bond ladder and a bond fund should perform similarly over a long period of time.
That’s entirely fair. I, too, think a bond ladder and bond fund should, generally, perform about the same over a longer period of time, say the 6-7 year duration of BND. It only makes sense. If the two vehicles will likely end up at approximately the same destination, I don’t personally need a high level of control to get there. Rather, I want to let the low-cost, highly-diversified index fund perform its self-cleansing and recycling process, while I do other things. Personal preference.