An I-Bond, or Inflation Indexed Bond, is a long-term U.S. Treasury security with a fixed rate of return. As its name suggests, the I-Bond provides certain insulation from inflation

Mutual funds that invest in high yield bonds are up 41% through November 9. Emerging markets bond funds have soared 31%. If you’re tempted to jump on the bond market bandwagon, now may be a particularly risky time to commit new money to bond funds.

Interest rates in the U.S. have little room to fall lower. Some foreign countries are beginning to increase rates, and when the U.S. follows suit this trend could mean higher interest payments and inflated prices for imports.

Are bond funds a safe haven or do they carry risk? The answer is both. Over time bond funds have been less volatile than stock funds, but that doesn’t mean that losses cannot occur.

Many investors overlook closed-end bond funds.

Investors rushing to buy bond funds are overlooking fees.

Investors can use short-term bond funds, stable-value funds and CDs to protect their fixed-income assets when interest rates rise again.

The "covered call" or "buy-write" strategy for investing is a good alternative to bonds right now.

The Fed's policy of driving interest rates down toward zero may have kept the financial system alive. But it is driving savers to do desperate things -- like barging into bond funds.

Neal Templin explains why he rearranged his portfolio to inlcude much less risk as he gets closer to retirement.