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Others are bigger experts than I am. The 30% bonds and sliding up for people our age was spot on in the 80s (when I majored in finance) and probably 90's. But the tendencies of the fed on interest rates has made the bond market more volatile than it was. It was also based on people retiring and dying earlier. Now if you shift out of equities too soon you may regret it in later years. I think dividend stocks, even utilities are a better play than bonds. I bought DUK (Duke energy) for my IRA years ago. It's solid as a rock in down times but still goes up over time and averages a 4% yield.
There's a difference between holding bonds and bond funds. Holding bonds to maturity and laddering for income purposes isn't a bad play for retirees, particularly now with prices down so there is no premium. Not suggesting that it's the only thing one should do, but it's not crazy to make it part of your strategy.
I don't own any bond funds save for some inflation-linked funds, but I am holding and intend to hold bond issuances from FedEx, IBM, and AB-Inbev.