[mcguire]

The volatility of stocks is much higher than that of bonds or some other asset classes. If your time horizon is shorter than, say, five years, or if you are the sort of person who checks your portfolio daily, keeping a portion of your portfolio in bonds will drastically reduce your personal volatility.

I have an inherited IRA that I am required to take mandatory withdrawals from; I keep part of it in bonds so that I don't have to sell my stock funds when they're down.