This post is about Intermediate Core-Plus bond oefs. In general, this is one of the more popular bond oef categories, with an emphasis on Investment Grade Bonds, typically with much diversification in its holdings. Some refer to this category as Multi-Sector lite. According to M*, this is the formal definition:
"Intermediate Core-Plus Bond
Intermediate-term core-plus bond portfolios invest primarily in investment-grade U.S. fixed-income issues including government, corporate, and securitized debt, but generally have greater flexibility than core offerings to hold non-core sectors such as corporate high yield, bank loan, emerging-markets debt, and non-U.S. currency exposures. Their durations (a measure of interest-rate sensitivity) typically range between 75% and 125% of the three-year average of the effective duration of the Morningstar Core Bond Index"
Here are several funds in that category worth considering:
1. BCOIX/BCOSX: Credit rating A, Standard Deviation 2.74, Duration 5.68, 1yr/3yr total
return 10.84/4.86
2. DODIX: Credit rating A, Standard Deviation 2.05, Duration 4.3, 1yr/3yr total return
10.02/4.74
3. JAFIX: Credit rating BBB, Standard Deviation 2.63, Duration 5.68, 1yr/3yr total return
10.28/4.11
4. MWTRX/MWTIX: Credit Rating BBB, Standard Deviation 2.87, Duration 5.92, total
return 1yr/3yr 9.93/4.36
5. MTGAX/MTGDX: Credit Rating BB, Standard Deviation 1.82, Duration 2.07, total
return 1yr/3yr 7.41/5.10
6. TGLMX/TGMNX: Credit Rating BB, Standard Deviation 3.07, Duration 5.80, total return
1yr/3yr 8.46/4.04
7. IICIX: Credit Rating BBB, Standard Deviation 2.83, Duration 5.94, total return 1yr/3yr
10.63/4.96
8. SGVAX: Credit Rating BB, Standard Deviation 2.14, Duration 3.00, total return 1yr/3yr
6.82/4.29
9. DBLTX/DLTNX: Credit Rating BB, Standard Deviation 2.08, Duration 3.89, total return
1 yr/3yr 6.64/3.71
Comments: I have owned many of these funds over the years, but my favorite funds are DODIX, BCOIX and MTGAX. If you have owned any of these funds, you are invited to discuss your experience with them.`

If you started in 1991 instead of 1990 stocks would look better

I don't think that all 12 mistakes are mistakes and don't think most on this site will either.Of these the least likely to be a mistake is # six as the default in most plans is an age appropriate target funds. I keep 10% of my investments in an age appropriate target fund asa control if that investment grows or shrinks asa % of my account I review my investments to see if I am doing something wrong

https://www.livetradingnews.com/goldie-says-stocks-can-go-higher-164848.html#.XitExWlMHqs
The questions when will the s%%%t hit the fans though
Anyone buying more bonds or inverse products recently?

bee wrote about how muni bondsales might or might not generate taxable capital gains or losses. The fact that muni fund distributions are federally exempt is a completely different matter.
@FD1000, bonds are taxed differently from funds. Sales are taxed differently from interest (bonds) or distributions (funds).
Sure, muni interest, whether received directly from bonds or indirectly via distributions from muni funds, is generally federally tax exempt. That's the easy question. The harder question which @bee raised is how "gains" or "losses" are handled. A different matter altogether. And one where what you know about muni fund distributions is irrelevant.
What many people think of as a capital gain on a muni bond (buying at a market discount and redeeming at par) is usually treated as ordinary taxable income upon sale. Unless the amount is de minimus, in which case it's treated as a capital gain. Or unless one has opted to declare the "appreciation" (accretion) annually as taxable ordinary income.
I haven't even gotten started on straight line vs. constant yield accretion for muni bonds.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accretion-of-discount.asp
IRMAA is not the only thing affected by tax-exempt interest. Tax credits for health insurance you purchase yourself is also based on a MAGI calculation that includes tax-exempt interest.
That said, there are other MAGI calculations for different purposes that don't include tax-exempt interest. For example, the MAGI calculation for Roth contribution eligibility excludes not only tax-exempt interest but the amount of Roth conversions. (See line 2 of IRS Pub 590a Worksheet 2-1).
The point is not to make assumptions about what is or isn't included as part of MAGI without checking the particular purpose of the MAGI calculation. That's what the 'M' (modified) stands for.

@MSF "Taxation of muni bonds is not so straightforward."
It looks to me it was straightforward.
Your Muni dist may affect your Medicare premiums but for most it's not relevant. Example: when married filed jointly income is over $174K they will pay higher premiums for Part B.

Interesting to note that gains (on muni bonds) are tax free and losses (on muni bonds) can be claimed against other taxable gains.

@MSF
All my HY munis funds' monthly distributions for 2018 (and all priors years) were Fed exempt. I never buy single bond and probably will never do it in the future.

Relevance?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/massive-gap-explains-why-muni-185947650.html
A Massive Gap Explains Why Muni Prices Are Testing Record Highs
/(Bloomberg) -- Over the next month, about $25 billion of municipal debt will be paid off. Bondholders will receive another $13 billion of interest payments in February. And mutual funds have pulled in nearly $7 billion of new cash already this month.
Yet over the next four weeks, only a fraction of that money may find new securities to buy: American states and cities are so far set to sell just $13 billion of bonds in that time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg./
We have stopped buying Munis hy and bnd in our sepira and brokerage past 3 months been buying more stocks...we are indeed overwt in bonds in our portfolio
For mama retired portfolio we kept buying fbnd

@MSF
All my HY munis funds' monthly distributions for 2018 (and all priors years) were Fed exempt. I never buy single bond and probably will never do it in the future.
=======
I made a mistake in my first post. Early 2019(not 2018) was the first time I ever bought HY Munis in an IRA and not taxable. I also did it again several weeks ago when HY Munis took off compared to Multisector funds. I'm a momentum investor.
Year to date...NHMAX 2%...ORNAX 1.9%...OPTAX 1.7%

@hank Are you referring to Class B shares which are back-loaded and include a contingent deferred sales charge and higher 12b-1 fees than A shares ?

@carew388 - Looks like a typo in my post above. Intended to say “12b-1 fee.”
My reference was to Class A shares of TEMWX (and later on TEGOX) back in the 70s and 80s. Those were sold to participants in a workplace 403 B with a 4% front load. I may be wrong, but think I recall seeing buried in the fine print back than than that a small % of our account balance was going into the pocket of the “advisor” / salesperson. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me than. But I’m guessing it was actually in the form of a 12b-1 fee (considered a part of the overall ER).The fund companies portray the 12b-1 as for “marketing & distribution” costs. But I think at least part of that fee finds its way into the pockets of the salespeople. Could be wrong.
TEMWX was a fine fund in those days - managed by Sir John in the early going. But the salesman / advisor pushed us into the newer (higher cost) TEGOX after it came out - heavier in EMs. That was a mistake. (The fund has since been closed down by Franklin Templeton.)

@hank Are you referring to Class B shares which are back-loaded and include a contingent deferred sales charge and higher 12b-1 fees than A shares ?

Thanks @bee. This is what I most enjoy about MFO - the free exchange of ideas. I am not a financial advisor or expert. Just my “gut” reactions (worth maybe a nickel).
#1: Put It All In One Fund - Not me!
#2: Create Your Own Yield - I like the term “stream of return” better. One needs to have a reasonably steady stream of return in retirement as averaged out over the short / intermediate term. This may be accomplished with a broadly diversified portfolio and some prudent hedging and / or cash reserves. Unless it’s a tax consideration, I don’t think it matters whether that SOR comes from “income” or capital gains - particularly in tax-deferred accounts.
#3: Don’t Buy A Long-Term Care Policy - I’m agnostic on this one. Don’t know enough about the subject.
#4: Cut Your Portfolio Management Costs - Yes. Of course. But I won’t be driven into index funds. I still retain confidence that the good actively managed funds will do comparably well over longer time spans, in spite of indexing being all the rave today. Active is what I grew up with. I’ll stick with what I know (but have owned index funds on some rare occasions).
#5: Pay Off Your Mortgage Rapidly - Both sides are right. No correct answer. I’m happy to be carrying a small 3% fixed-rate mortgage on main residence. Also own a couple parcels that are paid off. Knock on wood - but I’ve been able to pull much higher than 3% annual on my (tax sheltered) conservative investments over more than 20 years in retirement. There’s an added advantage in having more liquidity at your disposal than if that money were sitting in the home. Like I said ... I can see both sides of this one.
#6: Moonlight - Hell no (not me)! - but others will feel differently. I’ll say here that I perform a lot of home maintenance which others would pay to have done. So, in a sense, I am working. But it’s my schedule - not somebody else’s.

@LLJB
I contacted the compliance officer at Leland and asked him to address the fund's use of swaps, leverage, the 4Q18 MAXDD, and your example of the Mastercard swap, from the information you cited earlier.
His response: "Unfortunately, I can’t disclose any information beyond what is already publicly available. This includes the leverage ratios and specific holdings in the swaps."
I'd like to make clear that I did not doubt what you said about these issues. I was trying to see if I could get more information but wasn't successful.
So as it stands now, what you wrote is the best information we can get about issues like swaps et. alia., and as far as I'm concerned, that's good enough for me.
IIRC, you have written about swaps before, perhaps one regarding DSEEX, and some have complimented you about it.
(FWIW) for the year ended September 30, 2019, the Venture Capital Index Fund had realized losses of $3,446,758 from swap contracts.

Taxation of muni bonds is not so straightforward.
Thumbnail sketch:
- "gain" (actually accretion) due to OID is reportable annually as tax exempt interest (can affect SS, IRMAA)
- "gain" due to market discount is taxable as ordinary taxable income (unless de minimus, which is reported as cap gain); may be reported annually or upon bond redemption/sale
- "loss" is reported as amortized bond premium (ABP), essentially return of capital, on a yearly basis (see Form 1040-INT box 13). Cost basis is reduced accordingly.
- any additional loss is reported as capital loss at time of sale.
Simple examples:
$1K par bond is purchased for $900 (no OID), redeemed at maturity five years later for $1K. The $100 "gain" is reported as ordinary income.
$1K noncallable par bond is purchased for $1100, redeemed at maturity five years later for $1K. Each year, the tax-free interest is reduced by some amount (ABP) according to formula, which over five years totals $100. There is no loss; the adjusted purchase price is $1K.
The best pages I've found on muni bond taxation are at InvestingInBonds.com.
See http://investinginbonds.com/learnmore.asp?catid=8&subcatid=60
See also: https://scs.fidelity.com/webxpress/help/topics/learn_tax_info_year_to_date.shtml
The fun really begins when multiple considerations are combined. You can purchase an OID bond at a premium to its discounted price, called acquisition premium. In that case you have to net the OID accretion and the premium amortization.

Within my income sleeve muni's currently make up about 10% of the sleeve's holdings. The main reason that I have a muni fund is to help diverisfy the source of income generation more so than for the tax benefit. The funds held in this sleever are BLADX, FLAAX, GIFAX, JGIAX, LBNDX, NEFZX, PGBAX, PONAX & TSIAX. I've been thinking of switching out one of the current holdings (TSIAX) for NVHAX. By doing this it would about double my allocation to muni's and give me some exposure to hi yield muni's.

(link)
Quotes below

-High-yield municipal bonds typically offer higher yields than investment-grade munis, but carry additional risk.
-A small allocation to high-yield munis can make sense for more aggressive muni investors—but today’s yields are low relative to alternatives.
-If you choose to venture into this part of the market, we suggest you do so via an exchange-traded fund (ETF), mutual fund or separately managed account, to help with diversification and ongoing credit monitoring.
-High-yield munis yield more than high-yield corporate bonds only for investors in the top tax brackets
-High-yield munis have historically offered returns similar to high-yield corporate bonds, but with less volatility
-High-yield munis don’t provide the same level of diversification benefits as investment-grade munis
End quotes
============================
My Comments based on the above:
As the article said, HY Munis performance is similar to HY corp with lower volatility and why I rarely own a dedicated HY corp fund.
I don’t agree with point 6.  I would replace the word diversification with ballast. HY Muni have more risk but also more diversification and sometimes lower volatility than IG Munis because HY react better to rates changes. Most times HY Munis is a pretty good ballast category unless markets are really bad like 2008. 
As a retiree with taxable accounts, I invest a big % in HY Munis and since early 2018 I even use it in my IRA because its performance is very good with lower volatility. 
An important point is that only high-income earners are really benefitting from the tax break and why I don't like it when a typical investor is looking for lower distribution funds and lose on performance.  If a bonds fund performance is 6% annually with 4% distribution while another bond performance is 4% annually with only 2% distribution, the first fund is still better after-tax.
In the last several weeks HY Munis is the biggest category I own and more than 50% of my portfolio, this is by no mean a recommendation but based on my own goals.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinsosnoff/2020/01/22/how-to-maintain-and-compound-inherited-wealth/#3f98161f2f58
How To Maintain And Compound Inherited Wealth
First, a brief history of financial markets:
Stocks beat bonds over a 25- to 50-year time span.
Volatility of fixed income investments can equal that of equities in both directions.
The market (S&P 500 Index) can sell at book value, now at two times book. Bond yields can range from 1% to even 15% when inflation rages.
Thirty-year Treasuries, currently yield 2%, but in 1982 during FRB tightening hit 15%. Five-year paper, a comparable trajectory.
Inflation, now at 2%, rose to 8%, early eighties. It made our country uncompetitive, as in General Motors.
Dollar depreciation or appreciation can range between minus 25% to plus 25%.
Deep-seated financial risk lurks in almost every type of asset. Banks capitalized at $200 billion can self-destruct with hidden bad loans. American International Group needed a government package of $180 billion to remain solvent after guaranteeing sub-prime loans.
Municipalities, even countries, in turn can bankrupt themselves. Consider Greece and Venezuela. Brazil, Iceland and Thailand were world destabilizing forces through their overleveraged banks even though their GDPs were miniscule. Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento, possibly New Jersey currently and New York City some 20 years ago saw the wolf at their door.
Puerto Rico now hovers near basket case status, even shamelessly falsifying their hurricane mortality numbers.

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2020/01/22/the-top-12-401k-mistakes-to-avoid.aspx
The Top 12 401(k) Mistakes to Avoid
An employer-sponsored 401(k) account can be a wonderful thing, helping you amass hundreds of thousands of dollars for retirement. Don't make any of these mistakes, though, or they could cost you -- a lot.
Most people can't sock away $26,000 each year, but the table below shows how much you might amass over time investing various sums regularly and earning an average annual return of 8%:
Years of 8% Annual Growth
Balance if Investing $10,000/Year
Balance if Investing $15,000/Year
Balance if Investing $20,000/Year
5 years
$63,359
$95,039
$126,718
10 years
$156,455
$234,683
$312,910
15 years
$293,243
$439,865
$586,486
20 years
$494,229
$741,344
$988,458
25 years
$789,544
$1,184,316
$1,579,088
30 years
$1,223,459
$1,835,189
$2,446,918
401(k) mistakes that can cost you a lot
It's clear that you'll need to be diligent if you want to build wealth with your 401(k) account. You'll also want to avoid common pitfalls. Here are 12 common 401(k) mistakes that could cost you a lot, followed by a closer look at each:
Not participating in your 401(k) plan
Not contributing enough to your 401(k)
Not increasing your 401(k) contributions regularly
Not contributing enough to get the full employer 401(k) match
Loading up on too much company stock
Staying with your 401(k) plan's default investment choices
Picking the wrong mutual funds and investments
Ignoring fees in your 401(k)
Not considering the Roth 401(k)
Ignoring important 401(k) rules
Cashing out or borrowing from your 401(k)
Not appreciating the downsides of 401(k)s

@FD1000
I will agree that there are way too many average and below average investment articles written every day. I wrote "good", you wrote "average", neither of us wrote really great or outstanding. Are these words not close enough for the descriptors each of us used? Hell, I'll edit my "word" if that would be easier on the reader interpretation. I merely expressed that there may certain points that some investors of whatever aptitude may find that help inspire their further commitment to study and learn. I don't care what word or phrase they discover anywhere that may be the trigger.
Start early, of course; let compounding be the very big friend til the end.
This house, when it was applicable; had a minor Roth IRA in place. I send an email every 6 months to 12 families continuing to encourage the parents and their working children of whatever age to invest whatever their budget will allow into a 401k, 403b or minor Roth IRA.
I don't have enough time in my day to care to debate the "goods" or the "bads" of the linked article. We've decided that there is merit to some portions of the write, yes?
Good evening.

@johnN
You got it. Take a break, enjoy life; as it goes by much too fast.
If one can look back since the market melt and discovers meddling with one's investments can't match a decent balanced fund; then perhaps it is time to do 90% of a portfolio into this area, and go "play" with the other 10%.
Most of us, sooner or later will come to such a place in life.
A chart look at VFORX , FBALX, and VBINX