FYI: Beating the bond market is far more a matter of luck than skill. That is a surprising and somewhat disturbing statement, since beating the market is widely assumed to be the gold standard for determining whether a manager has ability.
It’s difficult to square that notion with the widely varying percentages of bond mutual fund managers who beat their benchmarks from year to year. In some calendar years this percentage is above 90%, and in other years it is zero.
Either you accept that managers are incredibly able in some years and suddenly inept in subsequent years, or you must conclude that something other than ability is at work.
That something else has a lot to do with whether interest rates have gone up or down over the period in question. Since almost all actively managed bond funds are hedged, even if only slightly, they stand to outperform their benchmarks whenever interest rates rise and bond prices fall. For the same reason, most such funds stand to lag their benchmarks whenever rates fall and bond prices rise.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-know-if-your-bond-fund-is-worth-the-money-2019-07-18/print

That sounds about right. I believe you could instead project a higher ROR and contribute less. You would still fund the pension plan up to the IRS limit ($225K/year pension @retirement). You would invest for higher returns and wouldn't even have to contribute as much to get the same level of benefits. But see below for risk.
Are you sure that you were being told that you should not invest for higher return, or did your actuaries say that they would use a lower rate of return for projections? They have to use a credible ROR for projections to determine the max you can contribute. The object is to reach the max permitted balance at retirement. The lower the assumed ROR, the more you can contribute, at least initially.
Regardless, the amount you can/must contribute is recalculated annually. If you project a low (but credible) ROR and perform better, your subsequent contributions will be reduced. If you project a higher (still credible) ROR and underperform, your subsequent min contribution requirements may be increased, possibly substantially.
I trust the actuaries explained to you how you are committing to maintaining high contribution levels for several years (otherwise you risk seeing the IRS disqualify your plan).
Here's a 2016 guide from from Schwab with an example of someone age 55, planning to retire at age 65. (See p.3). Schwab also uses a low projected ROR (here, 3.98%). Note that because you're younger (presumably with more years to retirement), all else being equal, you'd be able to contribute less than the $166K shown. So I'm curious where the $250K figure you gave came from.
https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-1604569/SLS25840-05-ST.pdf

PRSNX listed ytd returns as +5.1%? ... M* website is a disaster, but their statistic shows PRSNX up ytd by over 7%. What gives? When I log into my own acct, PRSNX shows up ytd +7.37%.

This article presents some thoughts from fund managers together with some investment ideas. A few excerpts:

“It’s hard for me to buy a utility company when I could buy a company like Home Depot,”
With negative bond yields in Japan and Europe, the Fed will likely keep U.S. interest rates low for a “very long time,”
“The low yields in the fixed-income market are making you take risk elsewhere.”
As a result, Clott has been reducing his exposure to Treasuries and adding shares of companies like AT&T Inc (T.N)
Michael Barclay, a portfolio manager of the $15.1 billion Columbia Dividend Income fund, said he is focusing on picking up income in the technology sector because its strong growth rates will allow companies to increase their dividend payments over time.

https://reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-weekahead/wall-street-week-ahead-prospect-of-fed-cut-pushing-dividend-investors-into-tech-energy-idUSKCN1UE19T

"compared to the flagship bond fund of the others." NEFZX? AUM $7.3B. LSBDX, $10.9B.
"'Dan Fuss pioneered the benchmark-agnostic, multisector approach to fixed-income that has defined the firm’s flagship Loomis Sayles Bond (LSBDX) since 1991." ... said Alfonzo Bruno, Manager Research Analyst at Morningstar.“
https://www.loomissayles.com/internet/InternetData.nsf/0/2F18CD9C1404261D852583F500624095/$FILE/MSTARAWARDSFORINVESTINGEXCELLENCE.pdf
FWIW, over the past five years (7/21/14 to 7/19/19) even NEFZX has outpaced EVABX, 9.21% annualized vs. 9.10%. LSBDX did better, at 11.32%. (It's still possible to coax this info out of M*, though not as easy as before.
As far as beating other funds for the first quarter of 2016 (one quarter, really?), I don't need M* to remind me that Gaffney went swinging for the fences. She was holding even more non-bond securities than LSBDX. For a short time it worked, until it didn't.
M*'s comments on her style: Concentrated bets on commodities have made for a wild ride.... The team ... often chooses to simultaneously invest in several correlated groups of assets .... As most commodity-related fare sold off in 2015, for example, the fund had nearly 20% [equity/bond] exposure ... in addition to 15% of its currency exposure in commodity-related currencies.... This explains the fund’s last place finish within the multisector bond Morningstar Category that year, when it trailed ... by 15 percentage points. ... the same profile ignited the fund’s strong subsequent rally."

@MikeM: Back in early 2016 she was beating the boys including Fuss, Gross, Hasenstab, Gundlach, Ivascyn.
Regards,
Ted
First Quarter 2016:
Gaffney: EVBAX 4.24%
Fuss: LSBRX 2.73%
Gross: JUCAX 2.18%
Gundlach: DBLTX 1.75%
Ivascyn: PIMIX 1.74%
Hasenstab TPINX -(0.14)%

FYI: (EVBAX is being mereged into EIAMX pending shareholder approval.)
Bond fund managers Kathleen Gaffney and Henry Peabody left Eaton Vance Corp at the end of June and have been replaced by existing members of the firm’s fixed-income team, a spokeswoman told Reuters.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-funds-eatonvance/two-top-fixed-income-portfolio-managers-exit-eaton-vance-idUSKCN1UE1U7
M* Snapshot EVBAX:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/evbax/quote

FYI: STOCKS MARCH ever higher, portfolios get ever fatter and yet the conundrum facing investors remains the same. We have no idea what will happen next to share prices—and no reliable way of figuring it out. Consider:
Regards,
Ted
https://humbledollar.com/2019/07/balancing-act/

FYI: This is a list of all mutual funds with some key metrics, such as their net assets under management (in millions), YTD return, required minimum retirement (IRA) investment, required minimum standard (taxable) investment, dividend yield, and expense ratio.
Regards,
Ted
https://mutualfunds.com/screener/#tm=screener&r=Webpage#1068&only=meta,data&page=1
Mutual Funds.Com: (The Entire Site)
https://mutualfunds.com/

I was a shareholder of more than one Bridgeway fund, including BRUSX, but performance has really disappointed. It has been a M* bottom quartile fund for 6 of the past 10 years and for BRAGX, it's 5 out of 10 years as a caboose. While they may have some value funds, BRUSX, BRAGX, and the former Micro Cap fund are/were all growth vehicles. Bridgeway checks a lot of boxes I like; they are small, shareholder friendly, quite transparent, and they do a lot for charity. Unfortunately, their numbers don't make the grade.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/856119/000085611919000019/fvitp10719.htm
497 1 fvitp10719.htm FVIT P1 07/19
FVIT P1 07/19
SUPPLEMENT DATED JULY 19, 2019
TO THE PROSPECTUS DATED MARCH 1, 2019
OF FRANKLIN VALUE INVESTORS TRUST
(Franklin MicroCap Value Fund)
Effective July 19, 2019, the prospectus is amended as follows:
I. The following replaces the first paragraph of the “Fund Summaries – Franklin MicroCap Value Fund” section of the prospectus:
Effective on or about September 19, 2019 (the “Re-Opening Date”), the Fund will re-open to new investors. Through the date before the Re-Opening Date, the Fund is closed to new investors, except certain Funds of Funds of Franklin Fund Allocator Series and new participants in employer sponsored retirement plans invested in the Fund as of February 19, 2013. The Franklin MicroCap Value Fund reserves the right to modify this policy at any time. For more information, please turn to "Fund Details - Franklin MicroCap Value Fund" beginning on page 26 of this Prospectus.
II. The following replaces the “Portfolio Manager” section in the “Fund Summaries – Franklin MicroCap Value Fund” section of the prospectus:
Portfolio Managers
Bruce C. Baughman, CPA
Portfolio Manager of Franklin Mutual and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (1995).
Oliver Wong, CFA
Portfolio Manager of Franklin Mutual and portfolio manager of the Fund since July 2019.
Bruce C. Baughman will be retiring on December 31, 2019. Effective December 31, 2019, it is anticipated that he will no longer be a portfolio manager of the Franklin MicroCap Value Fund, and Mr. Oliver Wong will become the sole portfolio manager.
III. The following replaces the first paragraph in the “Fund Details – Franklin MicroCap Value Fund” section of the prospectus:
Effective on or about September 19, 2019 (the “Re-Opening Date”), the Franklin MicroCap Value Fund (MicroCap Value Fund) will re-open to new investors. Through the date before the Re-Opening Date, the MicroCap Value Fund is closed to all new investors, except certain Funds of Funds of Franklin Fund Allocator Series. If you are an existing investor in the MicroCap Value Fund, you can continue to invest through exchanges and additional purchases, including purchases made through reinvestment of dividends or capital gains distributions. Employer sponsored retirement plans invested in the MicroCap Value Fund as of February 19, 2013 may open new accounts in the MicroCap Value Fund and invest on behalf of new participants in those retirement plans. Re-registration of accounts held by existing investors, if required for legal transfer or administrative reasons, will be allowed. The MicroCap Value Fund reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.
IV. The following replaces the ““Fund Details – Management – Bruce C. Baughman” section of the prospectus:
Bruce C. Baughman, CPA Portfolio Manager of Franklin Mutual
1
Mr. Baughman has been a lead portfolio manager of the MicroCap Value Fund since inception. He joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 1988.
Oliver Wong, CFA Portfolio Manager of Franklin Mutual
Mr. Wong has been a lead portfolio manager of the MicroCap Value Fund since July 2019. He joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 2012.
V. The following replaces the “Fund Details – Management – MicroCap Value Fund” section of the prospectus:
MicroCap Value Fund
Bruce C. Baughman and Oliver Wong. As co-lead portfolio managers, Messrs. Baughman and Wong are jointly and primarily responsible for the investments of the Fund. They have equal authority over all aspects of the Fund's investment portfolio, including but not limited to, purchases and sales of individual securities, portfolio risk assessment, and the management of daily cash balances in accordance with anticipated investment management requirements. The degree to which each portfolio manager may perform these functions, and the nature of these functions, may change from time to time.
Bruce C. Baughman will be retiring on December 31, 2019. Effective December 31, 2019, it is anticipated that he will no longer be a portfolio manager of the Franklin MicroCap Value Fund, and Mr. Oliver Wong will become the sole portfolio manager.
Please keep this supplement with your prospectus for future reference.
2

Yes, we are in process of winnowing out unneeded funds. "Kids" are now late 30s early 40s and these iras were started age 12 or so, so they have quite a collection. Now using a few vanguard indexes, keeping a few managed funds like Primecap POAGX, d&c DODGX, and one international either ARTGX or TWEEDY BROWNE at least for the time being.
Thanks to all for your responses. A few folks might recall my 'annual angst' posts at fund alarm and maybe brill when I was assembling this stuff. It wouldn't exists without the excellent advice I got

FYI: Actively managed funds have had outflows for the past four years straight, while index funds have gained
A decade after some of the nation’s largest U.S. banks helped to bring the financial system to its knees, a new kind of “too big to fail” risk may be emerging in a very different corner of the market: index funds.
Three index fund managers currently dominate ownership of shares of publicly traded companies in the U.S., and their control is likely to tighten in coming years, according to a June research report.
Concentrated ownership — what the authors refer to as the “Giant Three scenario” — means investors and policy makers need to keep a careful eye on the role of fund managers in upholding corporate governance, argue authors Lucian Bebchuk of Harvard Law School and Scott Hirst of Boston University in a working paper titled The Specter of the Giant Three.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/three-fund-managers-may-one-day-control-nearly-half-of-all-company-voting-shares-researchers-warn-2019-07-17/print

You may want consider doing a partial exchange, keeping a foothold in the fund while exchanging monies into a better performing Bridgeway fund such as the Blue Chip Fund or the like since it is in a non-taxable account.

If I wanted broad megacap exposure I would go with BRLIX in a heartbeat. A .15 ER, equal weighted, you get all the 'meat' and none of the 'filler' in my view. :)

One prediction/trend that's guaranteed to be 100% accurate & actionable: "Markets will fluctuate."
;)

I have it in both taxable and non-taxable accounts. Yes, the fund has been sub-par for last several years as value as been out of favor. I have a moderate amount in taxable and monthly DCA into non-taxable account.
While I have many other funds, this is more a risk taking investment. I was able to get in when they reorganized the micro-cap fund into the ultra-small company fund. Kicked myself for several years in the late 1990's for not investing when I came across the fund.
I think whatever you decide, will make you the happiest in the long run. I think by my not investing it when I could have has prevented me from selling it now.
You may want consider doing a partial exchange, keeping a foothold in the fund while exchanging monies into a better performing Bridgeway fund such as the Blue Chip Fund or the like since it is in a non-taxable account.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/slideshows/trends-for-investors-to-watch-in-the-second-half
7 Trends for Investors in the Second Half of 2019
LPL Research has several key predictions in its second-half outlook.

Since I wrote the article on Shielded Alpha ETFs they are discussing in this podcast, I feel comfortable in saying they didn't read it very closely. The ETF structure not only discloses all the holdings in its portfolio but uses a computer algorithm so that the weightings in the public holdings are at least 90% in line with the actual portfolio. Thus the scenario they posited in which one of these ETFs becomes like Sequoia Fund with 30% invested in a single stock without investors knowing anything about it is not possible. This strategy gives the manager 10%-of-the-portfolio wiggle room to change positions without investors knowing on a daily basis.

Updated: N-14 filing:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040612/000104061219000072/broadviewmadisonformn-14pe.htm
Incidentally, investors with Broadview Opportunity Fund, once converted can:
Comparison of Purchase and Redemption Procedures. The Acquired Fund has a minimum initial investment of $1,000 for all accounts and subsequent investments may be made with a minimum investment amount of $100 ($50 if purchases through the Automatic Investment Plan). The Class Y shares of the Acquiring Fund have a minimum initial investment of $25,000 for shares purchased directly from the Acquiring Fund. Class Y shares are also available for purchase by the following investors at a reduced minimum initial investment amount of $1,000 for non-retirement accounts and $500 for retirement accounts:
•Dealers and financial intermediates that have entered into arrangements with the Acquiring Fund’s distributor to accept orders on behalf of their clients.
•The fund-of-funds and managed account programs managed by Madison.
•Investment advisory clients of Madison and its affiliates.
•Members of the Board of Trustees of Madison Funds and any other board of trustees affiliated with Madison.
•Individuals and their immediate family members who are employees, directors or officers of the adviser, any subadviser, or any service provider of Madison Funds.
•Any investor, including their immediate family members, who owned Class Y shares of any Madison Mosaic Fund as of April 19, 2013.
•Any investor, including their immediate family members, who owned shares of the Acquired Fund as of the Effective Date.
The minimum subsequent investment for the Class Y shares of the Acquiring Fund is $50 for all purchases.