My bond allocation for a tax-sheltered retirement account is 60 percent in the Vanguard Total Bond Market (symbol: VBMFX), 20 percent in the Vanguard TIPS fund (symbol: VIPSX), and 20 percent in the Vanguard Corporate High Yield fund (symbol: VWEHX).
Essentially, an investor can just put money in an age-based investment option within a 529 college savings plan account and the money manager will automatically change the allocation of stocks and bonds to a mix that is less heavy in stocks and more heavy in bonds and cash as college draws near for the account beneficiary.