Over the past few years, I was getting ready for retirement by buying individual LT bonds, with coupons in the 5% range. I think I was as high as 35-40% in fixed income and cash. With rates going so low over the past year, I've re-thought my allocation, sold a couple of bonds for a gain and I'm waiting on the others to get called. Right now I'm 25% in fixed income and cash, with the majority in cash (used to be the majority in bonds). I'll keep a portion in cash that will be used in the next couple of years and the rest will be invested in index funds over the next 6 months.

I stayed in the market over the downturn, however I did re-position the portfolio over that period. The end result is I'm well above the value before the downturn and 2-3 times above the low point. The best thing is I'm above my goal for the portfolio at retirement.

At this point, fixed income isn't part of any future allocation. Once rates rise, I'll re-think my allocation, but it will never be the 50+% that most advisers recommend. I will admit that I'm getting lazy as I near retirement, so most investments will be index funds. I'll spend most of the time on asset allocation.