Thank you everyone for your input. A light bulb went off during reading and I realized that what folks are saying is that, if you hold a bond to maturity, you do not have any interest rate risk. You will collect your coupon and receive your principle at maturity (barring a default). You would only have interest rate risk if you planned to sell the bond prior to maturity. Therefore, the only reason to buy the RYJUX fund is if you want to speculate on an increase in interest rates, which we may be expecting but have no idea as to when.

I also appreciate the counseling about whether I should learn bond investing. I am more comfortable at this point with equities. However, I am 60 yrs old and retire from my current job in June. Therefore, I am reluctant to commit all of my portfolio to equities. Also, I have a strong aversion to mutual funds/ETFs because they often have to buy when the retail investors are buying and sell when the retail investors are selling (read: buy high/sell low). I will be thinking more about this over the next few months.