[quote=jimmyle]However, I read that bonds tend to go down if interest were to go up.[/quote]

Well, due to the time value of money the present value goes down when interest rates rise but unless the bond defaults you will make back what you put in plus the interest rate at the time you purchased. What you will have “lost” when the bond matures would be the difference of the money invested at the higher interest rate.

A good protection against interest rate fluctuations is a solid bond fund like the Vanguard Total Bond Fund. It has a very diversified base of bonds and a medium term duration that gets you a good mix of yield and safety. It reinvests at maturity so old low yield bonds get replaced by new higher yield bonds.

I’d also never recommend being out of stocks entirely, Come up with a stock / bond allocation you think matches your risk tolerance and then invest based on that.

I’d recommend Jack Bogles “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” as a rudimentary starting point for you. Betting all your chips on one thing (stocks, bonds, commodities) is extremely risky. Its best to invest in the whole market (total stock market, total international, total bond) and get the averaged gains that will get you that beats 99% of the long term returns of most mutual funds and requires very little work. Moving your money around based on your whims or “read” of the market is a losing proposition. Some may win over the short term due to variance/luck but over the long term it’s a losers game.