<prompt> Human: It seems to me that with the inevitable raising of interest rates, does it make more sense to own actual bonds that will mature, rather than own bond funds that will likely only depreciate. Does it make more sense to own individual bonds rather than bond funds?Heres my problem: I have no idea what bonds to buy. Much like individual stocks, I have no idea which individual bonds to purchase. I am aware of the popular funds like VBMFX, AGG, TLT, and BND, but it seems to make sense to put money in an investment that will actually mature.What good resources are there to learn how to buy bonds and which bonds are good to buy? I use Fidelity, if that makes any difference.tl;dr: Is it better to own individual bonds or bond funds? Why is one better than the other?  <response>: You seem to know the main difference. When you own actual bonds, you can hold to maturity and collect the yield. With bond funds, they are priced on their current value which is highly sensitive to the interest rate. With actual bonds, even if they lose value in a higher rate environment, you can hold through til maturity, however, the risk is higher because one bond has a higher chance to default than a basket of bonds. 