is a shorter term bond ladder better than a longer term one 
that depends on what an investor seeks generally speaking in a typical yield environment long term bonds offer higher yields than short term bonds so a longer ladder can increase the yields an investor can obtain as they reinvest however longer term bonds are more volatile than shorter term bonds so changing prices could be an issue inflation would be too shorter ladders tend to have lower yields and have less volatile price fluctuations 1 they can be less susceptible to inflation that could mean investors end up reinvesting a greater proportion of total capital the bottom linein retirement planning laddering describes when an investor buys bonds with various ascending maturity years as the bonds reach maturity one by one the investor reinvests them into bonds of equal maturity length when these bonds mature they are reinvested and the cycle continues using this strategy investors can maintain a steady cash flow and reduce interest rate and reinvestment risk investors can create short or long term ladders depending on the bond maturity length they select while long term bonds tend to have higher yields than short term ones they are also subject to more unpredictable price changes 