BMK answer is spot on. And in this post (quoted above) you answered your own question. If you just want to collect the interest, then you are a buy and hold bond investor. Buy treasuries, or corporates rated A, (or AA if that makes you feel more comfortable) and hold them to maturity. The day you buy, you will know your yield to maturity, (it will be on the confirmation, but you’ll know it when you buy the bond) and that’s all that should matter to you. The fluctuations you experience in principal will be a function of coupon rate, and time to maturity. But as you get closer to maturity date, the fluctuations will be less and less. Of course there is credit risk with corporates, but if you are buying A rated paper that is not on negative credit watch, it’s highly unlikely that would be an issue. one more thing… if you are buying for dividends, rather than capital appreciation, don’t buy bond ETFs or mutual funds . Buy individual bonds, ETFs will involve market risk. If rates go higher you will see principal value drop, and the principal won’t come back until rates drop down again, which could be years.