The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that despite rising interest rates, long-term investors will do fine with their bonds. The Globe's Rob Carrick writes that bonds will pay a reliable flow of interest and act as a cushion if stocks tank. The worst mistake for people who want to dump their bonds is substituting stocks for bonds. A better solution is to use a ladder of guaranteed investment certificates instead of bonds. GICs may not be cashable before maturity unless you pay a significant penalty, so do not use them if you need the liquidity you get with bonds and bond funds. However, if you are willing to lock in money, a GIC ladder can produce comparable or better returns than bonds and bond funds, with far less drama. Because GICs are not listed for trading, they do not fluctuate in price. Mr. Carrick made a five-year GIC ladder: year one: Bank of Nova Scotia at 2.05 per cent; year two: B2B Bank at 2.35 per cent; year three: Home Trust at 2.63 per cent; year four: VersaBank at 2.67 per cent; year five: Manulife Trust at 2.8 per cent. The average yield for this ladder is 2.5 per cent, which compares with an after-fee weighted average yield to maturity of 1.85 per cent for a popular bond ETF.