So here is the deal:
I have an insanely cheap loan (sub 0.5% APR) that is coming to maturity with monthly payments due until October 2022. I am also planning to go into a new mini-retirement at the end of this year (convertible to forever retirement if the stars line up or at least the world does not go up in flames). Between now and then, I expect to earn about the same value as the combination of my monthly expenses until the end of this year, plus the balance of the loan until maturity. I am trying to avoid tapping into my stache to make loan payments past November and I think my options are:
* A CD paying peanuts; or
* A bond ETF.
I don't necessarily need to make buckets of money. I just want to make more than the CD.
I understand that a bond ETF may have some downward movement, but I think it is a reasonable risk to take in order to have greater liquidity and the possibility of a bit more upside. A lot of the advice I have seen when people ask about parking money for things like a downpayment or similar potential event has involved CDs, but the bond ETF seems to make more sense to me. Am I missing something here?