If it is in an IRA based account now, DO NOT withdraw the money even if to send it to a different institution. Let the financial houses do the transfer to a new IRA/retirement based account. Is taking possession allowed to transfer yes, can you get hammered if something happens, yes.

Look at places like Schwab or other full service brokers. You can buy bonds through Schwab online for something like Free to $1 per bond.

I agree, nobody knows where any of the markets are headed. Other than historically, the drift is up, there are periods where it has taken a long time to recover from a drawdown.

I'm not a mutual fund fan. Most don't outperform the index they are compared to over the long term. You pay someone to underperform? Yeah makes sense.