"Buy bonds," says income expert Neil George, adding "More and more folks are heading for the door on stocks and are moving toward quality."

The senior editor of Personal Finance explains, "This means bonds-but not just any bonds: government and upper-tier corporate bonds." Here's a trio of favorites.

"We start with AllianceBernstein Global High Income Fund (NYSE: AWF). This fund owns a collection of government and government agency bonds, along with some selected high-quality domestic and foreign corporates that add to our stability.

"We aren't just locked into the US and the US dollar; we have exposure to the best of Europe, Asia and elsewhere, too. The average duration (measurement of price against changes in yield) is a conservative but attractive 7.4 years.

"The fund generates a yield just shy of 8% and has given us a positive performance of near 100% during the past five years. It trades at a discount of more than 6% to meltdown value.

"Next is BlackRock Income Opportunity (NYSE: BNA). This fund maintains its primary holdings in government and government agency bonds both inside the US and from prime markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

"In addition to its government bonds, it also maintains quality corporate bonds with mostly investment-grade credit ratings, primarily A or better rated issues.

"Yielding more than 6.1%, the fund has generated a return of near 39% for the past five years, including a positive gain for the past year and a gain so far in 2008 near 5%. Still trading at a discount to its assets of more than 8%, BlackRock Income Opportunity is a buy.

"Third up is our government bond fund holding, PIMCO Strategic Global Government Fund (NYSE: RCS). This is the gold standard of bond funds. More than 70% of holdings are rated fully at AAA/Aaa, which reflects the government focus of the fund.

"And with modest duration of just more than four years, even if we get the direction of rates wrong, we won't get burned. Returns are more modest but more certain: Its gain over the past five years is in the upper 20% range.

"But with a year-to-date performance of more than 10.5 percent, it's the one to go to when the markets have issues. Paying us a yield of more than 7.4%, PIMCO Strategic Global Government Fund is a buy."