What? My Bonds Are No Longer "Safe" ?

We are living in an unprecedented historic time that hardly any economist would have predicted even 3-5 years ago - one of near zero interest rates. This poses a double-edged challenge to investors, especially to those non-profit organizations that have always banked on the safety of bonds as their armor against market declines. Even those who depended on bonds for generating income to support operating budgets or simply for earning yield are scratching their heads. There's nowhere to go without the added risks of a new direction. How can the investors navigate this treacherous "safe" investment? What options are available to avoid the drag of bonds that are producing almost zero income? Perhaps what one needs is a different lens.