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55 Best Investing Books: Boost Your Money and Awesome Brain

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The best investing books can ease the learning to invest which can be daunting. There’s just so much stuff to keep track of right?

You got asset classes, compound returns, standard deviations, multi-tiered fees, 401k and I haven’t even started on derivatives like options and ETNs.

I got just the thing to cure all that.

I thought long and hard how to structure an overview of education of an aspiring superior investor like you.

I believe the best approach is to be blunt and honest about all the books out there on investing.

Here are the 55 best investing books. Books that actually help you invest filled concrete actionable advice. Have you read any of these?

Best Investing Books – Boost Your Money and Awesome Brain

Let’s divide best into four categories

So I divide the books into four categories according to their usefulness. Category 1 is the most useful. The usefulness of the books decreases as you move down the categories. The 4th category still holds some very interesting books, however! I haven’t put any books on here that I don’t personally have found useful.

I could have. I could have put Michael Covel’s Trend Following (one of my pet peeves) or the Market Wizards series – these are just financial porn books but are not at all helpful in actual investing.

If you want a list of really good financial porn books, let me know in the comments – I got recommendations on these by the truckload! Tchu-Tchu.

I define usefulness as a book that has some sort of practical advice. A book that urges you to do something about the long-term you, but doesn’t excite you so much that it urges you to do something all the time.

The four categories

The best investing books are divided into the following 4 categories:

  1. Best investing books that you should read right now! These are the books that I highly recommend. Books that are written by authorities on investing and that will help you invest both theoretically and practically.
  2. Best investing books that will actually help you invest better. These are the books that explain what investing is, maybe cover an asset allocation and steers you away from all the F.U.D out there.
  3. Best investing books that give you intelligent insight into investing. They may also provide well thought out evergreen general investing advice.
  4. Best investing books that seem like they would help you but really don’t, but that you are glad you read nonetheless. When you look up “best books on investing” this category are by far the largest. These are books that are theoretical. These are books that tout one strategy over another (often outdated or outcompeted). These are also the books without any strategy at all in them. They can also be vanity projects disguised as an actual book.

Ok, let’s get on with it.

(The lists are mostly sorted mostly alphabetically)

Category 1 – Best investing books that you should read right now!

  1. Allan Roth – How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street: Golden Rules Any Investor Can Learn.
  2. Andrew Tobias – The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need.
  3. Daniel Solin – The Smartest Portfolio You’ll Ever Own: A Do-It-Yourself Breakthrough Strategy.
  4. John C. Bogle – The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.
  5. Rick Ferri – The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work.
  6. Taylor Larimore – The Bogleheads’ Guide to the Three-Fund Portfolio: How a Simple Portfolio of Three Total Market Index Funds Outperforms Most Investors with Less Risk.
  7. William Bernstein – The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio.

Category 2 – Best investing books that will actually help you invest better.

  1. Bill Schultheis – The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On with Your Life.
  2. Craig Israelsen – 7Twelve: A Diversified Investment Portfolio with a Plan.
  3. Daniel Solin – The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read: The Proven Way to Beat the “Pros” and Take Control of Your Financial Future.
  4. David Swensen – Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment.
  5. Frank Armstrong III – The Informed Investor: A Hype-Free Guide to Constructing a Sound Financial Portfolio.
  6. Harry Browne – Fail-Safe Investing: Lifelong Financial Security in 30 Minutes.
  7. JL Collins – The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Roadmap to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life.
  8. John C. Bogle – Common Sense on Mutual Funds.
  9. Lars Kroijer – Investing Demystified: How to Invest Without Speculation and Sleepless Nights.
  10. Meb Faber – The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets.
  11. Taylor Larimore – The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing.
  12. Thomas J. Stanley – The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy.
  13. Tim Maurer – Simple Money: A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance.
  14. William Bernstein – Rational Expectations: Asset Allocation for Investing Adults.
  15. William Bernstein – The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk.
  16. William Bernstein – How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly. (Free download)
  17. William Bernstein – Deep Risk: How History Informs Portfolio Design.

Category 3 – Best investing books that give you a great overview of all things investing

  1. Burton Malkiel – A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing.
  2. Charles D. Ellis – Winning the Loser’s Game, 6th edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing Kindle Edition.
  3. Craig Rowland – The Permanent Portfolio: Harry Browne’s Long-Term Investment Strategy.
  4. Daniel Kahneman – Thinking, Fast and Slow.
  5. David Chilton – The Wealthy Barber.
  6. Ben Carlson – A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan.
  7. George Samuel Clason – The Richest Man in Babylon.
  8. James Montier – Behavioural Investing: A Practitioner’s Guide to Applying Behavioural Finance.
  9. James Montier – The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How Not To Be Your Own Worst Enemy.
  10. Jason Zweig – Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich.
  11. Jeremy J. Siegel – Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns & Long-Term Investment Strategies.
  12. Justin Fox – The Myth of the Rational Market.
  13. Larry Swedroe – Wise Investing Made Simple: Larry Swedroe’s Tales to Enrich Your Future.
  14. Larry Swedroe – Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today.
  15. Mark Hebner – Index Funds: The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors.
  16. Meb Faber – Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies.
  17. Paul Merriman – Financial Fitness Forever: 5 Steps to More Money, Less Risk, and More Peace of Mind.
  18. Paul Merriman – Get Smart or Get Screwed: How To Select The Best and Get The Most From Your Financial Advisor.
  19. Rick Ferri – All About Asset Allocation.
  20. Rick Ferri – The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds.
  21. Roger Gibson – Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk, Fifth Edition: Balancing Financial Risk.
  22. Tony Robbins – MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.
  23. Nick Murray – Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth.

Category 4 – Best investing books that seem like they would help you but really don’t, but that you are glad you read nonetheless

  1. Benjamin Graham – The Intelligent Investor.
  2. Lawrence A. Cunningham and Warren Buffett – The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren Buffett.
  3. Nassim Nicholas Taleb – The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.
  4. Peter Lynch – One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In.
  5. Richard Thaler – Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.
  6. Robert D. Arnott – The Fundamental Index: A Better Way to Invest.
  7. Wesley R. Gray – DIY Financial Advisor: A Simple Solution to Build and Protect Your Wealth.
  8. Phil Town – Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing – in Only 15 Minutes a Week!

What are you reading?

That’s a lot of books right?

If you’re just starting out, don’t let that scare you. Just pick up Alan Roth’s book or one of John C. Bogle’s and go from there. You won’t be disappointed and your wallet will thank you!

Which books do you think are the best investing books?

Asset Allocation of 332 Investment Portfolios

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This is the asset allocation of the portfolios found on portfolioeinstein.com.

We are currently tracking asset allocation and performance of 208 235 332 investment portfolios!

Here is the asset allocation of all 332 portfolios available on Portfolioeinstein.com. What does a Vanguard target date fund look like? Are they really special?

Asset Allocation of 332 Investment Portfolios

This is the asset allocation of the portfolios found on portfolioeinstein.com.

We are currently tracking asset allocation and performance of 208 235 332 investment portfolios!

You can find the best-in-class ETFs here.

The rebalance tool is here.

You can find the returns and risk metrics here.

You can find the best target date retirement fund in the article What Is The Best ETF And Mutual Fund?

To get an overview of the many target date fund providers we track you should read the article Target Date Fund Portfolios

If you are looking for lazy portfolios you should read 5 Reasons Why A Lazy Portfolio Is Right For You and Lazy Portfolios to get an overview.

 

7Twelve Portfolio by Craig Israelsen                    

You can find them in the article Craig Israelsen: 7Twelve Portfolio: Too Much Diversification?

 

Allan Roth Second Grader Portfolios

You can find them in the article Allan Roth Second Grader Portfolio: Beating The Hell Outa Wall Street?

 

Alpha Architect Robust Portfolio             

  • 7.50%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 7.50%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 10.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 7.50%    International Large Cap Value     (EFV)
  • 20.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 10.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 30.00%  Momentum Factor          (MTUM)
  • 7.50%    International Small Cap Value             (DLS)

Wes Gray and Jack Vogel over at AlphaArchitect constructed this portfolio. Alpha Architect normally employs mainly a tactical approach for portfolio construction. Alpha Architect has enjoyed a great deal of success because of their stock selection methodology, which they have documented several places. Among these are

They are all three extremely well researched and all evidence-based approaches to go beyond the buy and hold methodology. Their books are a nerd’s heaven.

 

Balanced Portfolios

You can find them in the article The Balanced Portfolio: Portfolio Grand Daddy

 

Ben Stein’s Perfect Portfolio                     

  • 20.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 4.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 20.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 12.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 20.00%  Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 4.00%    Energy  (XLE)

Ben Stein is a personal finance columnist and actor. He has written several books on personal finance and investing, the 2 that stand out are The Little Book of Bulletproof Investing: Do’s and Don’ts to Protect Your Financial Life and Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!
The above portfolio is from here.

 

Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio       

You can find them in the article Bill Schultheis: Coffeehouse Portfolio: Relax And Get On With Your Life Portfolio?

 

Bridgewater All Seasons Portfolio                           

  • 18.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 6.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 3.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 40.00%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 15.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 7.50%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 7.50%    Gold      (IAU)

This is also called a risk-parity portfolio. Bridgewater is the largest hedge fund manager in the world (2018) and offers this portfolio to guard against all possible economic scenarios. The above portfolio is featured in Meb Faber’s fantastic book Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies.

 

Burton Malkiel Portfolios

You can find them in the article Burton Malkiel Portfolio: No Random Returns Here

 

David Booth (DFA) Portfolios

You can find them in the article David Booth Portfolios: Home Runs For Days

 

David Swensen’s Portfolio                         

You can find it in the article David Booth Portfolios: Home Runs For Days

 

Dimensional 2030 Target Date Retirement Income Fund                              

  • 17.50%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 17.50%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 10.50%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.20%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 6.10%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 31.90%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 6.10%    2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Although late to the target-date retirement party DFA has launched a slew of target-date retirement funds. The funds from DFA are uncustomary lacking weighting towards value and small-cap. They also employ a good amount of TIPS. Don’t let that scare you. DFA employs Eugene Fama and Kenneth French on their investing committee. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in the Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Dimensional 2040 Target Date Retirement Income Fund                              

  • 26.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 26.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 15.50%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.60%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 7.70%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 8.60%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 8.60%    2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Although late to the target-date retirement party DFA has launched a slew of target-date retirement funds. The funds from DFA are uncustomary lacking weighting towards value and small-cap. They also employ a good amount of TIPS. Don’t let that scare you. DFA employs Eugene Fama and Kenneth French on their investing committee. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in the Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Dimensional 2050 Target Date Retirement Income Fund                              

  • 29.80%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 29.80%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 17.80%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 8.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 8.90%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 2.50%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 2.50%    2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Although late to the target-date retirement party DFA has launched a slew of target-date retirement funds. The funds from DFA are uncustomary lacking weighting towards value and small-cap. They also employ a good amount of TIPS. Don’t let that scare you. DFA employs Eugene Fama and Kenneth French on their investing committee. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in the Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Dimensional 2060 Target Date Retirement Income Fund                              

  • 29.80%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 29.80%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 17.80%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 8.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 8.90%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 2.50%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 2.50%    2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Although late to the target-date retirement party DFA has launched a slew of target-date retirement funds. The funds from DFA are uncustomary lacking weighting towards value and small-cap. They also employ a good amount of TIPS. Don’t let that scare you. DFA employs Eugene Fama and Kenneth French on their investing committee. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in the Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Dimensional Retirement Income Fund                  

  • 6.40%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 6.40%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 3.80%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 1.90%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 1.90%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 47.60%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 32.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)

Although late to the target-date retirement party DFA has launched a slew of target-date retirement funds. The funds from DFA are uncustomary lacking weighting towards value and small-cap. They also employ a good amount of TIPS. Don’t let that scare you. DFA employs Eugene Fama and Kenneth French on their investing committee. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in the Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

 

Fidelity Freedom Index 2030 (55 years old)                        

  • 51.46%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 22.11%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 24.03%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.05%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.29%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 1.06%    TIPS       (VTIP)

Fidelity Investments Inc. offers a slew of target-date retirement funds. Fidelity is a privately owned company being the 4th largest in assets under management. It is featured in the book Fidelity’s World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Fidelity Freedom Index 2040 (45 years old)                        

  • 62.11%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 26.58%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.97%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.02%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.32%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)

Fidelity Investments Inc. offers a slew of target-date retirement funds. Fidelity is a privately owned company being the 4th largest in assets under management. It is featured in the book Fidelity’s World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Fidelity Freedom Index 2050 (35 years old)                        

  • 62.11%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 26.58%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.97%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.02%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.32%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)

Fidelity Investments Inc. offers a slew of target-date retirement funds. Fidelity is a privately owned company being the 4th largest in assets under management. It is featured in the book Fidelity’s World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Fidelity Freedom Index 2060 (25 years old and younger)                              

  • 62.11%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 26.58%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.97%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.02%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.32%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)

Fidelity Investments Inc. offers a slew of target-date retirement funds. Fidelity is a privately owned company being the 4th largest in assets under management. It is featured in the book Fidelity’s World: The Secret Life and Public Power of the Mutual Fund Giant.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

Frank Armstrong Ideal Index Portfolio                  

  • 9.25%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.25%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 9.25%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 6.25%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 8.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 31.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 30.00%  Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)

Frank Armstrong is the author of The Informed Investor: A Hype-Free Guide to Constructing a Sound Financial Portfolio. In his book he presents a the Ideal Index Portfolio. Frank Armstrong’s portfolio is tilted towards small-cap and value stocks.

 

Gibson Five Asset Classes                           

  • 20.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 20.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 14.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 20.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 6.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Roger Gibson, supreme commander of asset classes, offer two portfolios in his excellent book  Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk, Fifth Edition: Balancing Financial Risk. It is the go-to book for all things related to asset allocation. Richard Ferri’s All About Asset Allocation is a close second though less detailed.

 

Gibson Four Asset Classes                          

  • 25.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 25.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 25.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 25.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)

Roger Gibson, supreme commander of asset classes, offer two portfolios in his excellent book  Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk, Fifth Edition: Balancing Financial Risk. It is the go-to book for all things related to asset allocation. Richard Ferri’s All About Asset Allocation is a close second though less detailed.

 

Harry Markowitz’s “Father of Modern Portfolio Theory” Portfolio                           

  • 50.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 50.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

Father of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is not as you would expect a puzzle of calculations of mean-variance. Instead, Markowitz has stated he splits his portfolio evenly in bonds and stocks. There is a great piece on Harry Markowitz in Justin Fox’ book The Myth of the Rational Market.

 

Index Fund Advisors Portfolios

You can find them in the article  Index Fund Advisors: Market Beating Portfolios.

 

iShares Lifepath Fund                   

  • 22.09%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 4.15%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 0.51%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 13.67%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 50.82%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 8.76%    TIPS       (VTIP)

The iShares target-date funds are no-fuzz straight up simple funds that give you broad exposure with a glide path towards retirement. You can see them here.
iShares is the boutique of ETFs owned by Blackrock Inc. Blackrock is the world largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).
You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

iShares LifePath Index 2030 Fund (55-year-old)                

  • 36.98%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 2.32%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 7.77%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 1.56%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 21.20%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 26.03%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 4.14%    TIPS       (VTIP)

The iShares target-date funds are no-fuzz straight up simple funds that give you broad exposure with a glide path towards retirement. You can see them here.
iShares is the boutique of ETFs owned by Blackrock Inc. Blackrock is the world largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).
You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

iShares LifePath Index 2040 Fund (45-year-old)                

  • 46.60%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 1.08%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 13.03%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 2.19%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 26.32%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.40%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.38%    TIPS       (VTIP)

The iShares target-date funds are no-fuzz straight up simple funds that give you broad exposure with a glide path towards retirement. You can see them here.
iShares is the boutique of ETFs owned by Blackrock Inc. Blackrock is the world largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).
You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

iShares LifePath Index 2050 Fund (35-year-old)                

  • 50.02%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 0.76%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 16.24%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 1.13%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 30.76%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 1.09%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

The iShares target-date funds are no-fuzz straight up simple funds that give you broad exposure with a glide path towards retirement. You can see them here.
iShares is the boutique of ETFs owned by Blackrock Inc. Blackrock is the world largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).
You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

iShares LifePath Index 2060 Fund (25-year-old)                

  • 49.69%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 0.97%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 16.17%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 32.15%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 1.02%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

The iShares target-date funds are no-fuzz straight up simple funds that give you broad exposure with a glide path towards retirement. You can see them here.
iShares is the boutique of ETFs owned by Blackrock Inc. Blackrock is the world largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).
You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 10% Stocks                 

  • 15.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 59.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 26.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 15% Stocks                 

  • 15.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 5.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 55.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 25.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 20% Stocks                 

  • 26.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 10.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 41.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 23.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 36% Stocks                 

  • 28.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 12.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 38.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 22.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 40% Stocks                 

  • 31.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 31.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 18.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 51% Stocks                 

  • 33.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 22.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 33.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 12.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 55% Stocks                 

  • 31.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 31.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 18.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 65% Stocks                 

  • 40.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 25.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 25.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 70% Stocks                 

  • 41.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 29.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 22.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 8.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 80% Stocks                 

  • 44.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 36.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 15.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 85% Stocks                 

  • 48.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 37.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 15.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 91% Stocks                 

  • 50.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 41.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.00%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

BlackRock Model Portfolio 100% Stocks                               

  • 57.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 43.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)

The BlackRock model portfolio tool is available to advisors building portfolios for their clients. The model portfolios are simple 3-4 fund portfolios so they are easy to implement and maintain. You can try out the tool here. The model portfolios normally use iShares ETFs as building blocks. Using Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

 

JL Collins, Simple Path to Wealth, Wealth Building Portfolio                      

  • 100.00%               US Total Stock Market   (VTI)

JL Collins is a personal finance writer and author of the wonderful book The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life. It is highly recommended – also as an audiobook! His basic portfolio consists of one fund, while his preservation portfolio adds a bond fund to the mix. His how-to-invest series on his blog is worth your time.

 

JL Collins, Simple Path to Wealth, Wealth Preservation Portfolio                             

  • 75.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 25.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

JL Collins is a personal finance writer and author of the wonderful book The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life. It is highly recommended – also as an audiobook! His basic portfolio consists of one fund, while his preservation portfolio adds a bond fund to the mix. His how-to-invest series on his blog is worth your time.

 

The Larry Swedroe Portfolios

These have all gotten a new home over at Larry Swedroe Portfolio: Nemesis of Low Returns

 

Meb Faber’s Global Asset Allocation Portfolio (GAA)                     

  • 18.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 4.50%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 13.50%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 4.50%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 13.50%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 19.80%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 5.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 5.00%    Gold      (IAU)
  • 1.80%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 14.40%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Meb Faber, Quant and productivity-meister galore regularly backtests portfolios. In his fantastic book Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies, he has collected a host of different portfolios playing on the same theme – well-diversified portfolios.

 

Meb Faber’s Global Tactical Asset Allocation (GTAA) Conservative                          

  • 3.75%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 3.75%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 15.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 7.50%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.50%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 10.00%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 10.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 10.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 15.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 10.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 7.50%    Momentum Factor          (MTUM)

In his very popular paper A Quantitative Approach to Tactical Asset Allocation Meb Faber, quant and co-founder of Cambria, suggests multiple buy-and-hold portfolios in addition to his now trademark trend following strategy. Meb is known for favoring value and momentum strategies. I recommend all of Meb Faber’s books as he doesn’t waste your time. Some of the best ones include  Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies and The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets.

 

Meb Faber’s Global Tactical Asset Allocation (GTAA) Moderate                

  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 20.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 10.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.00%    Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 5.00%    Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 5.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 20.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 5.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 10.00%  Momentum Factor          (MTUM)

In his very popular paper A Quantitative Approach to Tactical Asset Allocation Meb Faber, quant and co-founder of Cambria, suggests multiple buy-and-hold portfolios in addition to his now trademark trend following strategy. Meb is known for favoring value and momentum strategies. I recommend all of Meb Faber’s books as he doesn’t waste your time. Some of the best ones include  Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies and The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets.

 

Meb Faber’s Ivy 10 Portfolio                     

You can find them in the article Meb Faber: Ivy 10 Portfolio: Expand And Conquer Yale And Harvard

 

Meb Faber’s Ivy 5 Portfolio                        

You can find them in the article Meb Faber’s Ivy 10 Portfolio: Expand And Conquer Yale And Harvard

 

Meb Faber IVY 20 portfolio                        

  • 5.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.00%    US Mid Cap         (IJH)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 5.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 5.00%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 5.00%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Timber (TREE)
  • 5.00%    Infrastructure
  • 20.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 5.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 5.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)
  • 5.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

Co-written with Eric Anderson, Meb Faber’s book The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets lays out a strategy that attempts to mirror the investment portfolios of the Ivy Leagues Endowment fund like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. Especially Yale’s performance has been envious. Yale’s Endowment is led by David Swensen who also has a recommend portfolio on this site.

 

Meb Faber’s Risk Parity Portfolio                            

  • 7.50%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 7.50%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 35.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 35.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 5.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 5.00%    Gold      (IAU)

Meb Faber’s risk parity portfolio from his blog where he compares it to Ray Dalio’s All Weather Portfolio (also on this site). All of Meb Faber’s books are worth a read and especially Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies and The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets.

 

Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio, Conservative                            

  • 8.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 1.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 1.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 1.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 17.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 24.00%  Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 10.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 4.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 12.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 12.00%  Mortgages (VMBS)

Merrill Lynch offers these portfolios through their Select Edge Portfolios. Their portfolios are some of the more complex ones with many asset classes. They are also the only ones including mortgages in their portfolios as a distinct asset class. In addition, their most aggressive portfolio holds 16% in bonds/cash which is unusual for that level of risk.

 

Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio, Moderately Conservative                   

  • 9.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 14.00%  US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 1.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 1.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 3.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 9.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 17.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 2.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 15.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 5.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 9.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 15.00%  Mortgages (VMBS)

Merrill Lynch offers these portfolios through their Select Edge Portfolios. Their portfolios are some of the more complex ones with many asset classes. They are also the only ones including mortgages in their portfolios as a distinct asset class. In addition, their most aggressive portfolio holds 16% in bonds/cash which is unusual for that level of risk.

 

Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio, Moderate  

  • 12.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 19.00%  US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 13.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 14.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 2.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 14.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 4.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 2.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 11.00%  Mortgages (VMBS)

Merrill Lynch offers these portfolios through their Select Edge Portfolios. Their portfolios are some of the more complex ones with many asset classes. They are also the only ones including mortgages in their portfolios as a distinct asset class. In addition, their most aggressive portfolio holds 16% in bonds/cash which is unusual for that level of risk.

 

Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio, Moderately Aggressive                       

  • 16.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 25.00%  US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 7.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 17.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 9.00%    Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 2.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 9.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 3.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 1.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 7.00%    Mortgages (VMBS)

Merrill Lynch offers these portfolios through their Select Edge Portfolios. Their portfolios are some of the more complex ones with many asset classes. They are also the only ones including mortgages in their portfolios as a distinct asset class. In addition, their most aggressive portfolio holds 16% in bonds/cash which is unusual for that level of risk.

 

Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio, Aggressive                

  • 19.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 29.00%  US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 9.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 21.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 5.00%    Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 2.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 4.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 1.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 1.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 3.00%    Mortgages (VMBS)

Merrill Lynch offers these portfolios through their Select Edge Portfolios. Their portfolios are some of the more complex ones with many asset classes. They are also the only ones including mortgages in their portfolios as a distinct asset class. In addition, their most aggressive portfolio holds 16% in bonds/cash which is unusual for that level of risk.

 

Morningstar Portfolios, including portfolios made by Christine Benz

You can find all the Morningstar portfolios over at Morningstar Portfolios: A Laser Beam On Your Returns

 

Muhammad El-Erian’s Portfolio               

  • 18.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 13.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 18.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 15.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 6.00%    Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 11.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 13.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 6.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)

Mohamed El-Erian is former CEO of the PIMCO. PIMCO has 1.7 Trillion dollars under management. In El-Erian’s book When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change, he presents a shock absorbent long-term portfolio. He is often attributed with coming up the expression “new normal” in the post-financial crisis.

 

Paul Merriman’s Portfolios

You can find them in the article Paul Merriman Portfolios: Unbiased Outperformance

 

Paul Merriman’s Ultimate Portfolio                       

You can find them in the article Paul Merriman Portfolios: Unbiased Outperformance and Paul Merriman’s Ultimate Portfolio: 10 X 10 = Winner?

This is the portfolio that Paul Merriman features on MarketWatch. It shows the power of diversification that brings home very good returns while keeping risk in check.

 

Rick Ferri Portfolios

You can find them in the article Rick Ferri Portfolio, Can It Bring You Enough Returns?

 

Rob Arnott’s Portfolio                  

  • 10.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 10.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 10.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 10.00%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 20.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 10.00%  Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 10.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 20.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Robert Arnott of Research Affiliates has proposed this portfolio in an article. Rob Arnott is a strong advocate for smart beta strategies his book The Fundamental Index: A Better Way to Invest explains how to get better returns from a factor-based index than a market cap weighted index can provide.

 

Robo advisor Betterment 100                     

  • 34.60%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 9.20%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 7.50%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 6.40%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 27.30%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 15.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 90                     

  • 30.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 8.20%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.70%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 5.70%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 24.60%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 14.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 3.50%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.60%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.20%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 2.90%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 1.70%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Betterment 80                       

  • 27.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 7.20%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.90%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 22.10%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 12.80%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 6.80%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 2.40%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 7.20%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 3.60%    Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo advisor phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 70                     

  • 23.40%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 6.30%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.10%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 4.30%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 19.30%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 11.60%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 9.80%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 3.80%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 10.90%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 5.50%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Betterment 60                       

  • 19.80%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 5.30%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 4.30%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 3.60%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 16.70%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 10.30%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 12.30%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 14.70%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo advisor phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 50                     

  • 16.20%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.40%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 3.60%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 13.70%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 9.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 14.70%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 6.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 18.40%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 10.70%  Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Betterment 40                       

  • 12.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 3.40%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 2.80%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 2.40%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 11.10%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.40%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 7.00%    Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 15.10%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 6.60%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 19.50%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 11.80%  Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo advisor phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 30                     

  • 9.50%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 2.60%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 2.10%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 1.80%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 8.30%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.60%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 24.20%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 11.40%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 6.10%    Short-Term Bonds
  • 6.10%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 5.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 14.60%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 8.80%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 20                     

  • 6.30%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 1.70%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 1.40%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 1.20%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 5.60%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 3.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 42.80%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 7.60%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.70%  Short-Term Bonds
  • 10.70%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 3.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 9.80%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 5.90%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 10                     

  • 3.20%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 0.90%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 0.50%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 0.60%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.80%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 1.90%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 61.40%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 3.80%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 15.40%  Short-Term Bonds
  • 15.40%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 1.70%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 4.90%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 2.90%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo Advisor Betterment 0 = 100% Bonds                          

  • 80.00%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 20.00%  Short-Term Bonds
  • 20.00%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)

Betterment is probably the most well-known fin-tech company. It started the robo-advisor phenomenon. They have 13 Billion assets under management as per 2017. Their portfolios are well diversified and are some of the few that have emerging market bonds as an asset class. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Wealthfront 100                   

  • 20.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 16.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 18.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 31.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

The robo advisor firm came late to the robo advisor party but have enjoyed an immense amount of success. One of the giant of the investment world, Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, is the Chief Investment Officer at Wealthfront. Charles Ellis, another investing giant, and author of Winning the Loser’s Game, Seventh Edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing is on the advisory board. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Wealthfront 80                     

  • 22.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 15.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 19.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 16.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 6.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 7.00%    Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

The robo advisor firm came late to the robo advisor party but have enjoyed an immense amount of success. One of the giant of the investment world, Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, is the Chief Investment Officer at Wealthfront. Charles Ellis, another investing giant, and author of Winning the Loser’s Game, Seventh Edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing is on the advisory board. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

Robo advisor Wealthfront 60                     

  • 19.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 11.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 16.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 12.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 19.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

The robo advisor firm came late to the robo advisor party but have enjoyed an immense amount of success. One of the giant of the investment world, Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, is the Chief Investment Officer at Wealthfront. Charles Ellis, another investing giant, and author of Winning the Loser’s Game, Seventh Edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing is on the advisory board. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

Robo advisor Wealthfront 40                     

  • 18.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 12.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 31.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

The robo advisor firm came late to the robo advisor party but have enjoyed an immense amount of success. One of the giant of the investment world, Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, is the Chief Investment Officer at Wealthfront. Charles Ellis, another investing giant, and author of Winning the Loser’s Game, Seventh Edition: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing is on the advisory board. If you want to gain a greater insight into the robo-advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

 

S&P 500                               

  • 100.00%               US Large Cap      (VOO)

This is the most common benchmark. This is what active managers are trying to beat when they are trying to beat the “market”. It consists of the 500 largest companies in the U.S. based on market capitalization. It was the first index to be passively indexed and tracked by a fund. This was done by the Vanguard Index Trust, later renamed to Vanguard 500 Index Fund. John Bogle founder of Vanguard describes this it in his book Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Aggressive Growth               

  • 33.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 13.00%  US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 31.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 9.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 4.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Balanced With Growth                       

  • 22.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 7.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 20.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 26.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 6.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 1.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 2.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 1.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Growth                      

  • 29.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 9.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 26.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 12.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 6.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 1.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Balanced   

  • 15.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 13.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 4.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 33.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 15.00%  Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 5.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 1.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 2.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 2.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Income with Growth                            

  • 9.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 8.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 37.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 20.00%  Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 1.00%    Commodities     (DBC / GSG)
  • 4.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 10.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 4.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Managed Portfolio, Conservative Income                           

  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 40.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 25.00%  Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 7.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 18.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 5.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

 

Schwab Target Date Fund 2020 (25 years old)

  • 50.32%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 6.84%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 4.82%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 7.63%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 26.13%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 0.18%    Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 4.08%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

This is part of Charles Schwab’s target date funds. The can be bought as one-fund solutions.

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Schwab Target Date Fund 2030 (35 years old)                   

  • 48.43%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 6.24%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 4.57%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 6.90%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 25.02%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 0.30%    Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 7.73%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.81%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)

This is part of Charles Schwab’s target date funds. The can be bought as one-fund solutions.

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Schwab Target Date Fund 2030 (55 years old)                   

  • 39.28%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 3.65%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 3.44%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 3.49%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 18.65%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 1.92%    Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 26.46%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 3.11%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)

This is part of Charles Schwab’s target date funds. The can be bought as one-fund solutions.

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Schwab Target Date Fund 2040 (45 years old)                   

  • 45.46%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.15%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 4.20%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 5.64%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 22.95%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 0.74%    Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 14.62%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.24%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)

This is part of Charles Schwab’s target date funds. The can be bought as one-fund solutions.

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks with a brokerage and an ETF business. Schwab brokerage offer to manage your portfolios according to your risk level using a number of portfolios. Schwab also offers one-fund target-date retirement funds. The Charles Schwab story is interesting in itself and is vividly described in Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Scott Adams Dilbert’s Portfolio                

  • 50.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 50.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)

Scott Adams, author of the comic strip Dilbert suggested this simple portfolio. As of 2017, it is the 3rd best performing portfolio on portfolioeinstein.com. It is also the one with the highest standard deviation. Scott Adams’ portfolio is as interesting as his own life has been. He has written a wonderful little book,  How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life that teaches that failure is really the preamble to success. This goes for investing as well.

 

Scott Burns Couch Potato                           

You can find them in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Margaritaville                          

  • 33.33%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 33.33%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 33.33%  TIPS       (VTIP)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Four Square                              

  • 25.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 25.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 25.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 25.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Five Fold                    

  • 20.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 20.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 20.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 20.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Six Ways from Sunday                          

  • 16.70%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 16.66%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 16.66%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 16.66%  Energy  (XLE)
  • 16.66%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 16.66%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Seven Value Portfolio                          

  • 14.50%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 14.25%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 14.25%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 14.25%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 14.25%  Energy  (XLE)
  • 14.25%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 14.25%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the “Couch Potato Portfolio” investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous couch potato portfolio, he suggests 9 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class.

 

Scott Burns Seven Value 2 Portfolio                       

  • 12.50%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 12.50%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 12.50%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 12.50%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 12.50%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 12.50%  Energy  (XLE)
  • 12.50%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 12.50%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns Nine Emerging Portfolio                      

  • 11.12%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 11.11%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 11.11%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 11.11%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 11.11%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 11.11%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 11.11%  Energy  (XLE)
  • 11.11%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 11.11%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

Scott Burns 10 Speed Portfolio                 

  • 10.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 10.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 10.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 10.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 10.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 10.00%  International Large Cap Value     (EFV)
  • 10.00%  Energy  (XLE)
  • 10.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 10.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Scott Burns, author of Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard is a newspaper columnist and author who has covered personal finance and investments for over 30 years. He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. In addition to the now-famous Couch Potato Portfolio, he suggests 8 other portfolios on his AssetBuilder asset manager site. The 9 portfolios have a hierarchical nature to them each adding another asset class. We have them profiles in the article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 10

  • 7.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 3.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 10.00%  Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)
  • 60.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 20.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 20

  • 14.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 6.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 60.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 20.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 30

  • 21.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 9.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 50.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 20.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe PriceRowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 40

  • 28.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 12.00%  International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 43.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 17.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 50

  • 35.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 38.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 12.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 60

  • 42.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 18.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 33.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 7.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 70

  • 49.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 21.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 27.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 3.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 80

  • 56.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 24.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 20.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 90

  • 63.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 27.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 10.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio, Model 100

  • 70.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 30.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)

T. Rowe Price is a US-based asset management company with 900 Billion dollars under management (2017). They offer a host of services. Managed portfolios being one of them. The portfolios presented here are the asset allocations which the model portfolios are benchmarked against. The managed portfolios would most likely be using their own actively managed funds to achieve similar portfolios.

 

TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio Aggressive                            

  • 53.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 32.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 12.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 2.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

TD Ameritrade is a US brokerage that also offers to manage your portfolios. These are the asset allocations of those portfolios.

 

TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio Growth                   

  • 43.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 27.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 26.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 3.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

TD Ameritrade is a US brokerage that also offers to manage your portfolios. These are the asset allocations of those portfolios.

 

TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio Moderate Growth                             

  • 31.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 19.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 44.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 5.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

TD Ameritrade is a US brokerage that also offers to manage your portfolios. These are the asset allocations of those portfolios.

 

TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio Moderate                              

  • 25.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 53.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 6.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

TD Ameritrade is a US brokerage that also offers to manage your portfolios. These are the asset allocations of those portfolios.

 

TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio Conservative                       

  • 16.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 9.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 66.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 8.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

TD Ameritrade is a US brokerage that also offers to manage your portfolios. These are the asset allocations of those portfolios.

 

Ted Aronson Family Taxable Portfolio                  

  • 5.00%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 10.00%  US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 15.00%  Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 5.00%    European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 10.00%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 5.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG / JNK)
  • 15.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

Ted Aronson and his AJO Partners manage about $25 billion of institutional assets. Aronson puts his family’s taxable money in this well-diversified portfolio of no-load index funds.

 

The Andrew Tobias Portfolio                     

  • 33.33%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 33.33%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 33.33%  TIPS       (VTIP)

Andrew Tobias of the best-selling book The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need recommends this 3-fund portfolio in his book. It is very similar to the Bogleheads 3-fund portfolio detailed in the post Three Fund Portfolio: Did Awesomeness Find Trinity?

 

The Global Market Portfolio, (“GMP”) CREDIT SUISSE                    

  • 20.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.00%    REITs     (VNQ)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 15.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 15.00%  Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 22.00%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 2.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 16.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This is how the all the global market are divided according to Credit Suisse courtesy of Mab Faber in his book Global Asset Allocation: A Survey of the World’s Top Asset Allocation Strategies.

 

The Global Market Portfolio, Financial Engines 2007                       

  • 13.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 13.10%  US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 3.70%    US Mid Cap Value            (JKI)
  • 3.70%    US Mid Cap Growth        (IJK)
  • 1.80%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 1.80%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 2.40%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 8.10%    Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 15.80%  European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 1.10%    Long Term Treasuries        (TLT)
  • 5.30%    Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)
  • 6.20%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 2.60%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 3.40%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 18.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

Based on data working within Financial Engines Christopher Jones, Chief Investment Officer at the firm presented this portfolio in his book The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines. Financial Engines is the investment advisory firm you have never heard about. They are however the largest independent advisory firm in the US. It was taken private in 2018 and merged with Edelman financial services.

 

The Jack Bogle Portfolio                              

  • 60.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 40.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

John Bogle, supreme commander and hero of the investing world, advocates holding bonds your age in proportion to your age. Your age = the percentage of bonds you should hold. The rest should be investing in a broadly diversified index fund. John Bogle’s book Common Sense on Mutual Funds is an absolute classic that you need to read.

 

The Marc Faber Portfolio                            

  • 13.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 25.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 8.00%    International Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 4.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 25.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 25.00%  Gold      (IAU)

Faber is the legendary permabear and author of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report.

 

The Permanent Portfolio by Harry Browne                         

You can find them in the article The Permanent Portfolio: Do Well No Matter What Happens.

 

The Talmud Portfolio                    

  • 34.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 33.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 33.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

“Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business and a third let him keep by him in reserve.” So it is written in the Talmud, a record of debates among rabbis about Jewish law dating as early as 1200 B.C. And so it is written on Page 1 of Asset Allocation: Balancing Financial Risk, Fifth Edition: Balancing Financial Risk by Roger Gibson, supreme commander of asset allocation.

 

Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio                     

  • 7.50%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 7.50%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 7.50%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 7.50%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 15.00%  International Large Cap Value     (EFV)
  • 15.00%  International Small Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 40.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasuries       (VGIT)

In his fantastic little book Simple Money: A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance, Tim Maurer of Buckingham Wealth Management (same firm as Larry Swedroe) present this portfolio. His book is very well worth a read. What is it with these guys at Buckingham? Do they all write good books?

 

Time.Inc Money Portfolio 1, Simple and Cheap                 

  • 30.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 10.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 20.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 30.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This portfolio along with the one below appeared on Timeinc.com money blog. It’s basically a 60/40 portfolio.

 

Time.Inc Money Portfolio 2, Tilt Toward Value                 

  • 25.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 10.00%  REITs     (VNQ)
  • 15.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 30.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This portfolio along with the one below appeared on Timeinc.com money blog. It’s basically a 60/40 portfolio with a tilt toward value.

 

Tony Robbins / Ray Dalio Portfolio                         

You can find them in the article Tony Robbins and Ray Dalio Portfolio: Master Your Portfolio

 

Total US Stock Market                  

  • 100.00%               US Total Stock Market   (VTI)

Not so much a portfolio as a single stock fund. The total stock market is often a benchmark for fund managers tracking the Wilshire 5000. The difference between the S&P 500 and the total stock market is minuscule but noticeable due to the inclusion of value and small cap stocks in the total stock market which increases returns marginally. The is the portfolio of JL Collins of The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life recommends as well as the one that John Bogle, supreme commander, and hero of the investing world recommend in Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

TrevH from Bogleheads Portfolio                            

  • 25.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 25.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 25.00%  International Large Cap Value     (EFV)
  • 25.00%  International Small Cap Blend             (VSS)

The common theme of slicing and dicing made TrevH of the Boglehead forum come up with a simpler portfolio of Paul Merriman’s Ultimate portfolio. The Boglehead forum is dedicated to spreading the investing philosophy of Vanguard’s founder John Bogle, supreme commander, and hero of the investing world. The Bogleheads have published the awesome book The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing which is a fantastic primer on investing. If you’re thinking about retirement you should definitely pick up their book on retirement The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning authored by Taylor Larimore and Rick Ferri among others.

 

Vanguard LifeStrategy Conservative Growth (40/60)                      

  • 24.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 16.10%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 42.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 17.90%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This one-stop shop fund from Vanguard gives you full divarication in one fund. It is not a target-date fund as the asset allocation does not have a glide path. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder John Bogle is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (80/20)                      

  • 48.10%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 31.90%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 14.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 6.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This one-stop shop fund from Vanguard gives you full divarication in one fund. It is not a target-date fund as the asset allocation does not have a glide path. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder John Bogle is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (20/80)       

  • 12.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 8.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 56.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 24.00%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This one-stop shop fund from Vanguard gives you full divarication in one fund. It is not a target-date fund as the asset allocation does not have a glide path. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder John Bogle is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

Vanguard LifeStrategy Moderate Growth (60/40)                            

  • 36.10%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 24.10%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 27.90%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 11.90%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This one-stop shop fund from Vanguard gives you full divarication in one fund. It is not a target-date fund as the asset allocation does not have a glide path. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder John Bogle is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

 

Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 (55 years old)               

  • 42.20%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 28.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 20.90%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 8.90%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This is Vanguard’s stab at target-date retirement funds.  They are simple and well diversified. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder, John Bogle, is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 (45 years old)               

  • 51.20%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 33.90%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 10.50%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 4.40%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This is Vanguard’s stab at target-date retirement funds.  They are simple and well diversified. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder, John Bogle, is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 (35 years old)               

  • 54.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 35.90%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 7.10%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 3.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This is Vanguard’s stab at target-date retirement funds.  They are simple and well diversified. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder, John Bogle, is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 (25 years old)               

  • 53.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 36.10%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 7.10%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 2.90%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)

This is Vanguard’s stab at target-date retirement funds.  They are simple and well diversified. Vanguard has 5.1 Trillion dollars under management. The founder, John Bogle, is the supreme commander and hero of the investing world. If you only read two books on investing the second one would be Bogle’s Common Sense on Mutual Funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Warren Buffett’s Portfolio                         

  • 90.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 10.00%  Short Term Treasuries       (VGSH)

In the 2013 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett recommended that a trust is set up for his wife. This trust would invest 90% in a large-cap low-cost index fund (he recommended Vanguard) and 10% in short-term government bonds. He has since on a number of occasions reiterated this with the addition that average investors would be best served by low-cost index funds. You can read the entire letter here or get the deluxe version The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America.

 

William Bernstein’s Portfolios

You can find asset allocation for all of William Bernstein’s portfolios over at William Bernstein Portfolios: The Portfolio Giant

 

Dan Solin Portfolios

These fantastic and varied portfolios have a new home over at Daniel Solin Portfolios: Smart Investing, Simple

 

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2030                             

  • 48.70%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 14.90%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.40%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 1.30%    Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 28.40%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 1.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)

TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017). These target date funds are all constructed using index funds. They also have other complex target date funds that have underlying active funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2040                             

  • 59.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 18.50%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 6.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 14.90%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)

TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017). These target date funds are all constructed using index funds. They also have other complex target date funds that have underlying active funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2050                             

  • 64.70%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 19.90%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 8.20%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017). These target date funds are all constructed using index funds. They also have other complex target date funds that have underlying active funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2060                             

  • 66.30%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 20.40%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 7.50%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.80%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)

TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017). These target date funds are all constructed using index funds. They also have other complex target date funds that have underlying active funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Retirement Income                  

  • 28.20%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 8.70%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 3.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 10.00%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 39.90%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and governmental fields. TIAA has $1 trillion in combined assets under management with holdings in more than 50 countries (as of 31 December 2017). These target date funds are all constructed using index funds. They also have other complex target date funds that have underlying active funds.

You can compare different Target Date Funds in the article What Is The Best Target Date Fund?

 

Goldman Sachs Target Date 2055 Portfolio                         

  • 41.90%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 6.10%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 3.80%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 21.10%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 9.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 3.30%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 3.80%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 4.50%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 3.20%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 3.10%    Long-Term Corporate Bonds       (VCLT)

This is Goldman Sachs’ stab at the high growth area of target date funds. Goldman Sachs’ funds use some complex instruments which cannot be replicated and it is doubtful that they provide more return (the data is in – they don’t) See more in this post.

 

Goldman Sachs Target Date 2045 Portfolio                         

  • 39.60%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 5.70%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 3.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 19.90%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 8.60%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 3.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 2.24%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 8.20%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 2.70%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 1.46%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 2.00%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 3.10%    Long-Term Corporate Bonds       (VCLT)

This is Goldman Sachs’ stab at the high growth area of target date funds. Goldman Sachs’ funds use some complex instruments which cannot be replicated and it is doubtful that they provide more return (the data is in – they don’t) See more in this post.

 

Goldman Sachs Target Date 2035 Portfolio                         

  • 31.50%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 2.40%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 2.80%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 15.80%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 6.90%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 2.10%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 4.59%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 20.90%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 1.01%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 3.60%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 5.60%    Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 2.80%    Long-Term Corporate Bonds       (VCLT)

This is Goldman Sachs’ stab at the high growth area of target date funds. Goldman Sachs’ funds use some complex instruments which cannot be replicated and it is doubtful that they provide more return (the data is in – they don’t) See more in this post.

 

Goldman Sachs Target Date 2025 Portfolio                         

  • 22.47%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 1.53%    US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 1.97%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 11.32%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 1.69%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 1.62%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.84%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 29.03%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 1.18%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 3.91%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 12.26%  Non-US Bonds   (BNDX)
  • 2.18%    Long-Term Corporate Bonds       (VCLT)

This is Goldman Sachs’ stab at the high growth area of target date funds. Goldman Sachs’ funds use some complex instruments which cannot be replicated and it is doubtful that they provide more return (the data is in – they don’t) See more in this post.

 

3 Fund Portfolio            

You can find all of these in the article Three Fund Portfolio: Did Awesomeness Find Trinity?

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 10                    

  • 2.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 2.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 0.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 1.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 90.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 0.50%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 1.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 1.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 20                    

  • 4.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 4.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 4.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 1.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 2.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 80.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 2.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 2.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 1.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 30                    

  • 6.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 6.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 1.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 3.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 70.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 3.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 3.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 1.50%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 40                    

  • 8.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 8.00%    US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 8.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 4.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 60.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 4.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 4.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 2.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 50                    

  • 10.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 10.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 10.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 5.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 50.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 2.50%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 60                    

  • 12.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 12.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 12.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 6.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 40.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 6.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 6.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 3.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 70                    

  • 14.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 14.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 14.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 7.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 30.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 7.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 7.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 3.50%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 80                    

  • 16.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 16.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 16.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 4.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 8.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 20.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 8.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 4.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 90                    

  • 18.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 18.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 18.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 4.50%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 9.00%    International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 10.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 9.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 9.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 4.50%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

FPL Capital Management Portfolio 100                 

  • 20.00%  US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 20.00%  US Large Cap      (VV)
  • 20.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 5.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 10.00%  International Lg Cap Value           (EFV)
  • 0.00%    Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 10.00%  Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 5.00%    International REITs (Real Estate) (VNQI)

FPL Capital Management has some great portfolios built mainly with DFA funds. The portfolios use a good amount of asset classes but not too many. They are high performing portfolios.

 

Fundamentum Enhanced Index Focus Moderate                             

  • 52.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 9.00%    International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 33.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 2.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 4.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)

Fundamentum portfolios are simple and easy. Built with DFA funds but can just as easily be built with Vanguard funds.

 

Fundamentum Enhanced Index Focus Growth                  

  • 16.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 14.00%  International All-World ex-US     (VEU)
  • 4.00%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 8.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 6.00%    TIPS       (VTIP)
  • 52.00%  Total World Stock            (VT)

Fundamentum portfolios are simple and easy. Built with DFA funds but can just as easily be built with Vanguard funds.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 5                     

  • 4.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 2.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 2.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 4.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 35.00%  Intermediate Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 3.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 3.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 2.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)
  • 20.00%  5 Year Global Fixed Income         (BND/BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 6                     

  • 2.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 3.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 6.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 30.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 3.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 4.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 3.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)
  • 15.00%  5 Year Global Fixed Income         (BND/BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 7                     

  • 3.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 3.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 6.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 3.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 7.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 2.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 25.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 4.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 4.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)
  • 10.00%  5 Year Global Fixed Income         (BND/BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 8                     

  • 4.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 4.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 7.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 3.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 4.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 8.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 4.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 15.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 5.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 6.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)
  • 10.00%  5 Year Global Fixed Income         (BND/BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 9                     

  • 4.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 4.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 9.00%    US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 4.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 5.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 9.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 6.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 10.00%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 6.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 7.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 6.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)
  • 5.00%    5 Year Global Fixed Income         (BND/BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 10                  

  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 11.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 4.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 5.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 11.00%  REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 6.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 7.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 8.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 20.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 10.00%  2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 11                  

  • 6.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 5.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 12.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 5.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 6.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 12.00%  REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 7.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 8.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 9.00%    Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 15.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)
  • 5.00%    2 Year Global Fixed Income         (BNDX)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 12                  

  • 6.00%    US Large Cap Value         (VTV)
  • 6.00%    US Large Cap Growth     (VUG)
  • 13.00%  US Small Cap Value         (VIOV)
  • 6.00%    US Small Cap Growth     (IJT)
  • 6.00%    US Micro Cap     (IWC)
  • 13.00%  REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 8.00%    Intl Sm Cap Blend             (VSS)
  • 9.00%    Intl Sm Cap Value             (DLS)
  • 12.00%  Emerging Markets Small Cap       (EWX)
  • 11.00%  Emerging Markets Value               (FNDE)
  • 10.00%  1 Year Fixed Income       (BSV)

Assetbuilder.com own portfolios. The guy behind assetbuilder.com is Scott Burns He is known for creating the Couch Potato Portfolio investment strategy. These portfolios tilt toward small and value making them likely to outperform.

 

Alexander Green Gone Fishin’ Portfolio               

  • 15.00%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 15.00%  US Small Cap      (VIOO)
  • 5.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 10.00%  Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 10.00%  Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 10.00%  European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 10.00%  Total US Bond Market    (BND)
  • 5.00%    Precious Metals (GLTR)
  • 10.00%  High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 10.00%  TIPS       (VTIP)

Alexander Green’s classic portfolio has performed wonderfully throughout the years. It is one of the few portfolios that have precious metals as an asset class. It is described in his wonderful book The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio: Get Wise, Get Wealthy…and Get on With Your Life.

 

Robo Advisor WealthSimple Portfolio Conservative                       

  • 14.64%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 2.16%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 1.74%    Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 8.44%    European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 48.09%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 0.99%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 23.94%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)

WealthSimple is a UK based robo advisor with £1.5 Billion under management. Their portfolio is heavily overweighted towards UK equity and UK gilts (bonds). I have no data on UK gilt (government nor corporate) so the portfolio on site is what I call a “US Edition”. I swapped the asset allocation around so all UK stocks and bonds now are US stocks and bonds. Then I swapped WealthSimple’s allocation to US stocks to European stocks. It’s not perfect and will be remedied in the future when I get return data for UK gilts – I already have for UK stocks. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WealthSimple Portfolio Balanced               

  • 30.57%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.59%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 3.86%    Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 17.90%  European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 11.40%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 0.99%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 22.35%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 4.17%    High Dividend Yield         (VYM)
  • 4.17%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

WealthSimple is a UK based robo advisor with £1.5 Billion under management. Their portfolio is heavily overweighted towards UK equity and UK gilts (bonds). I have no data on UK gilt (government nor corporate) so the portfolio on site is what I call a “US Edition”. I swapped the asset allocation around so all UK stocks and bonds now are US stocks and bonds. Then I swapped WealthSimple’s allocation to US stocks to European stocks. It’s not perfect and will be remedied in the future when I get return data for UK gilts – I already have for UK stocks. For a comparison of robo advisors you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WealthSimple Portfolio Growth                  

  • 47.40%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 7.27%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 6.09%    Pacific Stocks     (VPL)
  • 27.74%  European Stocks               (VGK)
  • 2.88%    Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 0.99%    Cash (money market fund)          (BIL)
  • 5.61%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 1.01%    High Dividend Yield (VYM)
  • 1.01%    Emerging Market Bonds (VWOB)

WealthSimple is a UK based robo advisor with £1.5 Billion under management. Their portfolio is heavily overweighted towards UK equity and UK gilts (bonds). I have no data on UK gilt (government nor corporate) so the portfolio on site is what I call a “US Edition”. I swapped the asset allocation around so all UK stocks and bonds now are US stocks and bonds. Then I swapped WealthSimple’s allocation to US stocks to European stocks. It’s not perfect and will be remedied in the future when I get return data for UK gilts – I already have for UK stocks. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 90% stocks                  

53.40%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)

0.80%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)

29.00%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)

6.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)

2.80%    Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)

3.20%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)

0.20%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)

1.60%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)

2.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 80% stocks                  

  • 46.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 2.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 25.40%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.90%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 5.30%    Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 6.00%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 1.40%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 2.80%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 4.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 70% stocks                  

  • 40.30%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 3.10%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 21.90%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 5.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 7.90%    Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 8.80%    Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 3.40%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 3.30%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 6.30%    TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 60% stocks                  

  • 33.90%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.10%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 18.30%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 4.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 10.10%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 11.40%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 5.30%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 4.60%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 8.10%    TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 50% stocks                  

27.20%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)

4.70%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)

14.80%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)

3.40%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)

12.70%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)

14.20%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)

6.90%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)

6.00%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)

10.10%  TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 40% stocks                  

  • 21.30%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.40%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 11.50%  Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 2.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 15.80%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 17.60%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 7.50%    Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 6.60%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 12.60%  TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 30% stocks                  

  • 15.80%  US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 8.60%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 2.00%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 18.60%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 20.80%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 10.10%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 5.20%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 14.90%  TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan 20% stocks                  

  • 9.90%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 4.00%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 5.30%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 1.20%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 19.90%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 22.30%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 18.80%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 2.70%    High Yield Corporate Bonds         (HYG)
  • 15.90%  TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Robo Advisor WiseBanyan Aggressive 13% stocks                           

  • 5.50%    US Total Stock Market   (VTI)
  • 3.60%    REITs (Real Estate)           (VNQ)
  • 3.00%    Int. Developed Blend      (VEA)
  • 0.70%    Emerging Markets           (VWO)
  • 16.20%  Intermediate-Term Treasury       (VGIT)
  • 14.50%  Short Term Treasury       (VGSH)
  • 18.10%  Corporate Bonds              (LQD)
  • 25.60%  Short-Term Investment Grade   (VCSH)
  • 12.80%  TIPS       (VTIP)

WiseBanyan is a relative newcomer to the robo advisor space. Established in 2013. They are the only (so far) fee-based robo advisor. This means you don’t pay anything to have your money managed. That’s pretty amazing. Their portfolios are simple and easy to understand without any special asset classes in contrast to Betterment and Wealthfront. Wealthfront, for example, uses emerging market bonds. For a comparison of robo advisors, you should check out our overview Robo Advisor Performance.

 

Hey, I am on a mission here. I NEED YOUR HELP! 

I am building the largest collection of investment portfolios – Can you help me?!

Let me know in the comments and sign up for our newsletter to get more great portfolios!

How Much Should I Save? + Savings Calculator

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How much should I save is a question that often pops up. It’s easy to answer. Imagine this: You’re carefree. Without a money worry in the world. You’re smiling and the sun is smiling right there with you. Next week you’ll be upgrading your iPhone. Oh, yea, and your 401k is maxed out. How did this happen?

How much should I save is an easy question to answer, if you have the framework. Let me guide you through it.

How Much Should I Save? + Savings Calculator

I’ll tell you how this is going to happen to you too. I’ll tell you how to go from fearing your expenses to conquering them. The savings calculator will help you plan for your goals and adjust. After reading this article you never have to ask how much should I save?

And you get a savings calculator in the end!

Why setting goals might just save your life

You need goals in your life. Not just financial goals. Without goals, you’re adrift on the sea without purpose, without a destination. How you ever heard of a depressed fanatic or zealot? We get disillusioned when faced with a life without purpose. What you aim at becomes possible.

Goals give you purpose. Goals let you dream. You need goals.

Let’s talk about setting financial goals in the context of answering how much should I save. This is the easy bit of setting goals. It even gets easier with our savings calculator

There are two types of financial goals:

  • Short-term goals are goals within 1-5 years.
  • Long-term goals are goals beyond 5 years.

Why the distinction?

Because when you plan for financial goals you need a portfolio that can help you achieve the financial goal. A portfolio with a 10-year horizon can bear more risk than a portfolio built for a 3-year goal.

Typically, the longer the time horizon of the goal the more stocks and fewer bonds get added to the portfolio. This is because stocks outperform bonds in most cases. Stocks are also riskier. They have bigger swings in price.

How much should I save is therefore dependent on your timeframe.

You should focus on these two things when saving for your dream

There are 3 inputs to a good savings plan:

  1. Your actual dollars that your save
  2. Your yearly investment return on those dollars
  3. Time

You can control 1 and 3, but not 2.

You know how much you can save for your goal. That new car costs $4500. You know how much time is left until you reach your goal (right?). You’re looking at replacing the car in 3 years. But you (often) don’t know the return on your investments. If we did know to invest would not be risky and it would not offer a strong return.

Time is the absolute most important of the 3. If we have enough time we could save up to buy anything – really!

Risk and return go hand in hand. You cannot have a safe investment yielding 10% a year. It is not possible.

It is for this reason that you need to categorize your goals into short-term and long-term goals. You need to be able to adjust the risk level of your savings to match the goal.

Here’s how you becoming a master financial goal setter

Make time your most important ally. Use a savings calculator.

How much should I save is joined at the hip with the question of how much time do I have?

The more time you have the less you need to save each month because:

  1. You can have compounding interest work in your favor. You receive interest upon interest upon interest for a longer time
  2. The goal is spread out over a longer timeframe making your periodic savings more manageable.

The faster you can identify your financial goals the better!

The easy way to afford anything in the world

The savings calculator built in Google sheets will help you in figuring out how much you should save for your next goal.

There are two tabs on the savings calculator. The first tab lets you answer the question how much should I save for a goal.

The second tab on the savings calculator is for the advanced and lets you define multiple goals at different return levels. I have a forthcoming post on how to completely geek out on savings and make everyone, even Dave Ramsey look like a newbie.

So how much should I save? What about the return, what should I expect?

  1. If your savings goal is short-term you primary savings should consist of cash or CDs or short-term bonds. If your savings goal is closer to 5 years than 1 year you can increase your exposure to longer-term bonds such as Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (Ticker symbol: BND)
  2. If your savings goal is long term you should take a look at our portfolios. They offer a wide range of risk vs. return.

Remember: The best portfolio is one you stick with!

Why not all financial goals are created equal

As you begin setting financial goals you realize that some goals are way more important than others. In popular speak, there are “need to have” goals and “nice to have” goals.

Need to have goals are those goals that will seriously degrade your life or bring major imbalances into your life if they are not met. If these goals are short-term I would minimize the investment risk as much as possible. That means keeping to short-  and medium-term bonds without adding any stocks to that particular savings portfolio. I would consider a 50th-anniversary celebration in the “need to have” category and would not take much investment risk. My savings would go into CDs and a short-term bond fund.

Nice to have goals are just that, nice to have, e.g. a new iPhone in 5 years. Personally, I don’t mind introducing a small amount of investment risk when saving for these types of goals.  My money would go into a bond fund such as Vanguards BND ETF. Note this is still very low risk in the investment world!

Examples of how to use the savings calculator to answer how much should I save?

Let’s take 2 examples to demonstrate the power of the savings calculator:

Example 1: Short-term goal using the savings calculator

I’m going to need a new bike in 4 years. I like bikes so I’m planning on buying one that will last the next 10 years. The one I want costs $1500.

It’s a short-term goal with a “nice to have” sticker on it. If I have to wait another 6 months it wouldn’t kill me. I’m going to put my saving in an aggregate bond fund such as Vanguard BND ETF.

How much should I save if I want my new bike? Here’s what it looks like in the savings calculator:

Savings Calculator

 

Example 2: Long-term goal to demonstrate the power of the savings calculator:

I want to get a house within the next 8 years. The down payment is $40,000. I’m willing to take a good amount of risk since it is in 8 years’ time. I’ll build a failsafe into my savings plan by over saving. I’ll save $5000 more than I need.

Looking at the portfolios on portfolioeinstein.com I’m going with a 60/40 portfolio. That is a portfolio consisting of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. The returns for that portfolio the last 10 years has been 7.26% percent.

How much should I save if I want my down payment ready in 8 years? Here’s what it looks like in the savings calculator:

Savings calculator long term goal

 

You can find the savings calculator here. Be sure to go to file > make a copy, in order to be able to make changes.

The power of “saving on savings” through investing

In the first example, I need to save $364 a year to get to my goal of $1500. That’s $1 a day according to the savings calculator – I think I can make that!

But look what happened! Because I put my saving in a bond fund that is expected to yield 2% I’m effectively getting a 2% discount every year on my savings! Wow!

Here’s the math:

Savings goal: $1500

Actual saved: $364 x 4 = 1456

Total saved on savings = 1500 – 1456 = $44

That may not seem like a lot but if you have many goals it adds up and it is basically free money.

 

But wait! Look how much I saved on savings on my down payment:

Savings goal: $45000 (remember I over saved to compensate for the higher portfolio risk)

Actual saved: $4345 x 8 = $34760

Total saved on savings: $45000 – $34760 = $10240 (!)

Now, this is a meaningful amount of money. And all I have to do is save $11 daily according to the savings calculator.

The takeaway from using the savings calculator

  1. If your goal timeframe is short you need to save a lot more “yourself” and you need to take a lot less risk. You don’t get a lot of free money.
  2. If your goal timeframe is long, the compounding effect will help you save a lot more because you can take more risk over a longer timeframe.

To put it another way: You get hit twice as hard if you fail to plan ahead and get rewarded twice as much if you can look ahead.

Short term planning – expensive

Long-term planning – cheap

How much should I save = how good am I to plan!

Look ahead!

Use the savings calculator here

BIG FAT WARNING!

The above examples do not take fees nor commissions into account when investing your money. The returns mentioned are also hypothetical as those were the returns from the past and NOT the returns you will experience in the future. They are the best guess we have, however! Sometimes the commissions will eat into your “saving on savings”.

Also, take taxes into consideration. You might have to pay capital gains tax on your returns depending on your holding period.

Summary

You’ve just been introduced to the saving on savings principle. To answer the question how much should I save requires that you have a goal and some number:

  1. The price of the goal
  2. The timeframe of the goal
  3. The expected return of the portfolio that will support your goal

The number can be plotted into the savings calculator and will give you an answer.

Now that you have begun your savings journey, what are you going to save up for?

Which portfolio is suitable for your savings target?

Sign up for our newsletter to get more great tools and advice on how to combine investment portfolios with personal finance.

If you’re unsure how to get started in investing be sure to read our article How to invest money – 5 simple steps that work for anyone.

Data Sources and Performance Tracking Information

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These are the data sources that Portfolio Einstein uses.

Data Sources and Performance Tracking Information

These are the data sources that Portfolio Einstein uses. We use DFA data for a few asset classes, and data collected by the Bogleheads over at the Boglehead forum.

The U.S.

TSM = Total Stock Market – US Cap Weighted (P)

Approximated to S&P 500 1871-1926
Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1969
CRSP Decile 1-10 (NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ) 1970-1992
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) 1993+

S&P 500 (LCB) = US Large Blend (P)

S&P 500 (Prof. Shiller) 1871-1936
S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s) 1937-1970
S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s) 1971-1976
Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX) 1977+

LCV = US Large Value (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell 1000 Value TR USD 1979-1992
Vanguard Value Index Fund (VIVAX) 1993+

LCG = US Large Growth (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell 1000 Growth TR USD 1979-1992
Vanguard Growth Index Fund (VIGRX) 1993+

MCB = US Mid Blend (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell Mid Cap TR USD 1979-1992
MSCI US Mid Cap 450 GR USD 1993-1998
Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund (VIMSX) 1999+

MCV = US Mid Value (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1985
Russell Mid Cap Value TR USD 1986-1992
MSCI US Mid Cap Value GR USD 1993-2006
Vanguard Mid-Cap Value Index Fund (VMVIX) 2007+

MCG = US Mid Growth (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1985
Russell Mid Cap Growth TR USD 1986-1992
MSCI US Mid Cap Growth GR USD 1993-2006
Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund (VMGIX) 2007+

SCB = US Small Blend (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell 2000 TR USD 1979-1989
Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund (NAESX) 1990+
(note that NAESX was NOT an index fund until Aug-1989)

SCV = US Small Value (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell 2000 Value TR USD 1979-1992
MSCI US Small Cap Value GR USD 1993-1998
Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund (VISVX) 1999+

SCG = US Small Growth (P)

Stock Index Calculator (Tyler) 1927-1978
Russell 2000 Growth TR USD 1979-1992
MSCI US Small Cap Growth GR USD 1993-1998
Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund (VISGX) 1999+

Micro Cap = US Micro Cap Blend (A)

CRSP Decile 10 (NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ) 1970-1997
Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company Market Fund (BRSIX) 1998+

Extended Market Index (P)

Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 1984-1987
Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund (VEXMX) 1988+

REIT = Real Estate (P)

Crude mapping: TSM 1970-71
FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs 1972-1996
Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VGSIX) 1997+

Momentum Factor (P)

MSCI USA Momentum GR USD 1982-2013
iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum Factor (MTUM) 2014+

Quality Factor (P)

MSCI USA Quality GR USD 1976-2013
iShares Edge MSCI USA Quality Factor (QUAL) 2014+

Minimum Volatility Factor (P)

MSCI USA GR USD 1985-1988
MSCI USA Minimum Volatility GR USD 1989-2011
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA (USMV) 2012+

Value Factor (P)

MSCI USA Value Weighted GR USD 1975-2013
iShares Edge MSCI USA Value Factor (VLUE) 2014+

Energy (A)

Vanguard Energy Fund (VGENX) 1985+

Health Care (A)

Vanguard Health Care Fund (VGHCX) 1985+

Precious Metals (A)

Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund (VGPMX) 1985+

COMM – Commodities/Natural Resources (P)

S&P GSCI TR USD 1970-2006
iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG) 2007+

Gold (P)

LBMA Gold Price PM USD (Dec 31st to Dec 31st) 1970-2005
iShares Gold Trust (IAU) 2006+

Dividend Growth (P)

MSCI USA Quality 1985-1989
S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats 1990-2006
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund (VDAIX) 2007+

Dividend High Yield (P)

MSCI USA High Dividend Yield GR USD 1976-2006
Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund (VHDYX) 2007+

Bonds

STT = Short-Term Treasury (A)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (4-2 model) 1871-1975
Bloomberg Barclays 1-5 Yr Treasury TR USD 1976-1991
Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Fund (VFISX) 1992+

ITT = Inter. Term Treasury (A)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (10-4 model) 1871-1991
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Fund (VFITX) 1992+

LTT = Long Term Treasury (A)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (30-11 model) 1871-1941
(crude mapping, by lack of LT interest rates history in this time period)
Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (30-11 model) 1942-1972
Bloomberg Barclays US Treasury Long TR USD 1973-1986
Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Fund (VUSTX) 1987+

TBM = Total Bond Market (P)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (10-2 model) 1871-1975
(crude mapping, as it only models treasuries)
Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond TR USD 1976-1986
Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund (VBMFX) 1987+

STB = Short Term Bonds (P)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (4-2 model) 1871-1975
(crude mapping, as it only models treasuries)
Bloomberg Barclays US Government/Credit 1-5 Yr TR USD 1976-1994
Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares (VBISX) 1995+

TIPS = Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (A)

Longinvest’s bonds fund spreadsheet (10-4 model) 1985-1991
Bloomberg Barclays 5-10 Yr Treasury TR USD 1992-1996
Bloomberg Barclays US TIPS index (Series L) TR USD 1997-2000
Vanguard Inflation-Protected Security Fund (VIPSX) 2001+

Short-Term Investment Grade (A)

Bloomberg Barclays Credit 1-5 Yr TR USD 1976-1982
Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Fund (VFSTX) 1983+

Intermediate-Term Corporate Bonds (P)

Crude mapping: TBM 1970-72
Barclays US Corporate Invest Grade TR USD 1973-1998
Bloomberg Barclays US Credit Corporate 5-10 Year TR USD 1999-2009
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund (VCIT) 2010+

High Yield Corporate Bonds (A)

Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund (VWEHX) 1979+

Global Bonds (Unhedged) (A)

Citigroup WGBI USD (unhedged) 1985-1989
Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate TR USD (unhedged) 1990-1993
Global Bond Fund (unhedged) Class D (PGBDX) 1994+

International Bonds (USD-hedged) (P)

Citigroup WGBI NonUSD Hedged USD 1985-1989
Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Ex USD TR Hdg USD 1990-2013
Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund (VTIBX) 2014+

Short-Term Munis (A)

Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWSTX) 1978+

Inter. Term Munis (A)

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWITX) 1978+

Long Term Munis (A)

Vanguard Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWLTX) 1978+

T-Bills (P) – Risk Free Benchmark for Sharpe

Crude mapping: 1-yr interest rate (Prof. Shiller) 1871-1933
T-Bills 1934-1992 (simulated with FRED TB3MS interest rates)
Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund (VUSXX) 1993+

One Year Fixed Income:

Short-term government bonds bonds

Two-Year Global Fixed income

FTSE World Government Bond Index 1-2 Years 1986-1996 –

DFA Fund: DFGFX 1997-2017:

Five Year Global Fixed Income

FTSE World Government Bond Index 5-7 Years 1986-1996

DFA Fund: DFGBX 1997-2017

CPI-U (Inflation)

US Inflation (Prof. Shiller) 1871-1936
BLS Consumer Price Index – All Urban Consumers 1937+ (Dec to Dec)

International

EAFE = International Developed ex North America (P)

MSCI EAFE NR USD 1970-1999 (Developed Only)
Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund (VDVIX) 2000+

EM = Emerging Markets (P)

Crude mapping: MSCI World ex USA NR USD 1985-1987 (Developed Only)
(reliable emerging markets returns not available by then)
MSCI EM GR USD minus 0.3% 1988-1994
(MSCI EM NR USD not available until 1999 hence the approximation)
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VEIEX) 1995+

Total International ex-USA (P)

Crude mapping: MSCI World ex USA NR USD 1970-1987 (Developed Only)
(reliable emerging markets returns not available by then)
MSCI ACWI Ex USA GR USD minus 0.4% 1988-1996
(MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR not available until 1999 hence the approximation)
Vanguard Total International Index Fund (VGTSX) 1997+

Pacific (P) – Developed only

MSCI Pacific NR USD 1970-1990
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund (VPACX) 1991+

Europe (P) – Developed only

MSCI Europe NR USD 1970-1990
Vanguard Europe Stock Index Fund (VEURX) 1991+

International Value (P) – Developed only

MSCI EAFE NR USD 1970-1974
MSCI EAFE Value NR USD 1975-2005
iShares MSCI EAFE Value (EFV) 2006+

International Small (P) – Developed and Emerging

DFA Int’l Small Cap Index (DFA Matrix) 1982-1994
(approximate as DFA applies quality filters and is developed only)
MSCI ACWI Ex USA Small NR USD 1995-2009
Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap Index Fund (VFSVX) 2010+

Total World Market (P)

MSCI World GR USD 1970-1993
FTSE All-World TR USD 1994-2008
Vanguard Total World Stock (VTWSX) 2009+

International Small Cap Value

Dimensional Matrix Publication – 1982-2017

Emerging Markets Small Cap

Dimensional Matrix Publication 1989-1998
DFA Fund DEMSX 1999-2017

Emerging Markets Value:

Dimensional Matrix Publication 1989-1998

DFA Fund DFEVX 1999-2017

Performance Tracking

When you start tracking portfolios you run into all sorts of problems with the data. Some portfolios use some very weird asset classes. Some use some very new asset classes which have no recent data. Some use asset classes that are extremely complex like futures. Some use an extreme amount of asset classes.

What follows is is a list of all the exceptions and hoops that are needed to track all the portfolios on Portfolioeinstein.com.

  1. Almost all IFA portfolios use the DFA Global 5 Year Fixed Income fund. In our measurements, we use the PIMCO Global Bond Fund as it has more historical data. In the future, this can be replaced by a mix of BND and BNDX or the new ETF BNDW.
  2. Almost all IFA portfolios use the DFA 1 Year Fixed Income fund, this is replaced by short-term treasuries index because of longer historical data. short-term treasuries have done slighty better.
  3. Robo advisor Betterment portfolios almost all have emerging market debt – this is replaced a data series tracking the global bonds market.
  4. Meb Faber IVY portfolios use international REITs. We use domestic REITs to get data back to 1989. This may overestimate the returns as US REITs have done slightly better.
  5. All IFA portfolios use international REITs. We use domestic REITs to get data back to 1989. This may overestimate the returns as US REITs have done slightly better.
  6. The Paul Merriman Best In Class ETF Portfolios (3) use international REITs. We use domestic REITs to get data back to 1989. This may overestimate the returns as US REITs have done slightly better.
  7. The retirement funds by Paul Merriman use international REITs. We use domestic REITs to get data back to 1989. This may overestimate the returns as US REITs have done slightly better.
  8. The Ben Stein portfolio expects to get 5% on its cash – pretty dreamy of him, maybe stick it in a bond fund.
  9. All Merril Lynch EDGE Portfolios have MORTGAGES as an asset class – We don’t have data on that so domestic stock market as a proxy is used.
  10. Schwab Managed portfolios has what they call aggressive Income. We have no idea what that is. We use high yield bonds as proxy.
  11. The Alpha Architect portfolio should have 7.5% allocated to both small AND large momentum. AND 7.5% to both large AND small international momentum. We only have data for “Momentum factor”. This will probably underestimate returns.
  12. Meb Faber’s GTAA uses both large and small momentum evenly. We only use one asset class.
  13. All the Morningstar portfolios use a small portion of emerging market bonds. For benchmarking purposes, this has been replaced by non-us bonds. In addition, all Morningstar portfolios divide their TIPSs into to long and short term. For benchmarking purposes, this is been merged into a single TIPS asset class.
  14. DFA retirement funds have a few things that are hard to track. 1. they have something that is called “large international”. We used VEA. Then it has LTIP portfolio. We used our only TIPS series for that. Then it has “Short-Term Extended Quality Bonds” – these are replaced by Short-Term Inv. grade bonds and could probably be supplemented by short-term non-us bonds. The 2050 and 2060 have as of December 2018 the same portfolio composition. The income portfolios has a 1 year fixed income portion. This is replaced by a short-term gov fund.
  15. Burton Malkiel uses emerging market bonds in his book – We use a non-us bonds series.
  16. The Daniel Solin Supersmart portfolios use the international short-term bond government fund – We use a domestic US bond fund.
  17. William Bernstein’s Taxable Teds portfolios use four bond funds. They are mostly municipal bond fund. These have been merged into a Total Bond Fund. This may overestimate the returns.
  18. The Goldman Sachs target date retirement funds have several funky things going on. 1. they use e-mini futures on the Russel 2000. This is replaced by a standard small-cap index fund. They use 2-3 different money market funds 3. This is replaced by our cash asset class. They employ their own smart beta funds. We use an equivalent index fund. The GS target date funds are super complicated only surpassed by the T. Rowe Price target-date funds (not on site atm because they are so complicated to measure)
  19. The Rick Ferri Inflation fighter portfolio has iShares Inflation Corporate Bonds in it (LQDI) – we use a standard Corporate Bond Fund to benchmark.
  20. The Rick Ferri  INCOME SEEKER CORE-4 PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION has exposure to International High Dividend Yield  – we have used international value as proxy. It also uses a Preferred Shares which only has data back to 2008 but we can simulate approximate returns by going 10-20% stocks and 80-90% corp stocks.
  21. The Meb Faber IVY 20 portfolio uses 4 different commodities fund. We use only 1 fund. It uses an infrastructure ETF and a timber ETF. We use a TSM fund as proxy. This is not perfect.
  22. The Fundamentum growth portfolio uses a floating rate ETF – we use our TIPS series for benchmarking.
  23. The assetbuilder.com portfolios 7-14 uses int.sm.cap growth – we use int.sm.cap.blend. This will be fixed in the future as we have data on this asset class back to 1990.
  24. The WealthSimple portfolios are problematic as they rely on UK data for stocks (which we have) but also for UK bonds (gilts) and UK corporate bonds which we don’t have data on. The version on site is what we call WealthSimple US edition. UK stocks have been turned in to US stocks. UK bonds into US bonds and US stocks into European stocks. It’s not perfect and will be remedied in the future.

Here Is The Most Easy To Use Portfolio Rebalance Tool

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Rebalancing is important because your portfolio will drift out of its asset allocation over time. Using a rebalance tool makes sure that your portfolio stays within the desired asset allocation.

Get a simple, easy to use portfolio rebalance tool. It will help maximize your returns and lower your risk. Its all FREE!

Here Is The Most Easy To Use Portfolio Rebalance Tool

There are many advantages to rebalancing regularly:

  • It automates your investment decisions, making your immune to biases that might otherwise hurt you.
  • Rebalancing sells assets that have gone up in value and buys assets that have gone down in value. This is exactly what you want to happen. Buy low and sell high.
  • It lowers the risk of your portfolio.
  • Rebalancing nets you more money!

The only two disadvantages to rebalancing your portfolio are:

  1. It cost a little bit of money in commissions to make the trades to bring balance to the portfolio. This is negligible in comparison to the value rebalancing provides. Many brokers also provide free-of-charge trade on many mutual funds and ETFs.
  2.  It takes a little bit of time – maybe an hour or two every year.

 

With Portfolio Einstein’s rebalancing tool you can hopefully cut down on the time it takes 🙂

Get it here:

Google Sheets: Rebalancing Tool

Make sure you make a copy of it to your own drive. Select “File > Make a copy” from the upper left corner.

Excel:  Portfolio Einstein Rebalancing Tool

 

Your next steps

Rebalancing is vital to any portfolio. With Portfolio Einstein’s Rebalancing Tool it gets a little easier. The rebalancing tool is just one of many tools available here on Portfolioeinstein.com. Sign up for our newsletter to get more great timesaving tools!

Be sure to leave a comment if you have anything to add!

What Is The Best ETF And Mutual Fund?

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There are many ETF databases out there. Morningstar covers mutual funds very well. But what are the BEST ETFs and mutual funds? How do you measure it?

Do you have the BEST ETFs in your portfolio? How would you know? Here's a list of the BEST ETFs and mutuals funds - how does your compare?

What Is The Best ETF And Mutual Fund?

This post was inspired by Paul Merriman who has for many years recommended ETFs and mutual funds to implement his portfolio strategies. I have expanded on the “Best In Class” concept to include many more asset classes.

The first thing you should know is that there is rarely ONE best ETF or fund. It all depends on a host of variables:

  • Your goals
  • Your portfolio
  • Your tax situation
  • Your broker (some funds are commission free).
  • Subjective opinion about the data.

There are A LOT of really, really BAD ETFs and mutuals funds out there. Make sure you avoid the worst by picking one of ETFs below.

Best ETF and Mutual Fund for each asset class

Asset ClassMutual FundsETFNumber of holdings (ETF)Expense Ratio ETFExpense Ratio Mutual fund
US Total Stock MarketVTSMXVTI33980.04%0.14%
US Large CapVLACXVV5940.05%0.17%
US Large Cap ValueVIVAXVTV7040.05%0.17%
US Large Cap GrowthVIGRXVUG2990.05%0.17%
US Mid CapVIMSXIJH14720.07%0.17%
US Mid Cap ValueVMVIXJKI1850.30%
US Mid Cap GrowthVMGRXIJK2400.25%
US Small CapNAESXVIOO6000.15%0.17%
US Small Cap ValueVISVXVIOV4550.20%0.19%
US Small Cap GrowthVSGAXIJT3400.25%
US Micro CapBRSIXIWC13600.60%0.86%
US High Dividend YieldVHDYXVYM3940.08%0.15%
International All-World ex-USVFWIXVEU27120.11%0.23%
Int. Developed BlendVDVIXVEA39050.07%0.17%
International Lg Cap ValueVTRIXEFV6090.38%0.40%
Intl Sm Cap BlendVFSVXVSS14280.13%0.25%
Intl Sm Cap ValueN/ADLS9100.58%
European StocksVEURXVGK10940.10%
Pacific StocksVPACXVPL10120.10%
Emerging MarketsVEIEXVWO15690.14%0.32%
Emerging Markets ValueDFEVXFNDE3090.39%
Emerging Markets Small CapDEMSXEWX9750.65%
International REITs (Real Estate)VRXRXVNQI4230.14%
Total World StockVTWSXVT81220.10%0.19%
Cash (money market fund)VMMXXBIL130.14%
Short Term TreasuryVSCSXVGSH240.07%0.07%
1 Year Fixed IncomeBSV340.07%
Intermediate Term TreasuryVFITXVGIT250.07%0.20%
10-year TreasuryIEF150.15%
Long Term TreasuryVUSTXTLT310.15%0.20%
TIPSVTIPXVTIP160.06%0.15%
Total US Bond MarketVBMFXBND650.05%0.15%
5 Year Global Fixed IncomeBNDW3 (BND & BNDX + cash)0.09%
Global Bonds (USD Hedged)BNDW3 (BND & BNDX + cash)0.09%
Short-Term Investment GradeVFSTXVCSH670.07%0.20%
Intermediate Term Corporate BondsVFITXVCIT730.07%0.20%
Long-Term Corporate BondsVCLT780.07%
High Yield Corporate BondsHYG9710.49%
Corporate BondsLQD19600.15%
Short-Term Tax-ExemptSUB9920.07%
Intermediate-Term Tax-ExemptMUB37240.07%
Long-Term Tax-ExemptVWLTXVTEB650.09%
2 Year Global Fixed IncomeBNDX52810.11%
Non-US BondsBNDX52810.11%
Emerging Market BondsVWOB440.32%
REITs (Real Estate)VGISXVNQ1810.12%1.15%
GoldIAU1 (physical gold)0.25%
Precious MetalsGLTR4 (gold, silver, palladium, platinum)0.60%
CommoditiesDBC / GSG14 / 240.85% / 0.75%
EnergyXLE310.13%
Momentum FactorMTUM1250.15%
Dividend GrowthVIG1830.08%
MortgagesVMBS240.07%

 

The ETFs and Mutual funds have been selected by these criteria

  • Tracking error. The fund must track its underlying index very closely or it is of no use.
  • Fees. Low expense ratios win the day and are one of the best indicators of performance.
  • Bid/ask spread. This is relevant for ETFs that trade on the open market. Is the gap (spread) of the buy and sell price is too great it imposes an additional cost to the investor. Therefore the lower the bid/ask spread, the better.
  • Liquidity. Means how many shares of the fund are being traded every day. A good fund needs to tens of thousands of shares traded every day.
  • Holdings. The holdings by the fund needs to be liquid.
  • Respectable fund provider.
  • Turnover rate. Every time a fund buys and sells underlying stock it could be exposing itself to capital gains tax. Those taxes are channeled to the investor, so you want as low turnover as possible.

Together these factors decide if the fund represent the appropriate asset class the best.

How to verify and do your own research

Morningstar.com is a great resource to research ETFs and mutual funds.  If you f.x. want to research U.S. small-cap value ETFs you could look up VIOV, VBR, and SLYV (among others) on morningstar.com. Click the portfolio tab and you get an overview of whats in the fund. Here are the 3 funds as per 2018:

VIOV: Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Value Index Fund ETF Shares

VBR: Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Fund ETF Shares

SLYV: SPDR® S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF

As you can see VBR has some attributes that make it a poor candidate for representing the small-cap value asset class:

  • It has style drifted. It has gone from a small-cap fund (2017) to a mid-cap fund (2018).
  • The average size of the holding is more than twice that of SLYV and VIOV.

I cheated a little and selected two funds, SLYV and VIOV, that both track the same index. The S&P Small-Cap 600 Value Index.

Next, you want to check:

  • Fees (under fees & expenses), lower is better.
  • Turnover rate (under fees & expenses), lower is better.

Super important note:

Notice that a return comparison doesn’t even factor in when we are comparing fund. If we follow the above guidelines we would select the best funds and therefore theoretically get the appropriate returns for that asset class. Sure some fund may beat other funds within the same category but chasing performance is a losers game.

If you find that you have found two equally good funds – BUY THEM BOTH. No need to agonize over which funds to select. The commission on buying and selling are cheap and sometimes free. It is a very small price to pay to avoid regret.

Summary and next steps

It is not easy finding the BEST ETF or mutual fund. But it is easy to AVOID the worst. By using a few simple metrics and Morningstar you can narrow down the field to just a few. While finding the best fund may be impossible, it is often to find one that is good enough.

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Let me know what your best ETFs are in the comments!

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