What is a Lazy Portfolio?

Lazy portfolios can be built with 2 to 12 ETFs. They are exposed to between 0% and 100% equities. There are low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk portfolios.

For the past 10 years, the Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio has returned 9.08 with a standard deviation of 9.76. The dividend yield is 2.19. The 30-year return is 8.84%. Year to date the Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio has returned -10.47%.

How do you build lazy portfolios with ETFs?

Here is an example asset allocation of a Lazy Portfolios built with ETFs

This one is for the Coffeehouse portfolios

Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio

10.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
10.00% US Large Cap (VV)
10.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
10.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
10.00% REITs (VNQ)
10.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
40.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

You can find all Lazy portfolios further below. There you will also find out how the Lazy portfolio have performed.

Article Contents

How do you build lazy portfolios with ETFs?
- Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio
What is a lazy portfolio?
What is the return of the lazy portfolios
How do you build the lazy portfolios with ETFs?
Alternatives to lazy portfolios
Suggestions for your next steps
Related questions

What is a lazy portfolio?

A lazy portfolio is simple and easy to maintain. They typically only require a few ETFs to implement.

What is the return of the lazy portfolios

Name	Asset class count	Year to date	Return in 2020	10 year return	CAGR since 1989 (%)	Risk level	Expense ratio
S&P 500	1	-13.23	18.29	16.52	11.28	3	0.03%
Bill Schultheis Coffeehouse Portfolio	7	-10.47	7.21	9.08	8.84	2	0.07%
Frank Armstrong Ideal Index Portfolio	7	-9.91	6.8	8.32	7.67	2	0.08%
Scott Burns Margaritaville	3	-10.82	12.45	9.01	8.02	2	0.05%
William Bernstein No Brainer Portfolio	4	-10.69	10.98	10.03	8.37	2	0.07%
William Bernstein Cowards Portfolio	9	-8.23	6.67	8.23	8.23	2	0.07%
Balanced Portfolio 70/30	2	-12.98	17.03	12.37	9.95	2	0.03%
Paul Merriman FundAdvice Ultimate Buy and Hold	13	-9.5	6.14	7.36	8.18	2	0.12%

You can find all the extended data, such as risk measurements and additional return periods of the portfolios over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDE1H6IrxLU

How do you build the lazy portfolios with ETFs?

Below you can see the portfolio asset allocation for all the lazy portfolios. You can also see which ETFs we suggest for the asset allocations.

David Swensen’s Portfolio

30.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
20.00% REITs (VNQ)
5.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
15.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
15.00% Intermediate-Term Treasuries (VGIT)
15.00% TIPS (VTIP)

Check out the article David Swensen Portfolio: Asset Allocation With A Punch to get a closer look.

Bill Schultheis’ “Coffeehouse” Portfolio

10.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
10.00% US Large Cap (VV)
10.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
10.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
10.00% REITs (VNQ)
10.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
40.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

Our article Bill Schultheis: Coffeehouse Portfolio: Relax And Get On With Your Life Portfolio? explains why this is a great portfolio.

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.

Allan Roth Second Grader High-Risk Portfolio

60.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
30.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
10.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

We have profiled all of Allan Roth’s portfolios over at Allan Roth Second Grader Portfolio: Beating The Hell Outa Wall Street?

Scott Burns Margaritaville

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

Be sure to check out our page on Scott Burns’ portfolios over at The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?

William Bernstein’s No Brainer Portfolio

25.00% US Large Cap (VV)
25.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
25.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
25.00% Short Term Treasuries (VGSH)

William Bernstein, a former doctor, investment consultant, and an all-around good guy in the investing world, has presented a host of portfolios throughout his career. His book, The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio, is required reading on investing. His investing philosophy is broad diversification, common sense, and a realistic expectation of future returns. Other books that come highly recommended are Rational Expectations: Asset Allocation for Investing Adults and The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk.

William Bernstein’s Cowards Portfolio

10.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
15.00% US Large Cap (VV)
10.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
5.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
5.00% REITs (VNQ)
5.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
5.00% Pacific Stocks (VPL)
5.00% European Stocks (VGK)
40.00% Short Term Treasuries (VGSH)

You can find all of William Bernstein’s portfolios in our article William Bernstein Portfolios: The Portfolio Giant.

Paul Merriman’s FundAdvice Ultimate Buy and Hold

6.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
6.00% US Large Cap (VV)
6.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
6.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
6.00% REITs (VNQ)
6.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
6.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
6.00% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
6.00% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
20.00% Intermediate-Term Treasuries (VGIT)
12.00% Short Term Treasuries (VGSH)
8.00% TIPS (VTIP)
6.00% International Small Cap Value (DLS)

We also have a specific page for all of Paul Merriman’s portfolio. Check it out at Paul Merriman Portfolios: Unbiased Outperformance.

If you need a primer on what lazy portfolios are, you can read our post on lazy portfolios 5 Reasons Why A Lazy Portfolio Is Right For You.

Alternatives to lazy portfolios

The lazy portfolios are a varied bunch, but if you want some excellent performance coupled with ease, then be sure also to include two more groups of portfolios into your consideration. The first group is the three-fund portfolio. The second is the many 4-fund portfolios by Rick Ferri.

Lazy portfolios are just a small selection of the many kinds of portfolios that portfolioeinstin.com track and document. You can view all the portfolios on this page.

Suggestions for your next steps

Finding the correct portfolio is hard. Maintaining your portfolio is also daunting. If you are still in doubt about which portfolio to choose, we suggest you read our article How To Invest Money: 5 Simple Steps That Work For Anyone

If you have already committed to a portfolio – good for you! If you need help maintaining the portfolio you will find our rebalance worksheet useful.

Rebalancing your portfolio lowers your risk and may provide higher returns in the long run. It is completely FREE.

You can find the rebalance worksheet in our article Here Is The Most Easy To Use Portfolio Rebalance Tool.

Rebalancing lowers your portfolio risk and can increase your returns.

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