Build Tim Maurer’s Simple Money Portfolio With ETFs

What is Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio?

Tim Maurer’s Simple Money Portfolio is exposed to 60% stocks and 40% bonds. It can be built with 7 ETFs. It has a slight value and small-cap tilt. The portfolio is a medium-risk portfolio.

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What is the historical return of Tim Maurer’s Simple Portfolio?

Here is the historical return for Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio.

Portfolio data was last updated on 11th of August 2023, 08:35 ET

NameYear to dateReturn in 202210 year returnCAGR since 1989 (%)Draw DownExpense ratioYield
Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio4.23-11.85.037.27-18.840.12%2.2
Performance for Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio

Here is what the table is showing you

Year to date: This shows what the portfolio has returned this year starting from the first trading day of the year.

10 Year return: This shows the compounded annualized growth rate over a ten-year period. The current year is excluded from calculations.

CAGR since 1989: This shows the compounded annualized growth rate since 1989. The current year is excluded from calculations.

Expense ratio: This shows the cost of holding the portfolio if you were to construct the portfolio using the proposed ETFs.

Yield: This is the expected dividend yield of the portfolio.

Please note that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

How does Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio compare to the best portfolios?

Below you can see the returns of the best portfolios that we have benchmarked.

NameSee PortfolioYear to dateReturn in 202210 year returnCAGR since 1989 (%)Draw Down
Ben Stein RetirementComing soon!4.05-18.039.4610.8-35.42
Paul Merriman 4-Fund-PortfolioComing soon!9.22-11.9811.2510.38-35.26
S&P 500Coming soon!17.09-18.1912.5210.28-37.63
Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (25 year old)Coming soon!6.63-13.088.2810.2-36.46
Scott Adams Dilbert PortfolioComing soon!10.87-18.757.010.19-44.88
JL Collins, Simple Path To Wealth, Wealth Building PortfolioComing soon!16.6-19.5112.0810.19-37.0
American Institute of Individual Investors (AAII) PortfolioComing soon!3.74-13.919.710.16-40.85
Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (35 year old)Coming soon!6.57-13.228.3110.08-36.35
Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 14Coming soon!6.95-16.947.599.99-37.91
Balanced Portfolio 90/10Coming soon!14.83-18.8711.039.84-32.78
The 10 Best Performing Portfolios That We Have Benchmarked

How do you build Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio with ETFs?

Here is how you build Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio with ETFs.

  • 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)

Make sure you select the right ETFs!

There are a lot of ETFs! It is pretty boring to sift through hundreds and hundreds of ETFs just to find the right one, but it is worth it!

Finding the right and BEST ETF could earn you a lot more money than number two on the list.

We have done the work for you – all for FREE.

We have carefully selected ETFs for each asset class that the portfolios on portfolioeinstein.com use. If you want to read more about our selection process and see what we consider the best ETFs please visit our article What Is The Best ETF?

If you are a European investor you need to buy European ETFs (they need to be of the UCITS kind!).

We have listed 47 of the best ETFs in our article What Are The Best ETFs For European Investors? (Here Is 47).

As of 2021 we also track socially responsible investing ESG portfolios. Socially responsible investing (ESG) portfolios prioritize investing that puts an emphasis on environmental, social, and corporate governance issues.

You can find the socially responsible investing ESG ETFs in the same article.

Who is Tim Maurer?

I love writing about good guys in investing and personal finance. I consider Tim Maurer as a good guy in investing.

Tim Maurer is a Wealth Advisor and Director of Personal Finance for Buckingham and the BAM ALLIANCE. He is also a regular contributor to CNBC, Forbes, and TIME/Money.

If you think BAM ALLIANCE and Buckingham sound familiar, it is because you know them from other prominent financial writers. Here are a few that we have featured on Portfolio Einstein:

Larry Swedroe is the research director at Buckingham. We feature him in our article Larry Swedroe Portfolio: Nemesis of Low Returns.

Larry Swedroe He is a fantastic educational writer. We have learned a ton from his many books. An example is his gem of a book on factor-based investing (smart-beta), Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today.

Dan Solin was a director at Buckingham. He is the author of the Smartest series of investing books, including The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read: The Proven Way to Beat the “Pros” and Take Control of Your Financial Future.


Tim Maurer has also written a fantastic book on personal finance. The book features the Simple Money Portfolio.

What is it with these guys at Buckingham? Do they all write good books?

It reminds me of Ritholtz Wealth Management, where all the employees have a side gig as book authors, have a blog, or, in other ways, engages with the investing community. I can’t imagine that being anything else than a very conscious strategy and recruitment metric by Barry Ritholtz. He is one smart cookie.

The reason why I highlight the extracurricular activities of these advisors is that I consider them as being above the rest. The reason why they write books, blogs, and engage with the investing community is that they can’t help themselves. They are passionate about personal finance and investing. That shows in their books and their blogs.

Just look at Tim Maurer’s blog. It is professional but at the same time very personal.

Guys like Tim Maurer, Larry Swedroe, Dan Solin, and the Ritzholz crew, Barry Ritholtz, Josh Brown, Michael Batnick, and Ben Carlson, are writing books and blogging because they care. They write because something compels them to do so.

Description of the Tim Maurer Simple Money portfolio

The Tim Maurer portfolio is called the Simple Money Portfolio and comes from his website and his book Simple Money: A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance.

Simple Money: A No-Nonsense Guide to Personal Finance

The Tim Maurer Simple Money portfolio is a variation on the standard 60/40 portfolio.

The portfolio tilts toward value and small-cap stocks. The portfolio is a theme that is also seen in Larry Swedroe’s many portfolios.

It is also a theme we see in Dan Solin’s Super Simple portfolios.

We see the investing kinship with Tim Maurer’s colleagues at Buckingham Wealth Management.

Where can I learn more about Tim Maurer’s Simple Money portfolio?

Be sure to visit Tim Maurer’s blog. He updates it every week with new thoughtful posts on personal finance and investing.

Tim Maurer is currently serving as Head of Wealth Management for Triad Financial Advisors.


Suggestions for your next steps

If you have already committed to a portfolio then maybe you need help maintaining the portfolio. In this case 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.