235 portfolios better than yours

This is an updated and upgraded post on investment portfolios from the outstanding Whitecoat investor’s post 150 portfolios better than yours. In our article, we have included a lot more portfolios as well as asset allocation for all the portfolios and performance benchmarks and information on how to find additional information.

Article contents

What is the perfect portfolio?

There are a lot of portfolios out there! Every money management firm has their own portfolios. Not all portfolios are suited for your situation, however. For example, one portfolio is needed when you are saving for retirement, and a different one is required when you enter retirement.

It is easy to get lost in all those portfolios. That’s why you should ask yourself: What are my goals, and what are my risk levels?

See the article How To Invest Money, 5 Simple Steps That Work For Anyone to get help.

There IS a portfolio for you.

Your perfect portfolio

There is an ideal portfolio for you and your situation. The perfect portfolio for you is the one you stick with!

It’s that simple.

If you don’t stick with your portfolio and stay the course, your chances of reaching your financial goals diminish.

Choose a portfolio and stick with it!

The asset allocation for all the portfolios can be found in the article Asset Allocation Of 235 Investment Portfolios

Portfolio performance and risk can be found here Investment Portfolios.

If you are unsure how to approach investing in the first place I suggest you start with reading the article How To Invest Money, 5 Simple Steps That Work For Anyone

If you need a target-date retirement fund you can find more help in the article Target Date Fund Portfolios.

If you need help with finding a lazy portfolio check out the article Lazy Portfolios.

Finally, we have put the spotlight on robo advisors, you can find the article under Robo Advisor Performance.

Portfolio 1: The S&P 500 Portfolio

Yes, this is a real portfolio! Not just a benchmark. It is entirely viable to put all of your savings into an S&P 500 fund. John Bogle touted this as the best strategy in the book Common Sense on Mutual Funds..

The returns are not markedly different than a Total Stock Market fund (TSM).

100.00% S&P 500 (VOO)

Portfolio 2-10: The Balanced Portfolio with index funds

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

The balanced portfolios consisting of two asset classes, stocks and bonds are the simplest portfolios to implement. You can mix and match the funds to your risk levels going from 90% stocks, 10% bonds to 90% bonds and 10% stocks. The 60/40 split often serves as a benchmark for institutions.

Find all the balanced portfolio along with benchmark in the article The Balanced Portfolio: Portfolio Grand Daddy

Portfolio 11: The Three Fund Portfolio by Taylor Larimore

50.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
30.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
20.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

The Three-fund portfolio is a hallmark of the Bogleheads forum. Taylor Larimore’s book on the three-fund portfolio lays out in detail the advantages of having a simple portfolio. The book is foreworded by John Bogle. You have a lot of options in changes the asset allocation of this portfolio.

Find all the three-fund portfolios along with benchmarks in our article Three Fund Portfolio: Did Awesomeness Find Trinity?

Portfolio 12-15: Rick Ferri’s 4 Fund Portfolio (Core Four Portfolio)

30.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
6.00% REITs (VNQ)
24.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
40.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

Rick Ferri is a former Navy fighter pilot. Author of some best books on investing, among them, probably my favorite is The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work. In his many books, he presents a ton of portfolios. They are all very well diversified and yields respectable returns. If you want to know more about ETFs you should pick up another “best-in-class” book The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds if you want to know more about index funds you should REALLY pick that up.

Find all of Rick Ferri’s portfolios in our article Rick Ferri Portfolio, Can It Bring You Enough Returns?

Portfolio 16-19: 7Twelve Portfolios by Craig Israelsen

8.37% US Large Cap (VV)
8.33% US Mid Cap (IJH)
8.33% US Small Cap (VIOO)
8.33% REITs (VNQ)
8.33% International Developed Blend (VEA)
8.33% Emerging Markets (VWO)
8.33% Total US Bond Market (BND)
8.33% Cash (money market fund) (BIL)
8.33% Commodities (DBC / GSG)
8.33% Gold (IAU)
8.33% TIPS (VTIP)
8.33% Non-US Bonds (BNDX)

Craig L. Israelsen, Ph.D., is an Executive-in-Residence in the Financial Planning Program at Utah Valley University. He developed the 7-Twelve portfolio in order to create a portfolio with massive diversification. In his book 7Twelve: A Diversified Investment Portfolio with a Plan he lays out the portfolio. The portfolio consists of 7 asset classes and 12 funds (or ETFs) that invest in those asset classes.

Find the rest of the many 7Twelve portfolios in our article Craig Israelsen’s 7Twelve Portfolio: Too Much Diversification?

Portfolio 20: The Unconventional Success Portfolio by David Swensen

Find the portfolio in our article David Swensen Portfolio, Asset Allocation With A Punch

Portfolio 21: The Permanent Portfolio by Harry Browne

Get all the details on this wonderful portfolio in our article The Permanent Portfolio: Do Well No Matter What Happens

Portfolio 22: Tony Robbins Master Your Money / Ray Dalio Portfolio

30.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
40.00% Long-Term Treasuries (TLT)
15.00% Intermediate-Term Treasuries (VGIT)
7.50% Commodities (DBC / GSG)
7.50% Gold (IAU)

Tony Robbins set out to find out the perfect money advice and investing portfolio. In his book MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom he documents this. After having talked to some of the giants in the investment industry he recommends the above portfolio that is designed by hedge fund manager Ray Dalio. Ray Dalio, CEO of the largest hedgefund in the world, Bridgewater, is the guy behind the bestseller Principles and the risk parity approach in investing.

Read WAY more on this portfolio in the article Tony Robbins and Ray Dalio Portfolio: Master Your All-Weather Portfolio

Portfolio 23: Paul Merriman Ultimate 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% Emerging Markets (VWO)
10.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
10.00% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
10.00% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
10.00% International Small Cap Value (DLS)

Paul Merriman, educator, entrepreneur and an all-around good guy in investing have a host of portfolios. They all express massive diversification and a slight to an extreme bias towards value and small-cap, especially small-cap value which historically has been the best performing asset class. Paul Merriman’s podcast is highly recommended, as are the many articles on his site. His personal finance book Get Smart or Get Screwed: How To Select The Best and Get The Most From Your Financial Advisor easily wins as the best-titled book on personal finance.

His book Financial Fitness Forever: 5 Steps to More Money, Less Risk, and More Peace of Mind is fantastic and stuffed with sage advice, statics, and evidence-based best-investing practices.

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.

Merriman has made ALOT of portfolios. We cover almost all of them in the article Paul Merriman Portfolios: Unbiased Outperformance

Portfolio 24-25: The Ivy Portfolios by Meb Faber

20.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
20.00% REITs (VNQ)
20.00% International Developed Blend (VEA)
20.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)
20.00% Commodities (DBC / GSG)

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 and Eric actually propose 3 portfolios with 5, 10, 20 asset classes.

Find many more portfolios by Meb Faber in our article Meb Faber Portfolios: Backed By Solid Research

Portfolio 26: Coffeehouse Portfolio by Bill Schultheis

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)

The very famous Coffeehouse portfolio is categorized as a Lazy Portfolio due to its ease in its implementation and maintenance. Bill Schultheis have a beautiful website. Check out his book by the same title The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On with Your Life.

Find the detailed analysis of Bill Schultheis’ portfolio in our article Bill Schultheis, Coffeehouse Portfolio: Relax And Get On With Your Life Portfolio?

Portfolio 27: 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 bylow-cost index funds. You can read the entire letter here or get the deluxe version The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America.

We just featured this portfolio along with a lot more pertinent information in our article The Warren Buffett Portfolio, Let the Oracle Show You High Returns

Portfolio 28-37: Index Fund Advisors Portfolios (IFA)

7.20% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
7.20% US Large Cap (VV)
12.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
12.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
1.50% REITs (VNQ)
2.40% Emerging Markets (VWO)
3.60% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
3.60% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
10.00% Short-Term Treasuries (VGSH)
3.60% International Small Cap Value (DLS)
3.00% Emerging Markets Small Cap (EWX)
2.40% Emerging Markets Value (FNDE)
10.00% 1 Year Fixed Income (BSV)
10.00% 2 Year Global Fixed Income (BNDX)
10.00% 5 Year Global Fixed Income (BND/BNDX)
1.50% International REITs (VNQI)

Index Fund Advisors is headed up by Mark T. Hebner. It is an investment advisory firm using exclusively DFA funds and employing passive index strategies to achieve some very good returns. IFA provides a wealth of fantastic information on investing on their site. Mark Hebner’s book Index Funds: The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors is a great way to get up to speed on why indexing and passive investing is a superior way to invest. IFA’s portfolios are characterized by their tilt towards value and small-cap.

We have featured ALL of IFA’s portfolios in our article Index Fund Advisors: Market-Beating Portfolios.

Portfolio 38: 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. This is very similar to the three-fund portfolio also featured here. It replaces the Total Bond Market Bond fund with a tips fund.

We featured Andrew Tobias in our article Andrew Tobias Portfolio, The Only Portfolio You Will Ever Need.

Portfolio 39: 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.

Portfolio 40: 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 the 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 to coming up with the expression “new normal” in the post-financial crisis.

We featured this portfolio in our article Mohamed El-Erian Portfolio, Too Special?

Portfolio 41: 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.

Don’t implement this portfolio before reading our article The Marc Faber Portfolio, Returns You Can Touch and Feel.

Portfolio 41: 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 portfolios are categorized as a Lazy Portfolio.

Portfolio 43-51: The Second Grader Portfolio by Allan Roth

36.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
4.00% REITs (VNQ)
20.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
40.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

Allan Roth’s book How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street: Golden Rules Any Investor Can Learn puts forth 9 simple portfolios that have proven very capable over time. They are often lumped in the category of Lazy Portfolios because they are so easy to implement and maintain. He has portfolios with 3 funds, portfolios with 4 funds and portfolios with 5 funds. They are all excellent.

Portfolio 52: 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 the Ideal Index Portfolio. Frank Armstrong’s portfolio is tilted towards small-cap and value stocks while keeping a healthy dose of 30% in short-term treasuries which are considered very safe.

Portfolio 53: 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. The Dilbert portfolio takes some wild swings because it holds 50% stocks in emerging markets.

Portfolio 54-62: Scott Burns Couch Potato

50.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
50.00% 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. The best performing portfolio is “Scott Burns Nine Emerging Portfolio”.

Portfolio 63-67: Larry Swedroe Simple Portfolio and 4 other portfolios

15.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
15.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
13.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
4.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
13.00% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
40.00% TIPS (VTIP)

Larry Swedroe is a prolific author and Director of Research at wealth management firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth. He often visits the Bogleheads Forum where he shares insights, knowledge and answers questions. He is one of our favorite authors on investing. The best books include The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need, Wise Investing Made Simpler and Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing: The Way Smart Money Invests Today His portfolios are characterized by investing in risky asset classes (small and value) while keeping the risk in check by allocating a large amount to safe bonds.

Portfolio 68-72: William Bernstein’s Four Pillars Portfolios and No Brainer Portfolio

25.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
10.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
10.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
5.00% REITs (VNQ)
10.00% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
40.00% 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 through 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 with a realistic expectation of future returns. Other books that are 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.

Portfolio 73: 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.

Portfolio 74: 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)

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

Portfolio 75: 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 of. They are however the largest independent advisory firm in the US. It was taken private in 2018 and merged with Edelman Financial Services.

Portfolio 76: 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)

This is Meb Faber’s risk parity portfolio from his blog where he compares it to Ray Dalio’s All Weather Portfolio (also on this site). Meb Faber is a quant and his 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.

Portfolio 77-80: Robo Advisor Betterment Portfolios

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 advisory phenomenon I recommend picking up FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification.

Portfolio 81-84: Robo Advisor Wealthfront Portfolio

The robo advisory firm came late to the robo advisory 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.

Portfolio 85-86: Roger Gibson’s Portfolio, Multi-asset

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.

Portfolio 87: Harry Markowitz Portfolio “Father of Modern Portfolio Theory”

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.

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street

Portfolio 88-94: Rick Ferri Early Saver Portfolio and 7 others

Rick Ferri is the author of some best books on investing, among them, probably my favorite is The Power of Passive Investing: More Wealth with Less Work. In his many books, he presents a host of portfolios. They are all very well diversified and yields respectable returns. If you want to know more about ETFs you should pick up another “best-in-class” book The ETF Book: All You Need to Know About Exchange-Traded Funds.

Portfolio 95: 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.

Portfolio 96: 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.

Portfolio 97-99: Paul Merriman’s Best-in-Class ETFs Portfolio

11.30% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
11.20% US Large Cap (VV)
11.30% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
11.20% US Small Cap (VIOO)
5.00% REITs (VNQ)
9.00% International Developed Blend (VEA)
4.50% Emerging Markets (VWO)
9.00% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
9.00% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
9.00% International Small Cap Value (DLS)
4.50% Emerging Markets Small Cap (EWX)
5.00% International REITs (VNQI)

Portfolio 100-104: Paul Merriman’s Target Date Portfolio

2.35% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
61.86% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
4.73% US Small Cap (VIOO)
1.05% REITs (VNQ)
4.66% Emerging Markets (VWO)
0.81% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
0.81% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
0.81% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
17.81% International Small Cap Value (DLS)
4.66% Emerging Markets Small Cap (EWX)
0.45% International REITs (VNQI)

Paul Merriman, educator, entrepreneur and all-around good in investing have constructed a host of portfolios. They all express massive diversification and a slight to an extreme bias towards value and small cap Paul Merriman’s podcast is highly recommended, as are the many articles on his site. His personal finance book Get Smart or Get Screwed: How To Select The Best and Get The Most From Your Financial Advisor easily wins as the best-titled book on personal finance. His book Financial Fitness Forever: 5 Steps to More Money, Less Risk, and More Peace of Mind is fantastic and stuffed with sage advice, statics, and evidence-based best-investing practices.

Together with Chris Pedersen, Paul Merriman has constructed what he calls the ultimate target-date fund. These are characterized by tilting heavily into small-cap value, historically the best performing asset class.

Portfolio 105-109: iShares LifePath Index Fund Portfolio

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’s largest asset manager in the world (6.3 trillion dollars in 2017).

Portfolio 110-122: BlackRock Model Portfolios

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. If you use Vanguard ETFs you save slightly on the fees.

Portfolio 123: 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.

Portfolio 124-125: JL Collins, Simple Path To Wealth

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. His second portfolio adds 25% Total US Bond Market.

Portfolio 126: 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)

Paul Merriman, educator, entrepreneur and all-around good in investing have a host of portfolios. They all express massive diversification and a slight to an extreme bias towards value and small cap, especially small-cap value which historically has been the best performing asset class. Paul Merriman’s podcast is highly recommended, as are the many articles on his site. This portfolio is from his now-defunct FundAdvice days.

Portfolio 127-130: Fidelity Freedom Index Portfolio

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. The above portfolio is from the asset allocation of their target date funds.

Portfolio 131-135: TD Ameritrade Core Portfolio

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.

Portfolio 136-138: Morningstar Retirement Saver Portfolio

47.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
8.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
20.00% International Developed Blend (VEA)
5.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
20.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)

Christine Benz, director of personal finance at Morningstar, the fund rating company, has put together portfolios to help you save for retirement. In addition, she has also built portfolios for a 3-bucket approach when you already are in retirement. Those portfolios are not suited here but you can find them here. Christine Benz is the author of two wonderful books that come recommended. One is Morningstar 30-Minute Money Solutions: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Your Finances and the other is Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: Five-Star Strategies for Success.

Portfolio 139-142: Vanguard Target Retirement Portfolio

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.

Portfolio 143-147: Merrill Lynch Edge Select Portfolio

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 on portfolioeinstein.com that include 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.

Portfolio 148-153: David Booth (DFA) Normal Portfolio

16.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
16.00% US Large Cap (VV)
8.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
8.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
8.00% REITs (VNQ)
2.40% Emerging Markets (VWO)
8.00% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
4.00% International Small Cap Blend (VSS)
5.00% Intermediate-Term Treasuries (VGIT)
4.00% International Small Cap Value (DLS)
3.20% Emerging Markets Small Cap (EWX)
2.40% Emerging Markets Value (FNDE)
5.00% 1 Year Fixed Income (BSV)
5.00% 2 Year Global Fixed Income (BNDX)
5.00% 5 Year Global Fixed Income (BND/BNDX)

Co-founder and former CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) David Booth propose several portfolios in his article “Index and Enhanced Index Funds”. They are inline with the DFA methodology, as they are weighted towards value and small-cap. This is no surprise as two of the investment committee members of DFA are Eugene Fama and Kenneth French. They pioneered the model for describing asset class premia. Value and small-cap are among those asset classes that have the highest returns. The impact on investing by Fama cannot be understated and is eloquently detailed in The Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

Portfolio 154-157: Vanguard LifeStrategy Portfolios

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 diversification 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.

Portfolio 158: William Bernstein’s Sheltered Sam Portfolio

15.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
12.00% US Large Cap (VV)
9.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
3.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)
6.00% REITs (VNQ)
3.00% Emerging Markets (VWO)
3.00% Pacific Stocks (VPL)
3.00% European Stocks (VGK)
4.20% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
24.00% Short-Term Treasuries (VGSH)
1.80% Precious Metals (GLTR)
16.00% TIPS (VTIP)

William Bernstein, a former doctor, investment consultant and an all around good guy in the investing world has presented a host of portfolios through his career. His book, The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio is often cited as required reading on investing. His investing philosophy is broad diversification, common sense and with 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. This is one of several portfolios from his book.

Portfolio 159: 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?

Portfolio 160-169: T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolio

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 1.3 Trillion dollars under management (2021). 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.

Portfolio 170-173: Charles Schwab Target Date Fund Portfolio

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)

Charles Schwab founded his business in 1971 and is now one of the largest banks in the U.S with a brokerage and an ETF business. These portfolios are part of Schwab’s target date funds.

Portfolio 174-175: Time Inc. Money Portfolio

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 as 60/40 portfolio. The second portfolio has a tilt towards value.

Portfolio 176-181: Charles Schwab Managed Portfolio

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.

Portfolio 182: Alpha Architect Robust

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. This portfolio stands out with its use a momentum asset class.

Portfolio 183-185: Meb Faber’s GAA and GTAA Portfolios

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)

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. These portfolios make use of the momentum asset class.

Portfolio 186: 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. Ray Dalio is the CEO of Bridgewater and has recently published his bestseller Principles.

Portfolio 187: 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.

Portfolio 188-202: Morningstar Lifetime Allocation Index

12.13% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
10.54% US Large Cap (VV)
9.26% US Large Cap Growth (VUG)
5.20% US Mid Cap Value (JKI)
4.52% US Mid Cap (IJH)
3.97% US Mid Cap Growth (IJK)
3.81% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
3.31% US Small Cap (VIOO)
2.91% US Small Cap Growth (IJT)
2.93% REITs (VNQ)
25.26% International Developed Blend (VEA)
9.54% Emerging Markets (VWO)
3.00% Total US Bond Market (BND)
0.05% Cash (money market fund) (BIL)
2.62% Commodities (DBC / GSG)
0.25% TIPS (VTIP)

The Morningstar®Lifetime Allocation Indexes are Morningstar target-date retirement portfolios. There are A LOT of them as Morningstar has an aggressive, moderate and conservative fund for each target-date. No one other provider offers this. The portfolios have the most asset classes of all the portfolios on Portfolioeinstein.com including commodities in the construction.

Portfolio 203-206: Burton Malkiel Portfolio

35.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
10.00% REITs (VNQ)
17.50% International Developed Blend (VEA)
17.50% Emerging Markets (VWO)
5.00% Cash (money market fund) (BIL)
4.00% Corporate Bonds (LQD)
7.00% Dividend Growth (VIG)
4.00% Emerging Market Bonds (EMB / VWOB)

Burton Malkiel is a giant in the investing industry and CIO at robo advisor firm Wealthfront. His wildly popular book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, cemented the theory of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. In that book, he proposes several portfolios for the different stages in life.

Portfolio 207-210: Dimensional Fund Advisors Target Date Retirement Portfolios

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.

Portfolio 211-213: Paul Merriman 2-Fund-Value, 4-Fund-Value, 5-Fund-Value Portfolio

25.00% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
25.00% US Large Cap (VV)
25.00% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
25.00% US Small Cap (VIOO)

Paul Merriman, educator, entrepreneur and all-around good in investing have a host of portfolios. They all express massive diversification and a slight to an extreme bias towards value and small cap, especially small-cap value. The above portfolios go all in on value asset classes and can be found on his website.

Portfolio 214-229: Dan Solin Super Smart Portfolios

Dan Solin is a veteran of theinvestment industry and is considered one of the good guys in investing. He has served at Index Fund Advisors and Buckingham Strategic Wealth (in company with Larry Swedroe, Tim Maurer). He is the author of the “Smart Series”.

They are small but powerful books on investing.

These include: The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read: The Proven Way to Beat the “Pros” and Take Control of Your Financial Future and The Smartest Portfolio You’ll Ever Own: A Do-It-Yourself Breakthrough Strategy.

Portfolio 230-235: TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Portfolios

59.90% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
18.50% International 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.

Summary and your next steps

With all these portfolios it can be hard to choose.

Which portfolio do you use and why?

Do you have any other portfolios that you want to have added?

Let me know in the comments!

235 Portfolios Better Than Yours

Article contents

What is the perfect portfolio?

Your perfect portfolio

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street

Summary and your next steps

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