Here Are The 20 Best Income Portfolios Built with ETFs for 2023
If you're looking for income then you should look at this list of the 20 best income portfolios.
What are Scott Burns’ 8 Other Couch Potato Portfolios?
Scott Burns Couch Potato and other 8 portfolios can be built with 2-10 ETFs. They are exposed to between 20% to 80% equities and 20% to 80% bonds including TIPS.
Article contents
Here is how you build Scott Burns’ Margaritaville portfolio.
- 33.33% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
- 33.33% International All-World ex-US VEU)
- 33.33% TIPS (VTIP)
You can find the other portfolios that Scott Burns have made further below.
The letters in brackets denote the stock symbol for the recommended ETF. You can look up the symbols at your stockbroker. You can see a listing of all the ETFs we recommend on this page.
What is the historical return of Scott Burns’ 8 other Couch Potato portfolios?
Below you can see the historical return of Scott Burns’ 8 other Couch Potato portfolios.
Portfolio data was last updated on 11th of August 2023, 08:35 ET
| Name | Year to date | Return in 2022 | 10 year return | CAGR since 1989 (%) | Draw Down | Expense ratio | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Burns Couch Potato | 8.94 | -11.24 | 7.01 | 8.39 | -19.89 | 0.04% | 4.21 |
| Scott Burns Margaritaville | 8.94 | -12.75 | 6.15 | 7.34 | -28.05 | 0.05% | 3.78 |
| Scott Burns Four Square | 6.97 | -12.71 | 5.05 | 6.83 | -19.56 | 0.06% | 3.24 |
| Scott Burns Five Fold | 5.73 | -15.41 | 5.48 | 7.53 | -23.04 | 0.07% | 3.34 |
| Scott Burns Six Ways from Sunday | 5.6 | -2.16 | 6.25 | 8.41 | -26.35 | 0.08% | 3.42 |
| Scott Burns Seven Value Portfolio | 5.31 | -2.18 | 7.08 | 8.67 | -27.73 | 0.08% | 3.29 |
| Scott Burns Seven Value 2 Portfolio | 5.56 | -3.29 | 7.46 | 8.96 | -28.25 | 0.09% | 3.09 |
| Scott Burns Nine Emerging Portfolio | 5.51 | -4.93 | 6.88 | 9.2 | -30.97 | 0.09% | 3.2 |
| Scott Burns 10 Speed Portfolio | 5.34 | -4.95 | 6.55 | 8.8 | -32.27 | 0.12% | 3.27 |
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 Scott Burns Couch Potato portfolios compare to the best portfolios?
Below you can see the returns of the best portfolios that we have benchmarked.
| Name | See Portfolio | Year to date | Return in 2022 | 10 year return | CAGR since 1989 (%) | Draw Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Stein Retirement | Coming soon! | 4.05 | -18.03 | 9.46 | 10.8 | -35.42 |
| Paul Merriman 4-Fund-Portfolio | Coming soon! | 9.22 | -11.98 | 11.25 | 10.38 | -35.26 |
| S&P 500 | Coming soon! | 17.09 | -18.19 | 12.52 | 10.28 | -37.63 |
| Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (25 year old) | Coming soon! | 6.63 | -13.08 | 8.28 | 10.2 | -36.46 |
| Scott Adams Dilbert Portfolio | Coming soon! | 10.87 | -18.75 | 7.0 | 10.19 | -44.88 |
| JL Collins, Simple Path To Wealth, Wealth Building Portfolio | Coming soon! | 16.6 | -19.51 | 12.08 | 10.19 | -37.0 |
| American Institute of Individual Investors (AAII) Portfolio | Coming soon! | 3.74 | -13.91 | 9.7 | 10.16 | -40.85 |
| Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (35 year old) | Coming soon! | 6.57 | -13.22 | 8.31 | 10.08 | -36.35 |
| Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 14 | Coming soon! | 6.95 | -16.94 | 7.59 | 9.99 | -37.91 |
| Balanced Portfolio 90/10 | Coming soon! | 14.83 | -18.87 | 11.03 | 9.84 | -32.78 |
Who is Scott Burns?
Scott Burns is an investing legend. He came up with the Couch Potato portfolio. It is a super simple lazy portfolio with only two asset classes.
You can get a primer on the Couch Potato in our article The Couch Potato Portfolio: Two Fund Supremacy?
Scott Burns is also a former financial columnist at the Dallas Morning News. He co-founded Assetbuilder.com,which uses The Couch Potato portfolio as an underlying portfolio. He co-authored the personal finance book Spend ‘Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard.
The Couch Potato portfolio is one of the lazy portfolios, which means it is easy to implement and maintain while producing a respectable return.
Our articles Lazy Portfolios and 5 Reasons Why A Lazy Portfolio Is Right For You highlight the benefits and pitfalls of lazy portfolios.
Scott Burns also constructed eight new Couch Potato portfolios to supplement the super simple two asset class portfolio.
Description of Scott Burns 8 other Couch Potato portfolios
The family of Couch Potato portfolios is constructed so that they increase the number of asset classes they use. The most simple is The Couch Potato which uses two asset classes while the last one Ten-Speed uses ten asset classes.
So, for example, the Couch Potato portfolio uses only two asset classes, while Five-fold portfolios use 5. From an asset class perspective, it means they increase in complexity.
It is an elegant textbook example of how you can slice ‘n’ dice your portfolio into individual asset classes.
The Scott Burns portfolios are some of the few portfolios on portfolioeinstein.com that specifically expose the portfolio to energy-related companies.
What portfolios have Scott Burns have constructed?
Here are the portfolios that Scott Burns have designed.
- The Couch Potato Portfolio
- MargaritaPortfolio
- Four Square Portfolio
- Five-fold Portfolio
- Six Ways From Sunday Portfolio
- Seven Value Portfolio
- Seven Value 2 Portfolio
- Nine Emerging Portfolio
- 10 Speed Portfolio
Let’s see how you build these Couch Potato brothers and sisters.
What is the asset allocation of Scott Burns Couch Potato portfolios?
Below you can see how to build Scott Burns’ portfolios.
Scott Burns Couch Potato
- 50.00% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
- 50.00% TIPS (VTIP)
You can find additional information and commentary in our 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 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 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 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 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 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 Nine Emerging Portfolio
- 11.10% US Total Stock Market (VTI)
- 11.10% US Large Cap Value (VTV)
- 11.10% US Small Cap Value (VIOV)
- 11.10% REITs (VNQ)
- 11.10% Emerging Markets (VWO)
- 11.10% International All-World ex-US (VEU)
- 11.10% International Large Cap Value (EFV)
- 11.10% Energy (XLE)
- 11.10% TIPS (VTIP)
- 11.10% Non-US Bonds (BNDX)
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)
Where can I learn more about Scott Burns the 8 other Couch Potato portfolios?
Scott Burns maintains a beautiful and informative website over at couchpotatoinvesting.com
If you are Canadian, you might want to check out the site canadiancouchpotato.com
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.
What is the best ETF portfolio?
You can see the best ETF portfolios here.
You can find the best ETFs here.
Which ETF does Warren Buffett recommend?
Warren Buffet recommends holding two ETFs:
- 90.00% Large-cap blend (S&P 500) (VOO)
- 10.00% Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH)
