Best Investment Portfolios — 150+ Portfolios Better Than Yours

By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI Founder

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This post originally ran in January 2014. Since then it has been one of the most popular posts on the blog (it's second actually, just behind the Backdoor Roth IRA Tutorial). There were two points to writing the post:

• To help new investors realize there is no perfect portfolio and that the best one can only be known in retrospect. Therefore, they should pick something reasonable and stick with it.
• As a bit of a rebuke to three-fund portfolio fanatics. Since that time, the three-fund portfolio has become even more popular, thanks in part to Taylor Larimore's book and in part to the outperformance since 2009 of the large growth stocks that make up a large part of a total market index fund.

I returned to this post in 2020, made a few comments to the various portfolios, and added another 50. Now, in 2025, we're republishing this piece once again after updating a few things here and there. I'll leave the title the same (since lots of people search for “150 portfolios” to find the post, but now it is 200 Portfolios Better Than Yours! It is still just as relevant today as it was more than a decade ago.]

Designing the Perfect Investment Portfolio

As investors move from their investment childhood through their teenage years, many of them seem to become fixated on designing the perfect investment portfolio. They've learned the importance of buy and hold, the importance of keeping costs low, and the importance of using passive investments over active ones. They learn about the efficient frontier and seek to get themselves onto it, not realizing it can only be defined in retrospect.

They start learning about various portfolios and their pluses and minuses, and they seem to be eternally seeking a better one. Even some investment advisors fall into this trap, designing their own portfolios, borrowing someone else's, or even paying to use someone else's models. Occasionally, I even see investment advisors try to keep their model portfolios a secret, as though theirs are somehow magically better than anyone else's.

The truth is that no one knows which portfolio is going to outperform in the future. You can change all the factors you want—more or less diversification, additional risks/factors, lower costs vs. additional risk or diversification, and more of this and less of that. Does it matter? Absolutely. Take a look at Madsinger's Monthly Report sometime, where a Bogleheads poster tracked the returns of a dozen balanced portfolios from 2010-2020. But it doesn't matter that much. No diversified portfolio in that report has done better than 1%-2% per year more than a similarly risky portfolio over that time span. Now 1%-2% does matter, especially over long periods of time, but keep in mind the edge that a very complex portfolio might provide over a very simple one can easily be eaten up by advisory fees, behavioral errors, and poor tax management.

More information here:

The 1 Portfolio Better Than Yours

The 15 Questions You Need to Answer to Build Your Investment Portfolio

Pick a Portfolio and Stick with It

I suggest you pick a portfolio you like and think you can stick with for a few decades, and then do so. Eventually, any given investment portfolio will have its day in the sun. Just don't continually change your portfolio in response to changes in the investment winds. This is the equivalent of driving while looking through the rearview mirror, or, as Dr. William Bernstein likes to phrase it, skating to where the puck was.

Don't get me wrong; I went through the process like everyone else. I designed my own portfolio (see Portfolios #150 and #200) to fit my own needs, ability, and desire to take risk. I added some asset classes and left out others because I thought doing so would give me a higher long-term, risk-adjusted return. But I'm not cocky enough to think I've got the best portfolio. In fact, I'm positive mine isn't the very best one. Neither I nor anyone else knows what the very best portfolio is going forward.

More information here:

The 90/10 Warren Buffett Portfolio?

Let’s Celebrate Taylor Larimore’s 100th Birthday by Asking Him 4 Questions About Money

Investment Portfolio Examples

In that spirit, let's talk about some of the investment portfolios you can use (or modify for your own needs). These portfolios will often use Vanguard funds as my usual default, but similar low-cost portfolios can generally be made using Fidelity, Schwab, or iShares index mutual funds or ETFs.

Portfolio 1: The S&P 500 Portfolio

100% Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund

When I originally wrote this in 2024, I said: “Don't laugh. I know a very successful two-physician couple who are seven years out of residency and who invest in nothing but this. They have a net worth in the $1 million-$2 million range.” After outsized US large growth performance in the last few years, now everybody loves this portfolio, and all kinds of people are adopting it. While it feels like performance-chasing to swap into it now, if you hold on to it for decades, it'll probably work out fine.

Portfolio 2: Total Stock Market Portfolio

100% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund

Perhaps one step up on the S&P 500 portfolio; for about the same cost, you get another 3,500 stocks in the portfolio.

Portfolio 3: Total World Stock Market Portfolio

100% Vanguard Total World Index Fund

This 100% stock portfolio has the advantage of holding all the US stocks, like the Total Stock Market Portfolio, while also holding all of the stocks in pretty much all the other countries in the world that matter. Originally a little more expensive than building it from its component parts, its expense ratio is now down to just 6 basis points, basically free like any other Vanguard index fund portfolio.

Portfolios 4-5: Balanced Index Fund

100% Vanguard Balanced Index Fund 

Prefer to diversify out of stocks? Want some bonds in the portfolio? How about this one? For seven basis points, you get all the stocks and bonds in the US in a 60/40 balance. It's still just one fund. If you're in a high tax bracket, you may prefer the Tax-Managed Balanced Fund (VTMFX), a 50/50 blend of US stocks and municipal bonds, all for just 9 basis points.

Portfolios 6-9: Life Strategy Moderate Growth Portfolio

100% Vanguard Life Strategy Moderate Growth Fund 

For just 13 basis points, you get all the US (37.4%) and international (23.4%) stocks and all the US (27.2%) and international (12%) bonds wrapped up in a handy fixed asset allocation. In the past five years, this index fund has tilted slightly more to equities and slightly away from bonds. Want to be a little more (or a little less) aggressive? Then check out the “growth” (80/20), “conservative growth” (40/60), or “income” (20/80) versions with a slightly different allocation of the same asset classes. Think it's silly to have a portfolio composed of just one fund of funds? Mike Piper doesn't.

Portfolios 10-21: Target Retirement 2040 Fund

100% Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Fund

Don't like a static asset allocation? Don't want to have to decide when to change from one Life Strategy Fund to the next? Consider a Target Retirement Fund where Vanguard makes that decision for you. For a cost of just eight basis points, the 2040 Fund uses the same four funds that the Life Strategy funds use in a 76/34 allocation but gradually makes the asset allocation less aggressive as the years go by. The portfolios range from 90/10 (2050 and higher) to 20/80 (Income). If you want to add a short-term TIPS fund to the mix, go with 2025 or Income.

Portfolios 22-25: The Two-Fund Portfolio

50% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
50% Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

Perhaps you like the concept of a balanced index fund but would like to shave off a few basis points or just be in control of the stock-to-bond ratio. For just four basis points, you can build your own balanced index fund. Want all the stocks, not just US ones? For a few extra basis points, you can substitute in Total World Index for Total Stock Market Index. For a few more basis points, you could use Total World plus Intermediate Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWITX), or if you want to stay domestic in a taxable account, TSM plus the muni fund for about 6.5 basis points. Paul Merriman has a simple “two funds for life” approach that offsets a conservative Target Date Fund with an all-equity fund. There are lots of combinations.

Portfolio 26: The Three-Fund Portfolio

33.3% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
33.3% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund
33.3% Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

A favorite among the Bogleheads, the three-fund portfolio gives you all the stocks and US bonds. Despite its popularity, you can see there is nothing particularly special about this portfolio compared to the other 25 above it. It is broadly diversified and low-cost, although it is heavily weighted in large cap stocks, just like the overall US market.

Portfolio 27-35: Three-Fund Plus One

30% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
30% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund
10% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
30% Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

Another popular portfolio for those who want “just a little tilt.” An investor convinced of the benefit of additional diversification (or less diversification, depending on how you look at it) can add a fund to the ever-popular three-fund portfolio. Some (like Rick Ferri with his trademarked “Core-4” portfolio) add the Vanguard REIT index fund for its intermittently low correlation with the overall stock market. Others add the Vanguard Small Value Index Fund to try to capture the benefits of the Fama/French small and value factors. Still others add a TIPS fund, an international bond fund, or a high-yield fund since these bonds aren't included in the Total Bond Market Fund. Other options include a microcap fund, a precious metal equities fund, a precious metals fund, or even a commodities futures fund. Nowadays, maybe people just add a 5% slice of Bitcoin.

The possibilities are endless, especially once you start considering adding two, three, or even more of these asset classes to the portfolio. What will do best in the future? Nobody knows. We can only tell you what did well in the past.

Portfolio 36-37: Four Corners Portfolio

25% Vanguard Growth Index Fund
25% Vanguard Value Index Fund
25% Vanguard Small Growth Index Fund
25% Vanguard Small Value Index Fund

One of the first of the “slice-and-dice” type portfolios, this portfolio tried to capture some benefit from the fact that sometimes growth stocks outperform value stocks and vice versa. Its detractors argued that you were just recreating TSM at a slightly higher cost. Another variation is to use Total Stock Market instead of Growth Index and Small Cap Index Fund instead of Small Growth Index. This allowed you to “tilt” to the Fama-French factors while keeping costs down a bit. You could also mix this in with some international stock funds and bond funds until you get to something you like.

Portfolio 38: The Coffee House Portfolio

10% Vanguard 500 Index
10% Vanguard Value Index
10% Vanguard Small Cap Index
10% Vanguard Small Cap Value Index
10% Vanguard REIT Index
10% Vanguard Total International Index
40% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index

Popularized by investment author and financial advisor Bill Schultheis in The Coffeehouse Investor, this version of slice and dice is heavy on the REITs and light on international stocks, and it lacks diversity on the fixed income side. But it does weigh in at well under 10 basis points. You want someone to tell you what to do? Bill will do it. Follow his instructions, and you'll be fine.

Portfolio 39-48: The Couch Potato Portfolio

50% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
50% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (TIPS)

Guess who else will tell you what to do? Scott Burns will. He offers nine portfolios, ranging from two funds to 10 funds. You just have to choose how much complexity you're willing to deal with for some additional diversification. If there are five funds, each fund makes up 1/5 of the portfolio and so forth. He likes TIPS, international bonds, and energy stocks. Considering energy stocks have underperformed for most of the past decade (though it's been a little better the past few years), that idea hasn't aged well.

Portfolio 49-58: The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Portfolio

6% Vanguard 500 Index Fund
6% Vanguard Value Index Fund
6% Vanguard Small Value Index Fund
6% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
6% Total International Stock Market Index Fund
6% Vanguard International Value Fund
6% Vanguard International Small Cap Index Fund
6% An International Small Cap Value Fund
6% Bridgeway Ultra-Small Market Fund
6% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
40% Vanguard Short (or intermediate) Term Bond Index Fund

Paul Merriman will also tell you what to do. That's 10 equity asset classes and one fixed income asset class. Will it work? Sure. Will it be a pain to rebalance and allocate across all your accounts? Absolutely. Will it beat some of the simpler options over your investment horizon? No one knows. In case you don't like the “Ultimate” portfolio, Paul has three others that are equally complicated, ranging from 100% stocks in nine asset classes to 40% stock in 12 asset classes.

Portfolio 59: The Talmud Portfolio

33.3% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
33.3% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
33.3% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund

The Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, had some portfolio advice: “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.” This is one author's low-cost vision of that ancient portfolio. It's a little REIT-heavy for my taste.

Portfolio 60: The Permanent Portfolio

25% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
25% Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Fund
25% Gold ETF (GLD) or, better yet, gold bullion
25% Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund

Here's another popular portfolio, this one from Harry Browne. He felt you wanted a portfolio that would do well in prosperity (stocks), deflation (long Treasuries), inflation (gold), and “tight money or recession” (cash). There are lots of variations. There is even a one-stop shop mutual fund for 82 basis points that's been around since 1982 with 15-year average returns of a little over 7%. Not only did it lose money in 2008, it managed to do so in 2013, 2015, and 2022 as well. From 2010-2020, it did rather poorly when compared to the roaring stock market, demonstrating its severe tracking error, but in five of the past six years, it's gained over 10% per year.

Portfolios 61-84: FPL Portfolios

12% US Large
12% US Value
12% US Targeted Value Stocks
6% International Value Stocks
6% Global REITs
3% International Small Value
3% International Small Stocks
1.8% Emerging Market Stocks
1.8% Emerging Markets Value Stocks
2.4% Emerging Market Small Stocks
10% One Year Government Fixed Income
10% Short Term Government Fixed Income
10% Two Year Global Fixed Income
10% Five Year Global Fixed Income

FPL Capital Management, one of the sponsors of this blog, has a whole bunch of model portfolios, made up mostly of DFA funds. This one is 60% stocks but there are nine more ranging from 10% stocks to 100% stocks. There are also other folios, including three fixed-income ones (made up of funds of DFA, PIMCO, and various ETFs), a low-beta portfolio, and 10 equity portfolios (made up of funds of DFA, Wisdom Tree, and Vanguard). Many other DFA-authorized asset management firms have similar portfolios, many of which they consider proprietary because they're so awesome. A common theme among them is complexity and factor tilts.

Portfolios 85-108: The Sensible IRA Portfolio #4 

33% US Stocks
15% International Stocks
6% Emerging Markets Stocks
6% REITs
40% Fixed Income

Darrell Armuth at Sensible Portfolios, who used to advertise with WCI, runs a financial advisory firm that uses DFA funds. He offers six portfolios suitable for IRAs; this is one of them. He also offers six more suitable for a taxable account, six environmentally friendly portfolios, and six “express portfolios” designed for smaller accounts. Unfortunately, when I went to update this post a few years ago, I found that these portfolios were no longer listed on the website. I guess you have to hire him now to get the secret sauce.

Portfolios 109-131: Sheltered Sam 60/40 Portfolio 

12% Vanguard 500 Index Fund
15% Vanguard Value Index Fund
3% Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund
9% Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund
6% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
1.8% Vanguard Precious Metals Fund
3% Vanguard European Stock Index Fund
3% Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
3% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
4.2% Vanguard International Value Fund
24% Vanguard Short-term Corporate Bond Fund
16% TIPS (he recommends you buy the 2032 ones yielding 3.375% real, good luck with that)

Dr. William Bernstein had four investors in his classic The Four Pillars of Investing: Sheltered Sam, whose assets were all in IRAs and 401(k)s; Taxable Ted, whose assets were not; In-Between Ida who was partially sheltered; and Young Yvonne who didn't have much at all. He listed 11 portfolios for Ted and 11 for Sam, ranging from 0% stocks to 100% stock. He listed one more for Ida and then showed how Yvonne could gradually grow into Sam's portfolio. I've just listed one of them. If you want to see the other 22, buy the book or check it out at the library.

Portfolio 132: The Aronson Family Taxable Portfolio

5% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
15% Vanguard 500 Index Fund
10% Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund
5% Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund
5% Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund
5% Vanguard European Stock Index Fund
15% Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
10% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
15% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (TIPS)
10% Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Fund
5% Vanguard High Yield Bond Fund

This is apparently how Ted Aronson (who manages $28 billion) invests his family's taxable money. I'm not sure I understand the logic behind some of its components. That said, if it is held for a long period of time, I'm sure it will work just fine. As of January 2025, it has 10-year returns of around 6.55%, which is 1.92% worse than Balanced Index Fund (see portfolio #4).

Portfolio 133: The Warren Buffett Portfolio

100% Berkshire Hathaway Stock

Warren Buffett is admired by all as a great investor. You can have him manage your money if you'd like, and all you have to do is buy a single stock. It's a simple solution, and you get a free ticket to the coveted annual meeting. Note that he has told the trustee of the trust supporting his wife after his death to put 90% of it into the S&P 500 and 10% into Treasury bills.

Portfolio 134: The Unconventional Success Portfolio 

30% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
20% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
15% Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund
5% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
15% Vanguard Intermediate Treasury Bond Fund
15% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (TIPS)

This is an example of an implementation of the portfolio put forth by David Swensen, the Yale investment guru, in his classic Unconventional Success. It's fine, like the other 133 portfolios before it. Its main criticism is that it is awfully REIT-heavy.

Portfolio 135-137: The Wellesley Portfolio

100% Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund

This actively managed Vanguard fund has been around since 1970, and despite only being 37% stock, has averaged 9.1% a year, while charging 16 basis points. The main knock against it, aside from being actively managed, is that it isn't particularly diversified. It holds just 75 stocks, mostly large value stocks, and 1,280 bonds. Don't expect 10% a year out of this bond-heavy fund going forward.

That said, it's hard to argue with success. Other actively managed funds that could be considered a reasonable portfolio all by themselves include the Wellington Fund (established 1929, 66/34, 10-year returns of 8.75%, expense ratio of 0.26%) and Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund (established 1931, 64/36, 10-year returns of 7.95%, expense ratio of 0.52%). There are probably more. I'm not a big fan of active management, but it's hard to nitpick funds that survived The Great Depression. Clearly, they're doing something right.

Portfolio 138-146: The Advanced Second-Grader Aggressive Portfolio

54% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
27% Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund
6% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
3% Precious Metals
10% Total Bond Market Index Fund

Allan Roth, in his excellent How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street, lists a conservative, a moderate, and an aggressive allocation for a second-grader portfolio (three funds), an advanced second-grader portfolio (4-5 funds), and an alternative advanced second-grader portfolio (uses CDs instead of the Total Bond Market Fund). That's nine more portfolios you could use without having to come up with your own!

Portfolios 147-150: The Dan Wiener Income Portfolio

The now semi-retired Dan Wiener used to sell a newsletter to Vanguard investors where he revealed his super-secret portfolios composed of various Vanguard funds. I can't tell you what the portfolios held (there were quite a few actively managed funds and the allocations changed from time to time), but I can tell you the performance wasn't terrible.

From 1999-2020, the growth version had returns of 9.61%, almost 3.5% a year better than the three-fund portfolio and about 2% better than a typical slice-and-dice portfolio, like the Sheltered Sam portfolio (although you do expect higher returns due to significantly higher stock allocation). The less aggressive income version had returns of 5.52% a year. There was also a “conservative growth” and an “index fund growth” portfolio whose returns were similar to slice-and-dice type portfolios.

While I'm certain there is a survivor bias effect here, it's still a pretty decent long-term record of actively managed mutual fund picking. It helps that he mostly limited himself to low-cost Vanguard funds.

Portfolio 151: The Larry Portfolio

32% DFA Small Value Fund
68% DFA One Year Treasury Fund

Larry Swedroe is smarter than me, I'm sure. He is a huge fan of taking your risk on the equity side. He is a true believer in the small and value factors of Fama and French, and he carries the idea behind a slice-and-dice portfolio to the extreme. He holds no fear of tracking error or the lack of traditional diversification, the primary downsides of investing like this. It is more important to him to diversify among “factors” like small, value, and momentum. It's not my cup of tea, but at least he puts his money where his mouth is. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: Update from 2020: I'm told that Larry actually splits his equities between US Small Value, Developed Markets Small Value, and Emerging Markets Value, but you get the point—it's a very heavy small value tilt.]

Portfolios 152-165: The Rick Ferri Multi-Asset Class Pre-Retiree Portfolio

23% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
5% IShares S&P 600 Barra Value (IJS)
2% Bridgeway Ultra Small Company Market (BRSIX)
5% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
3% Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund
3% Vanguard European Stock Index Fund
2% Vanguard International Explorer Fund (he'd probably use the Vanguard International Small Index Fund now)
2% DFA Emerging Markets Fund
10% IShares Lehman Aggregate Bond Fund (AGG)
13% Vanguard Investment Grade Short Term Bond Fund
10% Vanguard High Yield Corporate Bond Fund
10% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (TIPS)
5% Payden Emerging Markets Bond Fund (PYEMX)
2% Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund

In another classic book, All About Asset Allocation, Rick Ferri suggests a basic and multi-asset class investment portfolio for early savers, mid-life accumulators, pre-retirees/active retirees, and mature retirees—for a total of eight portfolios. Rick isn't afraid to look for the “best of class” fund for any given asset class. There are lots of great portfolio ideas here. See Portfolios #170-173 for more portfolios from Rick Ferri.

Portfolio 166: Frank Armstrong's Ideal Index Portfolio

7% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
9% Vanguard Value Index Fund
6% Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund
9% Vanguard Small Value Index Fund
31% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index Fund
8% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
30% Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund

You can read more about this one in Armstrong's The Informed Investor. A nice heavy small/value tilt but only domestically.

Portfolio 167: The 7/12 Portfolio 

8.33% Vanguard 500 Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
8.33% Natural Resources
8.33% Commodities
8.33% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (TIPS)
8.33% Vanguard International Bond Index Fund
8.33% Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund

Seven major asset classes, 12 funds, 8.33% a piece. Clever, huh? Craig Israelsen, a professor at the prestigious Brigham Young University, advocates for this approach in his book 7 Twelve. He wants you to send him $150 to tell you how to use Vanguard funds (or those of any other company) to implement the portfolio. Send me $100, and I'll tell you how to do it, too. If you've read this far, you know more about portfolio design than 95% of “financial advisors” out there.

Portfolio 168: My Parent's Portfolio

30% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
10% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund
5% Vanguard Small Value Index Fund
5% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
20% Vanguard Intermediate Term Bond Index Fund
20% Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund
5% Vanguard Short Term Corporate Index Fund
5% Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund

I help my parents manage their nest egg. I'm twice as smart and 2.5% per year cheaper than the last guy they used. This 50/50 portfolio is a good balance between keeping it simple and understandable, but it's still getting the benefit of a multi-asset class portfolio. It lost 18% in 2008 and more than gained it back in 2009. Returns are about 7% per year over the last 20 years, including the 2008 debacle, the COVID meltdown in 2020, and the worst year ever for bonds in 2022.

Portfolio 169: The 2014 White Coat Investor Portfolio

17.5% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
10% TSP S Fund
5% Vanguard Value Index Fund
5% Vanguard Small Value Index Fund
7.5% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
5% Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company Market Fund (BRSIX)
15% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund/TSP I Fund
5% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
5% Vanguard International Small Index Fund
10% Schwab TIPS ETF
10% TSP G Fund
5% Peer 2 Peer Lending Securities (mostly Lending Club)

I'm more than willing to admit that it is unlikely that this portfolio will be the best of the 150+ portfolios listed here over my investment horizon. However, since my crystal ball is cloudy and since I'm convinced that sticking with any good portfolio matters far more than which good portfolio you pick, I'm going to stick with it (and I have with minimal changes in the last decade). See Portfolio #200 for my updated portfolio.

Portfolios 170-173: Rick Ferri's Core-4

48% Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
24% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Fund
8% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
20% Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

All four of these portfolios are really just a play off of Portfolio #26, and they range from 80/20 to 20/80. It's basically just a three fund plus a little REIT. It's too much REIT for some and too little real estate for others. But for a precious few, it's just right.

Portfolio 174: The Golden Butterfly

20% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
20% Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund
20% Vanguard Long Term Bond Index Fund
20% Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund
20% SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)

This portfolio from Tyler at Portfolio Charts claims to “match the high return of the Total Stock Market [Portfolio #2] with the low volatility of the Permanent Portfolio [Portfolio #60].” I don't think it actually does that, given its heavy emphasis on bonds and gold. Since TSM has outperformed all of those other asset classes over the last decade, there is no way this portfolio has matched its return in that time period. But I'm sure it has been less volatile.

Portfolio 175: The All Weather Portfolio

30% Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
40% Vanguard Long Term Bond Index Fund
15% Vanguard Intermediate Term Bond Index Fund
7.5% Commodities
7.5% SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)

A Ray Dalio creation, this one is also an attempt at improving the returns of the Permanent Portfolio while still improving bear market performance. The idea is that growth can be up or down and inflation can be up or down, so you should pick something that does well in all four combinations of those factors. Of course, he seems to think gold will do well in three of those four situations, but it makes for pretty fancy charts. If you really can get similar performance with lower volatility, that would allow you a higher withdrawal rate in retirement.

Portfolios 176-178: Kiplinger Portfolios

20% Dodge & Cox Stock Fund
20% Primecap Odyssey Growth
15% DoubleLine Total Return Bond
15% Parnassus Mid Cap
10% Fidelity International Growth
10% Oakmark International
10% T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Small-Cap Growth Equity Fund

Kiplinger published three portfolios for various time horizons. This one is the long-term one (11+ years) but they are all composed of actively managed funds, so I don't really like any of them. I included them because they're a good example of what you get from the financial media and many crummy 401(k)s. There's usually lots of back-testing involved, and as a rule, these types of portfolios had great performance in the years prior to them being published.

Portfolios 179-183: Fidelity Index Focused Models

35% Fidelity 500 Index Fund
3% Fidelity Mid Cap Index Fund
4% Fidelity Small Cap Index Fund
18% Fidelity Ex-US Global Index Fund
35% Fidelity US Bond Index Fund
3% Fidelity Conservative US Bond Fund
2% Fidelity Core Money Market Fund

Fidelity has published plenty of portfolio models, including five using index funds from 20/80 to 80/20. The one above is the 60/40 one—or at least what it looked like the last time we updated this piece in 2020. I think it's overly complicated. Not only are there four asset classes with less than 5% of the portfolio in them, but it uses a less diversified 500 index fund instead of a total stock market fund. In reality, this is just a fancied-up three-fund portfolio. That said, it's low-cost, broadly diversified, and better than the vast majority of portfolios I've seen.

Portfolios 184-188: Betterment Portfolios

15% Vanguard US Total Stock Market Index Fund
15% Vanguard Value Index Fund
15% Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund
6% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
5% Vanguard Mid Cap Index Fund
4% Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund
20% Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund
20% Vanguard Short Term Treasury Index Fund

This one comes from Betterment, at least how it looked back in 2012. You'll notice the heavy value tilts, a significant small tilt, and a previous focus on safety on the bond side. It looks like Betterment also includes junk bonds and international bonds now in their portfolios.

Portfolios 189-197: SoFi Portfolios

28% Vanguard US Total Stock Market Index Fund
24% Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index Fund
8% Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund
20% Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund
10% Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund
5% SPDR Short-Term High-Yield Bond ETF
5% Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Fund

SoFi also runs a robo advisor-like service that offers nine portfolios—from conservative to aggressive—for retirement and taxable accounts. This was the moderate one for retirement accounts from a few years ago. I'm not sure exactly what funds it used, so I added appropriate funds for each listed asset class. It's a little odd to have emerging market bonds without developed market bonds.

Portfolio 198: The Leif Dahleen Portfolio

60% US stocks (with a tilt to small and value)
22.5% International stocks (50/50 developed and emerging markets)
7.5% REIT
10% Bond and cash (mostly bond plus cash emergency fund)

This is very aggressive, especially for a retiree. The last time we published this article, it also had low allocation to real estate, although he might have increased that asset class since.

Portfolio 199: The Physician Philosopher Portfolio

45% Vanguard Institutional Index Fund
20% Vanguard Mid Cap Index Fund
20% Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund
15% International Stocks

This is what he had in his 403(b) a couple of years ago. It's aggressive, but otherwise, it's pretty plain, aside from a small tilt.

Portfolio 200: The Current White Coat Investor Portfolio

25% US Stocks (VTI and ITOT)
15% Small Value (AVUV and DFSV)
15% International Stocks (VXUS and IXUS)
5% International Small Value Stocks (AVDV and DISV)
10% Inflation protected bonds (TIPS and I bonds)
10% Nominal bonds (TSP G Fund, VWIUX and VTEAX)
5% Vanguard REIT Index Fund
5% Debt Real Estate (Private debt funds)
10% Equity Real Estate (Private debt funds with a syndication or two)

I simplified our asset allocation in 2017. Aside from consolidating asset classes, the major change was swapping out peer-to-peer loans for hard-money lending and adding a bit more real estate. But basically it's 60% stock (2/3 of which is US, 1/3 of which is international), 20% bonds, and 20% real estate. Note that there are two holdings for most asset classes. That's simply a reflection of the fact that most of the portfolio is in taxable and we need tax-loss harvesting partners. Long-term returns of just over 20 years as of the beginning of 2024 were 11.03%. Not too bad considering only 25% of it is in the US large cap stocks that have dominated the last few years.

A good investment portfolio is broadly diversified; low-cost; mostly or completely passively managed; regularly rebalanced; and consistent with its owner's need, ability, and desire to take risk. Every portfolio (except the Kiplinger ones) in this post meets those qualifications. Pick one you like, or design your own. Just don't go looking for the best one. As Prussian General Carl Von Clausewitz said, “The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.”

What do you think about all these portfolios? Do you use one of these, or have you designed your own?

[This updated post was originally published in 2014.]

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