Bogleheads Three-fund Portfolio (2024)

FAQs

Is the 3 fund portfolio good enough? ›

The three-fund portfolio is lazy investing at its best. It's simple, it's proven to have a better long-term track record of gains than picking single stocks and trying to time the market, and it lets you generally "set it and forget it" when it comes to saving for retirement.

Returns By Period

As of Apr 20, 2024, the Bogleheads Three-fund Portfolio returned 1.48% Year-To-Date and 7.58% of annualized return in the last 10 years.

A three-fund portfolio is a portfolio which uses only basic asset classes — usually a domestic stock "total market" index fund, an international stock "total market" index fund and a bond "total market" index fund.

Three-fund lazy portfolios

These usually consist of three equal parts of bonds (total bond market or TIPS), total US market and total international market.

Bogle, in his book Common Sense on Mutual Funds, recommends holding a percentage of bonds that corresponds to your age: If you are 40, your portfolio should be 40% bonds; 50-year-olds should hold 50% bonds; and so on.

It invests in primarily equity, and to a lesser extent, fixed income asset classes with a target allocation of 70% equities and 30% fixed income. Target allocations can vary +/-5%.

Some financial advisors recommend a mix of 60% stocks, 35% fixed income, and 5% cash when an investor is in their 60s. So, at age 55, and if you're still working and investing, you might consider that allocation or something with even more growth potential.

The average stock market return is about 10% per year, as measured by the S&P 500 index, but that 10% average rate is reduced by inflation. Investors can expect to lose purchasing power of 2% to 3% every year due to inflation. » Learn more about purchasing power with NerdWallet's inflation calculator.

There's no magic number of funds to keep in a 401(k) or another portfolio for long-term investing. The right number of investments is one that ensures diversification but also factors in your investment approach. If you prefer low-effort investing, consider buying a single fund.

Here are a few popular options: An 80/20 three-fund portfolio with 64% U.S. stocks, 16% international stocks, and 20% bonds. This option prioritizes growth and is good for investors with high risk tolerance. An equally weighted three-fund portfolio with 33% to 34% in each asset.

What is Bogleheads 3 bucket strategy? ›

A three-fund portfolio aims to diversify your portfolio across three asset classes: domestic stocks, international stocks, and domestic bonds. You can use a three-fund approach in most 401(k) accounts. Investors choose the allocation of funds that suit their goals.

Cons of a Three-Fund Portfolio

Index funds, by nature, are designed to match the market not beat it. So if your goal is to achieve above-average returns, a three-fund approach may not suit your needs in terms of performance. Rebalancing. A three-fund portfolio is not set-it-and-forget-it.

I put my personal 401(k) and a lot of my mutual fund investing in four types of mutual funds: growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international. I personally spread mine in 25% of those four. And I look for mutual funds that have long track records that have outperformed the S&P.

Dave Ramsey recommends a 100% equity portfolio consisting of actively managed mutual funds. He recommends growth (mid cap), growth & income (large cap), aggressive growth (small cap) & international funds @ 25% each.

General ROI: A positive ROI is generally considered good, with a normal ROI of 5-7% often seen as a reasonable expectation. However, a strong general ROI is something greater than 10%. Return on Stocks: On average, a ROI of 7% after inflation is often considered good, based on the historical returns of the market.

While there is no precise answer for the number of funds one should hold in a portfolio, 8 funds (+/-2) across asset classes may be considered optimal depending on the financial objectives and goals of the investor. Further, higher allocation of portfolio to the right fund is of crucial importance.

A good return on investment is generally considered to be around 7% per year, based on the average historic return of the S&P 500 index, adjusted for inflation. The average return of the U.S. stock market is around 10% per year, adjusted for inflation, dating back to the late 1920s.