What's Your Risk Capacity? (2024)

Portfolio Management

November 8, 2022

It's not how much risk you can stomach that counts—it's how much time you have left to save.

What's Your Risk Capacity? (1)

When establishing your portfolio's asset mix, it's important to consider your risk tolerance, or the degree to which you can emotionally endure losses. But there's another side to the coin: risk capacity.

"Risk tolerance is a state of mind and can fluctuate wildly in response to the market," says Susan Hirshman, director of wealth management at Schwab Wealth Advisory, Inc. "Risk capacity, on the other hand, is fixed: Your goals have an end date, and you either have time to bounce back from losses or you don't."

When your risk capacity and risk tolerance don't align, it creates challenges—especially as your time frame shrinks. Susan points to two such scenarios:

  1. When the market is struggling and portfolio values are dropping quickly, investors with a low risk capacity might be tempted to cut back on their stock exposure or cash out entirely in an attempt to soften the blow. "But selling in a downturn just means locking in those losses and potentially missing out on the rebound, making it that much harder to recover your lost funds," Susan says (see "Staying the course").
  2. When the market is on fire, on the other hand, investors tend to take on more risk than is prudent. "Feeling like you're missing out on gains can lead you to increase your exposure to higher-risk, higher-reward investments," Susan says. "But if you're nearing your goal, you should focus on preserving what you've saved rather than risking it for the prospect of a few extra percentage points."

Staying the course

Cashing out during a downturn may curtail some losses—but it's also likely to undercut gains as the market recovers. And the longer you sit on the sidelines, the farther behind you'll fall.

What's Your Risk Capacity? (2)

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research and Morningstar.

Data analyzes the five periods from 10/1974 through 03/2022 during which the S&P 500®­ Index fell by 20% or more. Market returns are represented by the S&P 500 Total Return Index, and cash returns are represented by the total returns of the Ibbotson U.S. 30-Day Treasury Bill Index. Cumulative returns are calculated using the simple average of returns from each period and scenario. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Your risk capacity, not your risk tolerance, should drive your investment decisions. But determining whether your portfolio aligns with your goals isn't always straightforward. For example, you may have a retirement date in mind, but that doesn't mean you need access to all your savings on that date.

"Generally speaking, you should have two to four years' worth of expenses in stable, relatively liquid investments, but the rest of your portfolio can be invested for long-term growth," Susan says. "In that way, your overall capacity for risk might actually be higher than you assume."

When in doubt, Susan suggests working with an advisor who can help ensure the risk in your portfolio aligns with your capacity to weather a downturn.

We can help you manage your portfolio.

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What's Your Risk Capacity? (3)

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Understanding Portfolio Margin

Qualified traders have access to portfolio margin, which can offer a way to increase a trader's available budget.

What's Your Risk Capacity? (4)

Asset Allocation

Retirement Portfolio Assets: Allocation by Age

As you progress through your retirement investing journey, consider altering your asset allocation by age as your time horizon, investment goals, and risk tolerance change.

What's Your Risk Capacity? (5)

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Investing During Stock Market Highs

Watch to learn how to invest when the stock market is at all-time highs.

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Portfolio Management Risk Asset Allocation

The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decision.

All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions. Data contained herein from third-party providers is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed.

Examples provided are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to be reflective of results you can expect to achieve.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

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What's Your Risk Capacity? (2024)

FAQs

What is your risk capacity? ›

Risk capacity refers to the amount of risk an individual or organization can responsibly take on without jeopardizing their financial stability or other key objectives. It is determined by objective factors like income, assets, liabilities & debts, insurance coverage, dependents, and time horizon.

What is the risk capacity level? ›

Risk capacity is how much risk can be accepted (and loss potentially absorbed) without fully undermining the organization. Risk tolerance is a matter of disposition—how comfortable decision-makers feel with the risk factors of a given venture.

What is risk capability? ›

Risk capacity is a measure of the risk you need to take to reach your financial goals, while risk tolerance considers how much risk you are comfortable taking. These two factors will influence your investment decisions and can help develop an investment plan when you pair them with your investment return targets.

What is the maximum risk capacity? ›

An organisation's risk capacity is the maximum amount of risk that it can assume. This is an important concept because risk appetite must be set at a level within the capacity limit. Capacity needs to be considered before appetite.

How do you measure risk capacity? ›

The two most critical factors are the number of negative periods and the average % of the target income achieved during negative periods. These factors can be combined to create a “Risk Capacity Metric” that can be weighted by valuing a first dollar (catastrophic dollar) versus a last dollar to achieve a goal.

What does your risk capacity reflect? ›

Your risk capacity depends on factors specific to you and your family such as your income, savings, employment status, age, debt levels, health status, etc. Between your risk tolerance and your risk capacity, your overall risk profile should reflect the lower of the two.

What is the risk capacity model? ›

The capacity-risk model provides guidance regarding what level of intervention, if any, is warranted. When to respect an adult's rights to refuse services. When to pursue involuntary interventions (including nursing home placement).

What is high level of risk? ›

High Risk: An identified concern, that without mitigation, is likely to cause the individual to experience substantial injury or loss within the next 30 days or the individual has experienced substantial harm within the previous 30 days and the harm will likely recur without mitigation.

What is the risk capacity planning? ›

Risk in capacity planning is the possibility of negative outcomes or consequences due to the mismatch between the actual demand and the available capacity. These outcomes can include lost revenue, dissatisfied customers, wasted resources, increased costs, or missed opportunities.

What are the three 3 categories of risk? ›

Types of Risks

Widely, risks can be classified into three types: Business Risk, Non-Business Risk, and Financial Risk.

What are the 4 risk categories? ›

The main four types of risk are:
  • strategic risk - eg a competitor coming on to the market.
  • compliance and regulatory risk - eg introduction of new rules or legislation.
  • financial risk - eg interest rate rise on your business loan or a non-paying customer.
  • operational risk - eg the breakdown or theft of key equipment.

What is the operational risk capacity? ›

The maximum operational risk (loss) an organization could absorb without breaching solvency, regulatory or other critical thresholds, which would threaten the survival of the firm as a viable operation.

What is an example of a risk limitation? ›

It is a strategy employing a bit of risk acceptance along with a bit of risk avoidance or an average of both. An example of risk limitation would be a company accepting that a disk drive may fail and avoiding a long period of failure by having backups.

What is personal risk tolerance? ›

What is risk tolerance? Simply put, risk tolerance is the level of risk an investor is willing to take. But being able to accurately gauge your appetite for risk can be tricky. Risk can mean opportunity, excitement or a shot at big gains—a "you have to be in it to win it" mindset.

What is the difference between risk limit and risk capacity? ›

Risk Capacity the extent of risk that an organisation is capable of undertaking. Risk Limit the maximum amount of risk that can be underwritten. Risk limits will often be identified for key risk‐taking activities such as insurance underwriting and investment.

What is the difference between risk capacity and appetite? ›

Risk capacity is the maximum amount of risk that an organization is able to take on, and risk appetite is the amount of risk that an organization is willing to take on. A safety margin is the difference between the risk capacity and the risk appetite.

What is risk capacity and risk attitude? ›

Your risk tolerance is your willingness to take risk—any risk. Your risk capacity is the amount of money you can put at risk. Together, they define your risk profile, which may be a big influence on how you invest.

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