Stocks/Bonds 80/20 Portfolio (2024)

FAQs

Are 80% stocks and 20% bonds good? ›

The Stocks/Bonds 80/20 Portfolio is a Very High Risk portfolio and can be implemented with 2 ETFs. It's exposed for 80% on the Stock Market. In the last 30 Years, the Stocks/Bonds 80/20 Portfolio obtained a 9.36% compound annual return, with a 12.51% standard deviation.

In investing, the 80-20 rule generally holds that 20% of the holdings in a portfolio are responsible for 80% of the portfolio's growth. On the flip side, 20% of a portfolio's holdings could be responsible for 80% of its losses.

A standard example of an aggressive strategy compared to a conservative strategy would be the 80/20 portfolio compared to a 60/40 portfolio. An 80/20 portfolio allocates 80% of the wealth to equities and 20% to bonds compared to a 60/40 portfolio, which allocates 60% and 40%, respectively.

The rule of thumb advisors have traditionally urged investors to use, in terms of the percentage of stocks an investor should have in their portfolio; this equation suggests, for example, that a 30-year-old would hold 70% in stocks and 30% in bonds, while a 60-year-old would have 40% in stocks and 60% in bonds.

Warren Buffet's 2013 letter explains the 90/10 rule—put 90% of assets in S&P 500 index funds and the other 10% in short-term government bonds.

Income-Based Portfolios

A 20% weighting in stocks and an 80% weighing in bonds has provided an average annual return of 7.2%, with the worst year -10.1% and the best year +40.7%. With a 30% allocation to stocks, you could improve your investment returns by 0.5% a year to 7.7%.

The 80/20 rule can be helpful when planning for retirement or the long term. For instance, if you're investing for retirement and have a long time horizon, say 10 years give or take, then focusing on just one investment strategy may lead to more success than working with multiple strategies simultaneously.

The portfolio seeks to achieve higher risk-adjusted returns, over a full market cycle, through strategic asset class allocations that target a predefined level of risk, which targets 80% Equity and 20% Fixed Income. The portfolio offers broad diversification across asset and sub-asset classes and investment factors.

Investors in their 20s, 30s and 40s all maintain about a 41% allocation of U.S. stocks and 9% allocation of international stocks in their financial portfolios. Investors in their 50s and 60s keep between 35% and 39% of their portfolio assets in U.S. stocks and about 8% in international stocks.

What is a good portfolio for a 60 year old? ›

According to this principle, individuals should hold a percentage of stocks equal to 100 minus their age. So, for a typical 60-year-old, 40% of the portfolio should be equities. The rest would comprise high-grade bonds, government debt, and other relatively safe assets.

The main difference between the 70/30 and 80/20 asset allocation models is how much risk you're taking. With an 80/20 allocation, you're devoting a larger share of your money to stocks, which can mean greater exposure to stock market volatility.

A stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income, Mircea Iosif wrote on Medium. “For example, at a 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000.

Chubb had about 80% of its $136 billion investment portfolio in bonds at the end of 2023. Berkshire takes a “barbell” approach of using stocks and cash because Buffett isn't enamored of bonds—and hasn't been for a decade or more—even with the rise in yields since 2022.

Many financial advisors recommend a 60/40 asset allocation between stocks and fixed income to take advantage of growth while keeping up your defenses.

The 60/40 portfolio is the standard-bearer for investors with a moderate risk tolerance. It gives you about half the volatility of the stock market but tends to provide good returns over the long term. For the past 20 years, it's been a great portfolio for investors to stick with.

The primary advantage of a 90/10 allocation is the potential for higher long-term returns due to the significant exposure to stocks.

More generally, Bogle advises that your ratio of stocks to bonds should be as high as your financial position and risk aversion allows. For example, he counsels an 80-20 split of stocks to bonds for young investors with low risk aversion who want to grow their wealth.

The classic investment portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds is doing very well at the moment — it's risen 17% in the past year. Why it matters: After more than a decade when interest rates were at or near zero, bonds provide real income again — without the volatility inherent to stocks.