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Many Americans conduct passive investing, which some call “lazy investing.” Though this is a common way to invest, it has its detractors.<\/p>\n
I just finished reading Paul Farrell’s The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing<\/b><\/i><\/a>, for example, and I found myself drawn to the “lazy portfolios” he describes. Lazy portfolios done by are collections of index funds. Because these portfolios are balanced \u2014 they contain stocks and<\/i> bonds \u2014 they mitigate risk while providing excellent returns. Best of all, they take very little time to maintain.<\/p>\n Related >><\/strong> Are Index Funds the Best Investment?<\/a><\/p>\n It turns out that some of my favorite financial writers are also huge fans of passive investing. In fact, many of these writers have designed portfolios of their own. Here are some of the more prominent examples:<\/p>\n The Couch Potato Portfolio<\/a><\/b> from Scott Burns<\/i><\/p>\n This two-fund portfolio from financial columnist Scott Burns may be the simplest way to achieve balance. It’s an even split between stocks and bonds, and should appeal to those investors who are both lazy and<\/i> risk-averse.<\/p>\n The Three-Fund Portfolio<\/a><\/b> from Andrew Tobias<\/i><\/p>\n This three-fund portfolio from Andrew Tobias is exactly<\/i> the same as Scott Burns’ Margarita Portfolio. It introduces foreign stocks to provide additional diversification.<\/p>\n The No-Brainer Portfolio<\/a><\/b> from William Bernstein<\/i><\/p>\n William Bernstein is a retired neurologist who has turned his attention to financial matters. He wrote The Four Pillars of Investing<\/i><\/a>, which is one of the best books on investing I’ve ever read (my review<\/a>). In that book, he offers a variety of possible investment portfolios. This “no-brainer” collection of index funds keeps things simple.<\/p>\n The Coffeehouse Portfolio<\/a><\/b> from Bill Schultheis<\/i><\/p>\n The author of The Coffeehouse Investor<\/i><\/a> believes that the secret to financial success is mastering the basics: saving, asset allocation, and matching the market. The latter can be done through a lazy portfolio. (Schultheis recently shared an article at Get Rich Slowly.)<\/p>\n Related >><\/strong> How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get on With Your Life<\/a><\/p>\n Frank Armstrong III is president of a financial planning firm in Florida.<\/p>\n Building a portfolio of index funds may be lazy, but it’s not for everyone. Some investors crave greater complexity or more control \u2014 or they believe they can outperform the market on their own. Others have no interest in building portfolios (even of just three or four funds) or are unable to afford the minimum investments. For this last group of people, there a range of single-fund solutions.<\/p>\n Many mutual fund companies now offer target-date funds, which attempt to create a diversified portfolio appropriate for a specific age group. Born around 1970? You may want to consider a fund like Fidelity Freedom 2035<\/a>, which automatically adjusts its investment structure as time goes on. (You might also consider building your own target-date fund).<\/p>\n Related >> <\/strong>How to Create Your Own Target-Date Mutual Fund<\/a><\/p>\n There are other single-fund solutions, too, including these:<\/p>\n Actually, the bulk of my retirement savings is currently in that last Fidelity fund. I’ve been too lazy to create a more detailed asset allocation. (And I do need to make some changes. FFNOX allocates 85% to stocks, and that’s too much risk for me.)<\/p>\n If you adopt one of these lazy portfolios, remember to rebalance the funds every year. Over time, they’ll get out of balance. Your Couch Potato Portfolio may have started with a 50\/50 split at one point, but may look very different now. Rebalancing controls risk.<\/p>\n Passive portfolios appeal to me. The more involved I become with my day-to-day investment decisions, the more mistakes I make. I could save myself a lot of grief by putting my money into a lazy portfolio and then forgetting about it.<\/p>\n Are you<\/i> a passive investor?<\/b> If so, what does your portfolio look like? How do you decide which funds to buy? How often do you check how well your funds are performing? Any advice for those of us who are considering this strategy?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many Americans conduct passive investing, which some call “lazy investing.” Though this is a common way to invest, it has its detractors.<\/p>\nReminder:<\/b><\/i> An index fund is a low-cost mutual fund designed to mimic the movement of a specific market index. A Vanguard 500 index fund (like VFINX<\/a>), for example, tracks the performance of the S&P 500. The chief virtue of index funds is that, over the long-term, they deliver better returns than most actively-managed mutual funds.<\/div>\n<\/span>Five Lazy Portfolios<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>The Perfect Portfolio from Frank Armstrong<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Note:<\/b><\/i> These portfolios were constructed using mutual funds from Vanguard. Vanguard is probably the best source for index funds, but it’s not the only<\/i> source. My money is actually with Fidelity, which seems to have plenty of options.<\/div>\n<\/span>Single-Fund Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>Final Notes<\/span><\/h2>\n
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