I'm 30, how should my retirement portfolio be balanced? What percentage to large cap/small cap/etc.?

Question

I have the time to oversee my portfolio so I don't want to hand over my money to a fund manager. I am acceptable of risk (I have 30+ years until retirement), but need to know what a decent portfolio should look like for someone my age. Should I go all small-cap? Should I go all international? Thanks!

Answer 1

You sound like you are roughly in the same boat as me in terms of time horizon. And I am the same way. I don't need to forfeit 1 to 1.5% of my principal to some CFP who took a weekend course or to a big brokerage house who is going to just stick me in cap gain hog mutual funds anyway based on staying in the family or based on who gives them a wrap fee.

My preference is 20% small cap, 20% mid cap, 30% international, 25-30% large cap, and 0-5% in bonds (either foreign or high yield). And I prefer to avoid almost all mutual finds, sticking to ETFs and closed end funds which do not stick you with a fat tax bill from churning. If you do go into a few mutual funds, I use Morningstar to weed out funds. I first look only at funds that have been around for 15 or more years and have average for 10 year and life in excess of 10%. You will find this narrows the field considerably. Then I weed out high expense ratios relative to peers, short manager tenure, and funds with big volatility of returns. E.g. if their 1,3,5 yr returns are also pretty close to 10 or higher than 10 like their 10 and life return, then they are in. Exception, if a fund around say 20 or more years meeting my other criteria took a little dip recently as a result of a sector slump (e.g., fund from 1987 with 12% life, 10, 5, 3 yr returns but only achieved a paltry 4% the past year, could be a good time to get in. Other than that I place almost no value on 1,3,5 year returns, which is why most of the mags like Money, Smart Money, Fortune and Kiplingers are useless in terms of fund picking. They are also funded by all the big players. Count how many ads are in their by brokerage houses, and when was the last time you heard any of them name names in a scandal the way Barrons does.

Answer 2

A well diversified portfolio historically has proved to provide the best return with the least amount of risk. There are any number of opinions on how best to accomplish that goal. Here is just a sample idea that you can work from. Not necessarilty a recommendation although I certainly would not have any difficulty recommending it.

10-20% t-bills as a standby for the next crash in order to take advantage.

20% in large cap U S stocks as SPY or pick and choose.
20% in foreign developed stocks. SWZ is one of my choices
15% in small cap stocks. I like PENNX as a method of getting a broad taste of those or other Royce funds.
15% in mid cap stocks. There are a lot of good values there. Got to pick and choose
10% Chinese companies such as CHL or a fund.
10% Indian companies. A fund is a good bet in this area since there are not many to choose from available to U S individual investors. IIF or INF.

Answer 3

I would use this formula:

60% Large Cap (Blend, Growth, and Value)
10% Mid Cap
30% Foreign (Value, Growth and Emerging Markets)

Also use NTF and No Load funds. There are some great fund families. If you look at the returns over 10, 20, and 30 years you will see the load funds do not generally perform better than their less expensive counterparts. Also, you can invest in ETFs. They have lower expense ratio's but every transaction will cost you an equity trade fee.

Answer 4

It doesn't matter if you are thirty, or three, or sixty-three, don't go "all" anything if you can help it. Over time everything has its moments. Pick a short range of general areas (stocks, bonds, REITs, cash/annuity) in which you pick from the best of class (that would sort of be like saying 'best of breed' but some folks picture dogs, and I wouldn't want to jinx you). Periodically check to see if a different fund in each area offers a better return. That is miles better than simply seeing a high return in one place and putting your whole pot there. What if things change and that investment tanks? That is why the diversification, if something is down and others up, the ones that are up mitigate the ones that are down.

Answer 5

Well i think that most ordinary people in Britain be they black, white or brown agree with a lot of what the bnp have to say behind closed doors, especially on things like uncontrolled immigration and law and order. But some people don't have a clear or truthful idea as to what the bnp are really about because the only get the smear campaign from the left, e.g. the bbc. And that's not me just trying to defend them, even the most liberal person would admit that they don't get a fair crack of the whip. All the best.

Answer 6

I would only buy vanguard and fidelity funds. They are the lowest when it comes to fees and have an excellent return. At your age I would focus 50% on an age based target ret. fund, then mabye 15% on the international sector, another 20% on the S&P, and the remaining 15% you could pick a sector that you feel good about that way you have some input in your portfolio and not just taking all my advice. The following is a link for the Vangaurd fund.

https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsSnapshot?FundId=0305&FundIntExt=INT

Answer 7

Penny stocks are loosely categorized companies with share prices of below $5 and with market caps of under $200 million. They are sometimes referred to as "the slot machines of the equity market" because of the money involved. There may be a good place for penny stocks in the portfolio of an experienced, advanced investor, however, if you follow this guide you will learn the most efficient strategies https://tr.im/4ed13

Answer 8

As always, a little balanced, but at age 30, I'd go with

35% growth mid-cap
35% growth large-cap
10% international
10% value mid-cap
10% blend large-cap

never go all anything.

check out more at www.morningstar.com

Answer 9

My advise is go risky. overseas and small cap. higher than most reccomend. You have a long time until you retire and those risky markets will have plenty of time to pay off.