What proportion of your portfolio should be core holdings in suppose to satellites?

Answer 1

While it is important to consider your age and risk tolerance, I think 20-30% in core holdings is foolhardy.

I am in my early 30s and have been both very happy and very successful with a 70% core holding composed of Vanguard's Total International Stock Index Fund, Total Bond Fund, and S&P 500 Index Fund. I tend to tweak the percentages of those three funds a bit depending on how I feel about the global economy, but have held essentially those three funds for several years now.

A 20-30% allocation to satellite investments is much more realistic and lets you sleep at night knowing the majority of your money is in big, relatively safe index funds.

Answer 2

i believe the answer to this question depends on how old you are. if you are younger, as in under 30, i believe that your portfolio should have a riskier approach. i would put the core holdings at around 25-30% at this point (assuming these are the safest). at around age 50, i would titrate that up to 50-60% core holdings. at age 65, depending on how rich you have or haven't become, i would keep no less than 80-90% of your portfolio value in the safest of investments, like an REIT or an ETF with a diesel dividend.

Answer 3

It epends on your age and your professional (steady) income. You always want a balance of risky vs safe holdings, and of short vs long run holdings.