How to build a portfolio you don’t have to babysit

Article content

If you’re a do-it-yourself investor aiming to build a “no babysitter required” portfolio, here are the key steps to take.

Article content

Step 1: Find your portfolio’s true north

Article content

Article content

Give due consideration to your asset allocation. That decision will have the biggest impact on how your portfolio behaves in the future.

Article content

The tricky part about asset allocation, even a hands-off approach, is that the “right” asset allocation is often a moving target as retirement approaches.

Article content

Target-date funds elegantly address this issue by transitioning to a more conservative stance as the years go by. If you’re OK with an asset allocation that’s not necessarily customized to your particular situation, your quest for a low- or no-maintenance portfolio could begin and end with a good-quality target-date fund.

Article content

Article content

If you’d like to have more control over your asset allocation, think through your risk capacity and risk tolerance.

Article content

Article content

Target-date funds’ asset allocations can be a decent starting point when deciding how to allocate assets depending on life stage. You can also tailor your mix of aggressive and conservative investments, which is particularly valuable if you’re retired and actively spending from your portfolio.

Article content

Also give some thought to how your asset allocation will change over time. A good-quality target-date fund can help you visualize your portfolio’s glide path.

Article content

Step 2: Eliminate redundant accounts

Article content

If your aim is to reduce complexity and oversight in your portfolio, you can slim down your number of accounts. Multiple rollover IRAs from previous employers, as well as straggler 401(k) assets, can create unnecessary complexity.

Article content

Just remember that the consolidation process can only go so far because some of your accounts will need to remain distinct for tax purposes.

Article content

You can combine multiple IRAs in your name, for example, but you won’t typically be able to combine your 401(k) with those IRAs unless you’ve retired or left your employer. Taxable nonretirement assets will need to remain distinct from IRAs and company retirement plans.

Article content

Article content

If you and your spouse each have assets in your own names, those accounts will need to remain distinct, too.

Article content

Step 3: Identify low-cost, well-diversified building blocks

Article content

Now, you can turn your attention to identifying the building blocks to populate the portfolio(s).

Article content

For your long-term investments, broad “total market” index funds and exchange-traded funds are the lowest-maintenance choices. The best aspect of these products is that a single fund will provide all (or almost all) of the exposure you need to a given asset class.

Article content

One fork in the road is whether to obtain your total market exposure via a traditional index fund or exchange-traded fund.

Article content

For your cash holdings, focus on products that are low-cost, well-diversified, and low-maintenance, like online savings accounts and money market mutual funds.

Article content

Step 4: Document your maintenance regimen

Article content

If you’ve followed the steps above, a thorough annual review should be enough.

Article content

This will be essential if you’re already retired because you’ll need to figure out how to extract cash for living expenses from your portfolio, and to take required minimum distributions from your tax-deferred accounts once you hit age 73.