At Least 25 Lazy Portfolios You Can Use

I invest in a hybrid between index funds and individual stocks. My dividend holdings are Canadian and Unites States companies with a history of increasing their dividends. The other portions of my portfolio are in various index funds covering asset classes such as global equity and fixed income.

That being said, I am often the first one to say to most people that a a lazy portfolio is most appropriate for them. I love owning individual stocks, especially dividend stocks, but it takes a lot of time to analyze and monitor each one of my holdings.[ad#tdg-embedded]

I am also the first one to say that most people can invest on their own and do not need a financial sales person to help them. This does not mean that they should not use financial advisors – I also recommend that people use advisors for estate, tax, banking, and legal aspects of their financial lives. Each of these professionals can use the investment structure you set up to help. For the investing portion of your finances, I strongly believe that most people do not need to use a sales person who gets compensated based on what investment products they sell you (usually for high fees) to structure a portfolio for them. This is where lazy portfolios come in.

A lazy portfolio is simply a basic portfolio structure that you set up and fill with index funds. It can be as complicated or as simple as you wish, however going simple has its advantages. In this post, I have pulled together a total of 25 different lazy portfolio suggestions that you can use – shown here are 10 of those. Links are provided to each so you can do more research. As always, don’t just blindly go and copy one of these. Dig in to the background and theory so you understand what you are getting into. Once your portfolio is set up you will only need to look at it a couple of times per year after that.

David F. Swensen – Yale Endowment Fund

Vanguard Total Stock Market VIPERs

iShares MSCI EAFE Index

iShares MSCI Emerg Mkts Index

Vanguard REIT Index VIPERs

iShares Lehman Aggregate Bond

The Coffehouse Investor

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index – 40%

Vanguard Sm-Cap Value Index – 10%

Vanguard REIT Index – 10%

Vanguard Total International Stock Index – 10%

Vanguard 500 Index – 10%

Vanguard Value Index – 10%

Vanguard Small-Cap Index – 10%

William Bernstein No Brainer Portfolio

Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index – 5%

Vanguard European Stock Index – 5%

Vanguard Pacific Stock Index – 5%

Vanguard REIT Index – 5%

Vanguard Short-Term Investment Grade Index – 40%

Vanguard Small Cap Index – 5%

Vanguard Small Cap Value Index – 10%

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index – 15%

Vanguard Value Index – 10%

Ben Stein Long Term Portfolio

Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index – 30%

iShares MSCI EAFE Index- 15% to 20%

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index – 10%

iShares Cohen & Steers Realty Majors – 10%

iShares Russell 2000 Value Index – 10%

Cash – 15%

Ben Stein Retirement Portfolio

StreetTracks Dow Jones Wilshire REIT ETF – 50%

iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend – 50%

Frank Armstrong Portfolio

Vanguard Total International Stock Index – 31%

Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index – 30%

Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index – 9.25%

Vanguard Value Index – 9.25%

Vanguard REIT Index – 8%

Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index – 6.25%

Vanguard 500 Index – 6.25%

The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index – 15%

Vanguard Small-Cap Index – 15%

Vanguard European Stock Index – 10%

Vanguard Pacific Stock Index – 10%

Vanguard Emerging Markets Index – 10%

Vanguard Short-term Bond Index – 10%

Vanguard High-Yield Corporates Fund – 10%

Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund – 10%

Vanguard REIT Index – 5%

Vanguard Precious Metals Fund – 5%

The One-Decision ETF Portfolio

S&P 500 Depository Receipts – 20%

iShares Cohen and Steers Realty Majors Index Fund – 20%

Russell 2000 Value Index – 10%

Lehman Aggregate Bond Index Index – 20%

Cash – 30%

Three 3 Fund Lazy Portfolio

Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund – 33%

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund – 33%

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund – 33%

Scott Burns Building Blocks

Block 1: Domestic total stock market, such as Vanguard Total Market Index fund/ETF

Block 2: Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, such as iShares TIPS

Block 3: International total market, such as Fidelity Spartan International Market

Block 4: International bonds, such as American Century International Bond

Block 5: REITs, such as the Vanguard REIT ETF

Block 6: Energy, such as the Vanguard Energy ETF

Block 7: Large U.S. value stocks, such as iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF

Block 8: Small U.S. value stocks, such as iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF

Block 9: Emerging markets, such as Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF

Block 10: International value stocks, such as iShares International Value ETF

There are a number of other lazy portfolios out there. Be sure to check out The Kirk Report and MarketWatch for additional Lazy Portfolios. Thanks to them both for their work on these types of portfolios.

(Photo Credit)