A simple portfolio made up of three low - cost index funds — a U.S. total stock market fund, an international total stock market fund and
a U.S. total bond market fund — will suffice.
Not exact matches
The Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index
fund and the iShares Core
U.S. Aggregate
Bond fund each lost 1.5 percent in the quarter.
To get the mix you need, Prior recommends a
total U.S. stock -
market index
fund, a
total international stock
market index
fund, and an index
fund that buys a broad sampling of U-S and international
bonds.
To create this portfolio, you simply invest in the following three
funds (or their ETF equivalents): a
total U.S. stock
market fund, a
total international stock
market fund and a
total U.S
bond market fund.
The one - day loss for many
funds, including Vanguard
Total Bond Market, iShares Core
U.S. Aggregate
Bond, Pimco
Total Return and Metropolitan West
Total Return, while less than a half a percentage point, still amounted to more than 10 percent of their current yield.
Using daily returns for the Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index
Fund (VBMFX) and the Vanguard
Total Stock
Market Index
Fund (VTSMX) as proxies for their respective
markets over the period 6/20/96 through 6/30/08, along with contemporaneous
U.S. economic data, they conclude that:
Using daily returns for the Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index
Fund (VBMFX) and the Vanguard
Total Stock
Market Index
Fund (VTSMX) as proxies for their respective
markets over the period 6/20/96 through 6/30/08, along with contemporaneous
U.S. economic data, they conclude that: Keep Reading
By investing in a
total U.S. stock
market and
total U.S. bond market index
fund, you'll own a piece of virtually all publicly traded
U.S. companies and a share of the entire investment - grade
bond market.
In the case of stocks, a good example is a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund or ETF, which gives you virtually all domestic publicly traded stocks, while a
total U.S. bond market index
fund or ETF would essentially give you the entire taxable investment - grade
bond market.
The easiest way to get diversified
bond exposure is to invest in a total U.S. bond market index fund or ETF that tracks a benchmark like the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond In
bond exposure is to invest in a
total U.S. bond market index fund or ETF that tracks a benchmark like the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond In
bond market index
fund or ETF that tracks a benchmark like the Barclays
U.S. Aggregate
Bond In
Bond Index.
While I have no problem with going all - index — a
total U.S. stock
market fund for broad domestic stock exposure, a
total U.S. bond market fund for your
bond stake and a
total international
fund if you want to include foreign shares in your asset mix — I don't contend you would be totally undermining your investing efforts if you throw in the occasional actively managed
fund, provided it has low expenses.
My advice: Purchase a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund, a
total international stock index
fund and a
total bond market fund.
Mutual
fund buyers can invest in Fidelity U.S. Bond Index Premium Class (0.05 %), Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund (0.04 %) and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral Shares (0.05
fund buyers can invest in Fidelity
U.S. Bond Index Premium Class (0.05 %), Schwab
U.S. Aggregate
Bond Index
Fund (0.04 %) and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral Shares (0.05
Fund (0.04 %) and Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index Admiral Shares (0.05 %).
Instead, you might anchor your portfolio with a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund, a
total international stock index
fund and a
total bond market index
fund.
YOU CAN BUILD A GREAT PORTFOLIO with just three index
funds: a
U.S. total stock
market fund, an international
fund that buys both developed and emerging stock
markets, and a high - quality
U.S. bond fund.
The percentages of the Portfolio's assets allocated to each Underlying
Fund are: Vanguard
Total Bond Market II Index
Fund 14 % Vanguard
Total International
Bond Index
Fund 5 % Vanguard Short - Term Inflation - Protected Securities Index
Fund 6 % Vanguard Federal Money
Market Fund 75 % Through its investment in Vanguard
Total Bond Market II Index
Fund, the Portfolio indirectly invests in a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics.
You can build a fully diversified portfolio of domestic and foreign stocks plus
U.S. bonds with just three
funds or ETFs — a
total U.S. stock
market fund, a
total international stock
funds and a
total international stock
fund.
For example, a
total U.S
bond market index fund that tracks the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index — a good proxy for the taxable bond market overall — currently has a duration of about six ye
bond market index
fund that tracks the Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Aggregate
Bond Index — a good proxy for the taxable bond market overall — currently has a duration of about six ye
Bond Index — a good proxy for the taxable
bond market overall — currently has a duration of about six ye
bond market overall — currently has a duration of about six years.
You can build a diversified portfolio with just two
funds: a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund and a
total U.S. bond market index
fund.
To check I wasn't missing something, I set out to do apples - to - apples comparisons among index
funds in four highly competitively segments of the indexing
market: large - cap
U.S. stocks,
total U.S. stock
market,
total international stock
market and
total U.S. bond market.
The table below includes
fund flow data for all
U.S. listed
Total Bond Market ETFs.
You might purchase a
bond fund that focuses on higher - quality U.S. bonds, which is what you get with total bond market index funds like Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index F
bond fund that focuses on higher - quality U.S. bonds, which is what you get with total bond market index funds like Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index F
fund that focuses on higher - quality
U.S. bonds, which is what you get with
total bond market index funds like Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index
total bond market index funds like Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index F
bond market index funds like Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index
market index
funds like Schwab
U.S. Aggregate
Bond Index Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index F
Bond Index
Fund and Vanguard Total Bond Market Index F
Fund and Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index
Total Bond Market Index F
Bond Market Index
Market Index
FundFund.
So that's 40 % in the BMO Aggregate
Bond Index ETF (ZAG), and 20 % each in the iShares Core S&P / TSX Composite Index ETF (XIC), iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index
Fund (XEF), and the Vanguard
Total U.S. Market (VUN).
You can get pretty much cover all the sectors of the stock and
bond markets with just two or three broad index
funds or ETFs: a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund, a
total bond market index
fund and a
total international stock
market index
fund.
You can build an easy - to - manage portfolio that gives you diversified exposure to almost the entire
U.S. stock and
bond markets with just two
funds — a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund and a
total U.S. bond market index
fund.
For example, by combining just three
funds — a
total U.S. stock
market index
fund, a
total international stock index
fund and a
total U.S. bond market index
fund (or their ETF counterparts)-- you have the foundation for a broadly diversified portfolio of stocks and
bonds that can get you to and through retirement.
The percentages of the Portfolio's assets allocated to each Underlying
Fund are: Vanguard ® Institutional
Total Stock
Market Index
Fund 35 % Vanguard ®
Total International Stock Index
Fund 15 % Vanguard ®
Total Bond Market II Index
Fund 40 % Vanguard ®
Total International
Bond Index
Fund 10 % Through its ownership of the two stock
funds, the Portfolio indirectly owns primarily large - capitalization
U.S. stocks and, to a lesser extent, mid - and small - capitalization
U.S. stocks and international stocks.
The percentages of the Portfolio's assets allocated to each Underlying
Fund are: Vanguard
Total Bond Market II Index
Fund 70 % Vanguard
Total International
Bond Index
Fund 17.50 % Vanguard Institutional
Total Stock
Market Index
Fund 8.75 % Vanguard
Total International Stock Index
Fund 3.75 % Through its investment in Vanguard
Total Bond Market II Index
Fund, the Portfolio indirectly invests in a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics.
The Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index
Fund Investor Shares (VBMFX) provides exposure to intermediate investment - grade debt securities in the
U.S..
Let's say you put 50 % of your money in Vanguard Group's
Total World Stock Index
Fund — which replicates the global stock
market — and the other 50 % in high - quality
U.S. corporate and government
bonds.
If you are happy holding onto stocks, knowing that the best scenario from past history would be slightly over 3400 on the S&P 500 in 2028, then why not buy a
bond index fund like iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA: AGG) or the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: LQD) that could virtually guarantee something near that outc
bond index
fund like iShares Core
Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA: AGG) or the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: LQD) that could virtually guarantee something near that outc
Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA: AGG) or the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate
Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: LQD) that could virtually guarantee something near that outc
Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: LQD) that could virtually guarantee something near that outcome?
You can do the same for
bonds with a
total U.S. bond market index
fund.
You can easily reap the benefits of a broadly diversified portfolio of Treasuries as well other investment - grade
bonds by investing in a
total U.S. bond market index
fund or ETF that tracks a benchmark like the Barclays
U.S. Aggregate
bond index.
So if you have AFs that
total up to being 50 % U.S. equity, 15 % international, and 35 % in bond funds; then buy 50 % of Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), 15 % of Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index Investor (VGTSX), and 35 % Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Investor (VB
total up to being 50 %
U.S. equity, 15 % international, and 35 % in
bond funds; then buy 50 % of Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), 15 % of Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index Investor (VGTSX), and 35 % Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Investor (VBM
bond funds; then buy 50 % of Vanguard
Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), 15 % of Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index Investor (VGTSX), and 35 % Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Investor (VB
Total Stock
Market Index (VTSMX), 15 % of Vanguard
Total International Stock Market Index Investor (VGTSX), and 35 % Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Investor (VB
Total International Stock
Market Index Investor (VGTSX), and 35 % Vanguard
Total Bond Market Index Investor (VB
Total Bond Market Index Investor (VBM
Bond Market Index Investor (VBMFX).
Notes:
U.S. stocks represented by Dow Jones
U.S. Total Stock Market Index through April 2005, MSCI US Broad Market Index through June 2013 and CRSP US Total Market Index thereafter; emerging markets stocks are represented by MSCI Emerging Markets Index; REITs by FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index; dividend stocks by Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index; commodities by S&P GSCI Commodity Index; high yield bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index; emerging markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index; U.S. Treasury bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Index; Hedge fund index by HFRI fund - weighted total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond I
Total Stock
Market Index through April 2005, MSCI US Broad
Market Index through June 2013 and CRSP US
Total Market Index thereafter; emerging markets stocks are represented by MSCI Emerging Markets Index; REITs by FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index; dividend stocks by Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index; commodities by S&P GSCI Commodity Index; high yield bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index; emerging markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index; U.S. Treasury bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Index; Hedge fund index by HFRI fund - weighted total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond I
Total Market Index thereafter; emerging
markets stocks are represented by MSCI Emerging Markets Index; REITs by FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index; dividend stocks by Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index; commodities by S&P GSCI Commodity Index; high yield bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index; emerging markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index; U.S. Treasury bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Index; Hedge fund index by HFRI fund - weighted total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond
markets stocks are represented by MSCI Emerging
Markets Index; REITs by FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index; dividend stocks by Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index; commodities by S&P GSCI Commodity Index; high yield bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Bond Index; emerging markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index; U.S. Treasury bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Index; Hedge fund index by HFRI fund - weighted total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond
Markets Index; REITs by FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index; dividend stocks by Dow Jones
U.S. Select Dividend Index; commodities by S&P GSCI Commodity Index; high yield
bonds by Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Corporate High Yield
Bond Index; emerging
markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Index; U.S. Treasury bonds by Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Index; Hedge fund index by HFRI fund - weighted total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond
markets bonds by Bloomberg Barclays EM USD Aggregate Index; investment - grade corporate
bonds by Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Corporate Index;
U.S. Treasury
bonds by Bloomberg Barclays
U.S. Treasury
Bond Index; Hedge
fund index by HFRI
fund - weighted
total return Index and international bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond I
total return Index and international
bonds by Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD
Bond Index.
Keep in mind, however, that the Vanguard
Total Bond fund earned 5.1 percent in 2008, while the Oppenheimer
fund lost 36.2 percent, or nearly the same as the
U.S. stock
market.