Lazy Portfolios
Long-term model portfolios for 401(k), IRAs and long-term retirement investment accounts
Famous investment gurus like Warren Buffett, David Swensen and Willaim Bernstein have proposed model portfolios that invest in ultra-low cost index ETFs or mutual funds. These funds represent major investment asset classes such as US stocks, Foreign stocks and bonds.
The portfolios are ‘lazy’ as they are meant to be essentially buy and hold for a long term, only rebalanced regularly like annually.
Not only you can simply mimic a lazy portfolio in a brokerage account for your IRAs or taxable investments, you can also mimic a lazy portfolio in your retirement savings accounts such as 401(k) or 403(b). To do so, you’ll need to find similar funds or investment options in your plans for funds in a lazy portfolio to invest.
The following is the list of guru proposed lazy portfolios. Click on them to reveal their holdings and historical returns and many portfolio statistics.
Bogleheads, a site devoted to buy and hold of index funds, has some wonderful detailed descriptions on some of the lazy portfolios listed here.
You can also find more detailed information here on MyPlanIQ core asset allocation template portfolios.
Portfolio Calculator (Simulator)
Quickly enter fund allocation and get a back test result on the performance of this ‘lazy’ portfolio.
Customize Asset Allocation Portfolios
Build a custom model portfolio using our asset strategic or tactical strategies, tailored to a 401(k) plan or for a brokerage account.
Free newsletters
High quality resources for 401k, 403b, 529 retirement plans on investment, contribution, fees, retirement planning and much more ...
Lazy Portfolio Latest Performance
Name | YTD Return | 1Yr AR | 3Yr AR | 5Yr AR | 10Yr AR | 15Yr AR | 20Yr AR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P David Swensen Yale Individual Investor Portfolio Annual Rebalancing | 2.06% | 11.41% | 2.43% | 6.16% | 6.66% | 8.54% | 7.64% |
Warren Buffett Index Fund Portfolio | 2.51% | 24.02% | 10.90% | 13.80% | 12.33% | 12.88% | 9.81% |
MyPlanIQ Core Four Assets | 1.96% | 12.00% | 3.62% | 6.39% | 6.51% | 7.57% | 6.80% |
MyPlanIQ Core Five Assets | 1.83% | 12.20% | 3.46% | 6.30% | 6.44% | 7.49% | 6.88% |
MyPlanIQ Core Three Assets | 2.05% | 12.87% | 4.38% | 7.04% | 6.99% | 7.80% | 6.91% |
MyPlanIQ Core Six Assets | 1.87% | 12.41% | 3.40% | 6.20% | 6.31% | 7.43% | 6.86% |
MyPlanIQ Core Two Assets | 1.97% | 15.26% | 5.83% | 8.33% | 8.24% | 9.24% | 7.71% |
William Bernstein Sheltered Sam 60/40 Allocation | 2.05% | 13.65% | 5.32% | 7.31% | 6.78% | NA | NA |
William Bernstein Cowards | 2.19% | 12.70% | 4.92% | 7.12% | 6.35% | 7.05% | NA |
Bernstein Smart Money | 2.09% | 11.83% | 4.61% | 6.40% | 5.92% | 7.08% | 6.32% |
Talmud | 1.67% | 9.87% | 0.95% | 5.03% | 5.56% | 8.36% | 7.35% |
Scott Burn`s AssetBuilder DFA Model Portfolio 09 | 1.59% | 6.41% | 1.55% | 3.88% | 2.61% | 3.44% | NA |
Ray Dalio All Weather Portfolio | 2.12% | 9.18% | 0.24% | 3.51% | 4.54% | 6.35% | NA |
Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio | 2.61% | 16.17% | 5.53% | 6.20% | 5.76% | 6.49% | 6.80% |
P Permanent Portfolio ETF Version | 2.74% | 14.96% | 6.52% | 7.08% | 5.04% | 5.53% | NA |
Doug Ramsey All Asset No Authority (AANA) Lazy Portfolio | 3.30% | 14.77% | 3.92% | 7.34% | 6.35% | 7.56% | NA |
Larry Swedroe Conervative Lazy Portfolio | 0.93% | 4.54% | 0.78% | 2.42% | 2.95% | 4.24% | 4.98% |
The Coffee House Lazy Portfolio ETFs | 2.72% | 15.25% | 4.89% | 7.07% | 6.43% | 7.85% | NA |
The Original Coffee House Lazy Portfolio Index Funds | 2.62% | 14.52% | 4.72% | 6.71% | 6.19% | 7.72% | 6.78% |
Wasik Nano | 2.63% | 14.09% | 4.02% | 6.76% | 6.34% | 7.78% | 6.67% |
The Couch Potato | 2.61% | 19.01% | 7.31% | 10.17% | 8.55% | 8.97% | 7.44% |
Ted Aronson Family Taxable Portfolio, | 2.44% | 13.87% | 4.77% | 7.70% | 7.62% | 8.45% | 7.84% |
Roger Gibson Five Assets | 2.45% | 11.04% | 4.22% | 7.85% | 6.31% | NA | NA |
FundAdvice Paul Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold All Stocks | 2.83% | 14.51% | 4.37% | 7.52% | 7.38% | 8.83% | NA |
Rick Ferri Core Four Lazy Portfolio | 1.95% | 11.85% | 3.62% | 6.22% | 6.39% | 7.52% | 6.65% |
Alex Green The Gone Fishin Lazy Portfolio | 2.45% | 12.11% | 4.12% | 6.77% | 6.32% | 7.19% | 6.81% |
Israelsen 7Twelve Portfolio | 2.37% | 53.17% | 16.01% | 13.93% | 9.25% | NA | NA |
Armstrong Ideal Index | 2.39% | 11.00% | 3.51% | 5.68% | 5.45% | 6.61% | NA |
P Andrew Tobias Three Fund Lazy Portfolio Annual Balance | 2.52% | 12.15% | 4.27% | 7.24% | 6.72% | 7.38% | 6.60% |
Burton Malkiel Mid-Fifties Portfolio | 2.15% | 14.47% | 4.18% | 7.04% | 6.94% | NA | NA |
Ben Stein Long Term Lazy Portfolio | 2.24% | 15.62% | 5.62% | 8.24% | 7.36% | 8.31% | NA |
Vanguard Four Fund Portfolio | 2.35% | 12.67% | 4.59% | 6.72% | 6.77% | NA | NA |
VBINX (VANGUARD BALANCED INDEX FUND INVESTOR SHARES) | 2.08% | 12.04% | 3.69% | 6.35% | 7.23% | 8.58% | 7.16% |
DGSIX (GLOBAL ALLOCATION 60/40 PORTFOLIO GLOBAL ALLOCATION 60/40 PORTFOLIO - INSTITUTIONAL CLASS) | 1.96% | 8.66% | 2.32% | 4.66% | 5.34% | 6.48% | 5.72% |
VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) | 3.03% | 26.16% | 11.27% | 14.53% | 13.03% | 13.95% | 10.59% |
VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF) | 1.65% | 12.22% | -1.36% | 3.08% | 4.56% | 9.28% | 7.35% |
VEA (Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF) | 4.43% | 8.90% | 3.81% | 6.32% | 5.73% | 5.96% | NA |
VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF) | 0.82% | 15.60% | -0.17% | 4.29% | 3.90% | 3.63% | NA |
GLD (SPDR Gold Shares) | 6.79% | 37.20% | 15.44% | 11.60% | 7.76% | 5.97% | 9.48% |
BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF) | 0.60% | 2.15% | -1.49% | -0.66% | 1.14% | 2.25% | NA |
Model portfolios for brokerage investors
- Model portfolios for major brokerages
- Retirement IRAs or solo 401(k)
- Taxable brokerage investment accounts
- ETFs or no-load no-transaction fee mutual funds
Model portfolios for income investors
- Model portfolios for major brokerages
- Based on excellent total return bond mutual fund
- Based on total return bond ETFs
- Outperformed even best bond mutual funds for past decade
Advanced Portfolios
- Global tactical allocation portfolios
- Factor, style, sector and Fidelity select fund rotation portfolios
- Various timing and seasonality portfolios
- Tools for asset trends, correlation, smart fund manager …
ETFs & Mutual Funds
- Historical total returns & risk data
- Dividend histories and up to date dividend data
- Charts and tables for comparison
- Risk managed ETF or mutual fund clones
Featured Investment Articles
April 2025 MyPlanIQ Portfolio Update
In this issue:
- 1970s Redux: Why the Smithsonian Era Feels Strangely Familiar in 2025
- Fund Analysis: All Weather ETF ALLW
- Economic & Market Indicators
- Model Portfolios
- Funds to Watch
- Market Overview
Maximize Your Cash Returns
In this issue:
- Latest in Retirement Savings & Personal Finance: Inflation Pressure and 401(k) as Rainy-Day Fund
- Maximize Your Cash Returns
- Good Funds: Capital Group ETFs
- Market Overview
March 2025 MyPlanIQ Portfolio Update
In this issue:
- Growth vs. Value: Late Stage and Early Stage of a Bull Market
- Fund Analysis: CLO Bond Funds
- Economic & Market Indicators
- Model Portfolios
- Funds to Watch
- Market Overview
Roth IRA for Kids? SEP IRA for Rental Income?
In this issue:
- News & Tips You Can Use: 5 Tax Tips For Tax Filing Season
- 6 Ways to Cope in Your Retirement Savings & Spending Under the Current DOGE, Tariff Regime
- Backdoor Roth IRA Pro-Rata Conversion Calculator
- Market Overview
6 Ways to Cope in Your Retirement Savings & Spending Under the Current DOGE, Tariff Regime
In this issue:
- Latest in Retirement Savings & Personal Finance: Tax Season, Regulations Relaxed, Low Housing Affordability
- 6 Ways to Cope in Your Retirement Savings & Spending Under the Current DOGE, Tariff Regime
- 401k Early Withdrawal Cost Calculator
- Market Overview
Outsaving Regular Workers: How Gig Workers & Entrepreneurs Can Save 3x More for Retirement—Up to $70K Tax-Deferred!
In this issue:
- Latest in Retirement Savings & Personal Finance
- Outsaving Regular Workers: How Gig Workers & Entrepreneurs Can Save 3x More for Retirement—Up to $70K Tax-Deferred!
- Solo 401(k) Maximum Contribution Calculator
- Market Overview
The Hidden Benefit of Emergency Savings Accounts: It’s a ‘Regular’ Savings Account with Free Employer Match
In this issue:
- Latest in Retirement Savings & Personal Finance
- One Percent Difference: Fees and Growth
- Asset Allocation Calculator
- Market Overview
February 2025 MyPlanIQ Portfolio Update
In this issue:
- QARP: Quality at a Reasonable Price — Graham’s Framework for Defensive Investors
- Fund Analysis: QARP-style ETFs
- Economic & Market Indicators
- Model Portfolios
- Funds to Watch
- Market Overview
Maximizing Your Savings & Investments: The Power of 1% Over Time
In this issue:
- Latest in Retirement Savings & Personal Finance
- One Percent Difference: Fees and Growth
- Fee Calculator
- Market Overview
Portfolio Calculator (Simulator)
Retirement Calculator
See how much you can save for retirement.
Customize Asset Allocation Portfolios
Build a model portfolio with strategic or tactical strategies, tailored to a 401(k) plan or for a brokerage account.
Investment Calculator
Grow your wealth and see the power of compounding
Looking for a (forgotten) 401(k)?
Find plan contact info, plan expense, investment options or how to select investments on your 401k plan ...