Once upon a time, there was an ambitious and smart young man named John. He had a remarkable talent for numbers and was always at the top of his class. After completing his studies with flying colors, he landed a dream job at a financial firm, where he could indulge in his passion for investments. But John soon realized that something was amiss. He saw that the investment methods used by the company were not yielding the desired results. That’s when he decided to take matters into his own hands and come up with a revolutionary strategy that would change the game forever – the Boglehead portfolio strategy.
The Bogle what?
The investment strategy of the Boglehead portfolio gets its name after John Bogle, the main character of our story. His name may sound familiar, that’s because he was a great investor and the founder of The Vanguard Group, one of the most important organizations dedicated to investment funds management.
Back to our story… John saw that the active investment methods used back then got lower results compared to the values of the market indices. That’s how to solve this problem, John created the first indexed mutual fund, paving the way for a brand new investment philosophy.
The Boglehead portfolio adopts this philosophy by being a passive investment method based on index funds. In other words, instead of looking for a way to get better returns than the market, the strategy is to replicate the performance of market indices.
What is in a Boglehead portfolio?
It is important to keep in mind that a Boglehead portfolio is not an investment portfolio with determined assets, but it is an investment strategy instead.
This means that, if you choose to invest with it, you decide what investment vehicles will be added to your investment portfolio and in which proportions. It will all depend on your investment strategy and your level of risk tolerance.
Usually, a Boglehead portfolio is composed of three elements: bonds, stocks, and index funds. Let’s look at an example.
Let’s assume a retirement age of 60, the recommended general rule of thumb is to use your age for the percentage of bond allocation, say 25 in this case, obviously considering also your risk tolerance. Then, coincidentally, John Bogle suggested a maximum of 20% in stocks, while a Vanguard study suggested a minimum of 20% to get a reasonable diversification. With these parameters in mind, a popular allocation for the Boglehead portfolio is 25% bonds, 20% international stocks, and 55% index funds.
Why is it based in index funds?
Index funds are a type of exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to replicate the performance of a financial market index, such as the S&P 500, or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The portfolio is constructed to match or track the components of the index.
Bogle advocates for investing in index funds as opposed to trying to pick individual stocks, under the thought of “buying the whole stack”. This is because most stocks underperform the market, and only a select few drive massive returns. It’s been proven that even most professional investors cannot pick winners that beat the market over 10+ years, let alone the average retail investor.
Hence, index funds are recommended frequently, even by the great Warren Buffett. Using index funds, investors can be fully diversified across every sector and market cap size. According to Buffett, by periodically investing in index funds, even beginner investors can outperform most investment professionals.
To create a balanced and diversified Boglehead portfolio, alongside the index funds, it’s recommended to include bonds for stability during market volatility, and stocks for greater potential returns despite their risk.
Benefits of a Boglehead portfolio
The Boglehead Portfolio strategy has several advantages for investors. For instance, it can help to reduce the risk of your investments. By diversifying your investments, you can minimize the odds of losing money. This is because the more diversified your portfolio is, the less impact a single investment can have on your overall returns.
Another benefit of the Boglehead Portfolio strategy is that it is a passive investment approach. Therefore, there’s no need to keep checking your investments’ performance all the time. Once you’ve established your portfolio, you can sit back and relax while your investments do the work for you.
Furthermore, you don’t need to be a savvy investor to invest with the Boglehead Portfolio strategy. This strategy is designed to be simple and straightforward, making it accessible to investors of all levels of experience.
Lastly, the initial cost of investing with the Boglehead Portfolio strategy is relatively low. This allows you to keep a greater amount of the gains you make from your investments, especially in long-term portfolios.
So, if you’re looking for an investment approach that is less risky, easy to manage, and cost-effective, the Boglehead Portfolio strategy may be an excellent option for you.
Downsides of a Boglehead portfolio
By reading all this you may think the Boglehead portfolio strategy is the solution to all your problems. Wait a second…It’s important to be aware of both the positive and negative aspects of any investment strategy before deciding to adopt it.
- The primary objective of this strategy is to mimic the performance of the overall market, which means that it may not necessarily lead to higher returns. It’s important to keep in mind that investing always carries some level of risk, and there is no guarantee that your investments will perform well.
- Once you invest in an index fund, you give up control over your money. All investment decisions are made by the fund manager, who is subject to the market’s volatility. This means that any fluctuations in the market may have an impact on your investments, which can be concerning for some investors.
Therefore, while the Boglehead portfolio strategy can be a good option for those who are looking for a simple and low-cost investment approach, it’s important to weigh its advantages and disadvantages before making any investment decisions.
To wrap it up…
The Boglehead portfolio is not an investment portfolio with a determined combination of assets. On the contrary, it is an investment strategy designed to generate passive profitability in the long term.
Keep in mind that this may not be the best option for you if you are an investor looking for quick returns in exchange for some risk. However, it can be useful if you are a beginner investor just starting to gain experience and learning to know the behavior of the market.
Ready to invest with the Boglehead portfolio strategy? You can build your own on the FlexInvest platform. It gives you access to hundreds of global stocks and the most important exchange-traded funds, including index funds and bond ETFs.
Before you go on to that, make sure to check the rest of our articles to learn more about investment strategies and tips that will help you to become a successful investor with this strategy.
