Chapter 4 of Coast to Retirement is about building a portfolio without drowning in ticker symbols. You do not need thousands of stocks. For most people, three ETFs are enough to start: SPY or VOO for the S&P 500, QQQ for a more concentrated Nasdaq-100 tilt, and AGG for investment-grade bonds as the shock absorber. An ETF is a basket of stocks or bonds that trades like a single share, usually at a much lower fee than an actively managed fund.
The point is to match the mix to how you actually behave in a drop, not to chase last year’s winner. A 100% S&P 500 path has historically grown faster, with larger monthly swings. Adding bonds has historically trimmed both the ride and the return. This page lets you set those weights, including the mix from your Chapter 3 risk profile, and walk a historical window in the same spirit as the book.
Backtesting begins in January of this year.
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Target-weight blend of each holding’s Jan 2021 to Jan 2026 geometric return.
Enter a percent for each holding. Whole numbers show as 40%; tenths as 40.5%. Weights must total 100% to run the backtest.
| Holding | Weight |
|---|---|
| Total | 0% |
The initial amount is invested at the start of the first month. Monthly contributions are added at the start of each funded month, split at your target weights, then that month’s returns are applied. Holdings are not rebalanced. Past performance does not guarantee future results.