How should I allocate my assets?

Asset allocation is the single largest driver of long-run portfolio outcomes. This calculator looks at both sides of the question: your capacity to bear investment risk, and your tolerance for it. The recommended mix follows whichever of the two is lower, because carrying more risk than either your circumstances or your temperament supports is how good plans get abandoned at the worst possible moment.

Your Situation

1. When do you expect to begin drawing on this money? ?

A longer runway before you need the money generally supports a larger allocation to growth assets.

2. Once you begin, over how long will you draw it down? ?

A slow, extended drawdown behaves differently than a lump-sum need, and affects how much growth exposure still makes sense once withdrawals start.

3. How many months of essential expenses do you hold in cash outside this portfolio? ?

A solid cash reserve outside this portfolio increases your capacity to ride out a downturn without selling into it.

4. How stable is your household income? ?

Steadier income reduces the odds you'd need to tap this portfolio at an inconvenient time.

5. What share of your essential expenses is covered by guaranteed income such as Social Security, a pension or an annuity? ?

The more of your basic needs already covered by guaranteed sources, the more this portfolio can be devoted to growth rather than safety.

6. If markets disappoint, how much could you delay or reduce this goal? ?

A goal that can flex in timing or size can absorb more portfolio risk than one that is fixed.

Attitudes toward Risk

7. Your portfolio falls 25% over six months and markets broadly are down about the same. What do you do? ?

Your actual instinct in a sharp decline is one of the strongest signals of how much volatility you can tolerate.

8. In a market decline you lived through as an investor - 2020, 2022 or another - what did you actually do? ?

Past behavior in a real decline is often a better guide than a hypothetical answer.

9. Which range of one-year outcomes would you be most comfortable holding? ?

This trades off how wide a range of possible yearly results you're willing to accept in exchange for higher expected growth.

10. How much do you agree? "I would rather my portfolio grow slowly and steadily than have a shot at higher returns with large swings along the way." ?

This captures your underlying preference for smoothness over the possibility of higher, but less certain, returns.

Enter your values and select Calculate.

Your recommended profile is the mix of cash, bonds, stocks and real assets that best matches both what your situation can withstand and what you're actually comfortable holding through a decline. It is not a prediction of returns, and it is not the only reasonable answer for someone in your position - it is a starting point built from your answers today.

Two things move this result the most: your time horizon and withdrawal period (which shape your capacity to absorb a loss) and your answer about how you'd react to a 25% portfolio decline (which shapes your tolerance for one). If the recommended profile feels off, those are the answers worth revisiting first. The gap between your capacity and tolerance scores, and which one is binding, tells you whether caution or comfort is currently setting the limit.

The allocation shown does not account for taxes, fees, the specific funds you'd use to fill each sleeve, or how markets actually behave in any given year - actual returns will vary, sometimes sharply, from what any target mix implies. It also assumes your circumstances stay roughly as described; a job change, a new dependent, or a shift in guaranteed income can change the answer.

Treat this as a working baseline: revisit it once a year, after a major income or life change, or whenever your time horizon shifts meaningfully. Bringing this profile to a financial advisor, alongside your actual account details, is a reasonable next step before making changes. Having a clear starting point, and adjusting it as your life changes, matters more than getting it perfectly right on the first try.

This information may help you analyze your financial needs. It is based on information and assumptions provided by you regarding your goals, expectations and financial situation. The calculations do not infer that the company assumes any fiduciary duties. The calculations provided should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice. In addition, such information should not be relied upon as the only source of information. This information is supplied from sources we believe to be reliable but we cannot guarantee its accuracy. Hypothetical illustrations may provide historical or current performance information. Past performance does not guarantee nor indicate future results.