What is the right asset allocation by age?

A common rule of thumb is '110 minus your age' in stocks (so a 50-year-old holds 60% stocks). Modern variants tilt higher for stocks given longer life expectancies. This quiz uses 80/70/60/50/40 stocks for under-35/35–49/50–59/60–69/70+, then adjusts for your risk tolerance, horizon, and concerns about inflation and recession.

How much gold should I include in my portfolio?

Most planners recommend 5–15% in physical gold or precious metals. The exact figure depends on your inflation concerns, recession concerns, and how diversified your current portfolio is. World Gold Council research suggests 6–10% for most portfolios; investors with high stagflation concerns sometimes go to 15–20%.

What's the difference between conservative, moderate, and aggressive allocation?

Conservative ≈ 30–50% stocks (cushions drawdowns, lower long-run returns); moderate ≈ 50–70% stocks (the 'classic balanced' zone, e.g. 60/40); aggressive ≈ 70–90% stocks (highest expected returns but largest drawdowns). The right choice depends on your time horizon, risk tolerance, and ability to stay invested through a 30%+ drawdown without selling.

Should retirees hold bonds, stocks, or both?

Both. The classic 60/40 (60% stocks, 40% bonds) is often shifted toward 50/40/10 (with 10% gold or real assets) for retirees facing both inflation and sequence-of-returns risk. A 100% bond portfolio loses to inflation; a 100% stock portfolio is too volatile for someone drawing income. The right blend lasts longest in Monte Carlo simulations.

How does the quiz calculate my recommended allocation?

We start from the age-based stock target (110 minus age, capped 20–95%), tilt up or down for your risk tolerance and time horizon, then layer on a gold slice driven by your inflation and recession concerns (5–25%). Cash and REITs get small fixed slices, and bonds fill the remainder to 100%.

What is a balanced portfolio for retirement?

Historically, the 60/40 portfolio (60% US/global stocks, 40% bonds) has been the default. Modern variants add a 5–15% real-asset slice (gold, REITs, commodities) and a small cash buffer. The result — roughly 55/30/10/5 — has historically delivered 7–8% nominal annual returns with about half the drawdown of an all-stock portfolio.

Should I rebalance my portfolio every year?

Yes — annual or semi-annual rebalancing is the most common approach. After a strong stock year, sell some stocks back to your target weight; after a bear year, buy stocks back to weight. This forces 'sell high, buy low' discipline. Threshold rebalancing (rebalance when any slice is ±5% off target) tends to produce slightly better returns than calendar-only.

What is a 60/40 portfolio and is it still good?

60/40 is shorthand for 60% stocks, 40% bonds. Through 2022 it was the default balanced portfolio in US planning. The 2022 simultaneous stock + bond drawdown dented its reputation, and many advisors now recommend adding a 5–15% real-asset (gold, REITs) slice to provide a third uncorrelated source of return. Long-run, the modified 55/30/10/5 has outperformed pure 60/40 in inflationary periods.

How do I diversify away from concentrated company stock?

If a single stock (often employer stock) is more than ~10% of your portfolio, you have meaningful concentration risk. The standard approach is to sell down over 2–4 years (managing capital gains tax) and rotate proceeds into broad index funds (US + international stocks), bonds, gold, and REITs per your target allocation. A Gold IRA or 401(k) Roth conversion can also help on the tax side.

Plan · Updated 2026

What's your ideal retirement asset mix?

Answer 6 quick questions and get a personalized stocks / bonds / gold / REITs / cash target with a clear rationale for each slice.

What's your age?

Risk tolerance

Investment time horizon

Concern about inflation

Concern about a recession / market crash

Current portfolio diversification

Your archetype

Balanced Builder

Classic balanced allocation tilted toward your age and horizon, with a 5–10% gold buffer.

Risk-adjusted score61/100

Recommended allocation

US + Global Stocks
Bonds / Treasuries
Physical Gold (IRA-eligible)
REITs / Real Estate
Cash / Money Market

US + Global Stocks65%

Long-run wealth growth — historically 8–10% nominal annually.

Bonds / Treasuries15%

Cushions equity drawdowns and provides income in retirement.

Physical Gold (IRA-eligible)11%

Inflation + currency hedge. Returned +12% in 2008, +25% during COVID, +34% annualized in 1970s stagflation.

REITs / Real Estate5%

Inflation-linked income and a third uncorrelated source of return.

Cash / Money Market4%

Short-term liquidity buffer for emergencies and bear-market expenses.

Updated June 2026. Source: World Gold Council allocation studies + Brinson Hood Beebower 1986 + Bengen 4% rule. Last verified January 2026. Next review: January each year.

Retirement Asset Allocation Quiz — How It Works

We start from an age-based stock target (110 minus age, capped 20–95%) and tilt up or down for your risk tolerance and time horizon. The gold slice is driven by your inflation and recession concern levels — averaged together and bumped up if your current portfolio is concentrated in a single asset class.

Cash gets a small fixed allocation based on your time horizon (12% if under 5 years, 4% if long-horizon). REITs get a flat 5% as a third uncorrelated return source. Bonds fill the remainder to 100%.

The risk-adjusted composite score weighs equity at full risk and gives partial credit to bonds (0.6×), gold (0.9× — almost full inflation protection), and cash (0.3×). The result is a single number you can compare across allocations as you tweak the inputs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Asset allocation is how you split your portfolio across stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, and cash. Studies (most famously Brinson, Hood & Beebower 1986) attribute 80–90% of long-run portfolio variance to allocation rather than security selection. Getting the mix right matters far more than picking individual stocks.

Retirement Asset Allocation Quiz

What's your ideal retirement asset mix?

Recommended allocation

A 11% physical gold allocation starts here

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