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ClassicGrowth risk

Second Grader's Starter Portfolio

Paul Farrell

In brief

A simple three-part starter allocation using U.S. stocks, international stocks, and bonds.

Profile sources: Bogleheads WikiOptimized Portfolio

Published
Last reviewed

At a glance

3 asset sleeves

Review annually and rebalance when allocations drift materially.

Growth assets

90%

Bonds & reserves

10%

Other diversifiers

0%

Target allocation

What the portfolio holds

Total U.S. stocks

VTI

60%

International stocks

VXUS

30%

Total U.S. bonds

BND

10%

Tickers are liquid U.S.-listed examples, not recommendations or exact historical fund selections.

Allocation sources: Bogleheads WikiOptimized Portfolio

Decision context

Potential advantages and trade-offs

These observations follow from the displayed allocation and implementation. They are not a recommendation or a prediction of future performance.

Potential advantages

  • Uses only 3 sleeves, which makes the displayed target allocation straightforward to understand and maintain.
  • Combines growth assets with bonds or reserves instead of depending on one broad asset class.
  • Includes non-U.S. exposure, reducing exclusive dependence on one national market.
  • Publishes explicit target weights, making drift and rebalancing decisions measurable.

Important trade-offs

  • Approximately 90% of the displayed allocation is equity-like, leaving limited conventional bond ballast.
  • The largest sleeve is 60% of the portfolio, so its behavior can dominate the result.
  • Representative ETF results can differ from the originator's indexes, funds, taxes, fees, and execution.

Portfolio Visualizer

Compare historical performance

Backtest this allocation beside two familiar U.S. equity benchmarks. The comparison starts with $10,000, reinvests dividends, and rebalances annually.

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Growth of $10,000

Monthly total returns · maximum available history

PortfolioSPYQQQ
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3 holdings

Portfolio 1

Second Grader's Starter Portfolio

Target allocation from this profile

100%

Portfolio 2

S&P 500

SPY benchmark

100%

Portfolio 3

Nasdaq-100

QQQ benchmark

Portfolio Visualizer opens in a new tab because its site does not support embedded frames. Results begin at the latest common inception date for the selected funds.

Sources and context

Target allocations are educational examples, not personalized advice. Fund availability, taxes, trading costs, account type, time horizon, and capacity for loss can all change the appropriate implementation. Historical diversification does not guarantee future results.

Sources document the strategy, underlying methodology, or the representative funds used here. ETF tickers are illustrative U.S.-listed implementations and may differ from an originator’s original funds or current model.