I’ve never taken a good look at my entire asset allocation. Now is a good time to do so, as I’ll be posting my review of The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
Honestly, I don’t think this report tells me much. I have a lot of uninvested cash, most of which is earning around 5% APY. This includes an emergency fund and cash being saved for certain projects such as future moving expenses, house down payments, possible vacations, etc. I’m not confident about the accuracy of the values as Quicken does not normally include mid cap stocks. Funds are generally divided into large cap and/or small cap within the software. I have one fund in my 401(k) designated specifically as mid cap, but Quicken doesn’t register it as being such. I believe some of my other funds might contain stocks considered mid cap despite Quicken’s asset classifications.
What does this chart tell you about my assets?
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An asset allocation report is pretty pointless. All it really tells you is your net worth.
For investing purposes, you need to decide on your ideal asset allocation plan in percentage of bonds and stocks broken down into as many subcategoies as you like. Then you need to list your current investable assets (which does not include your car or business, you can either include the emergency fund money in your bond allocation or just ignore it entirely). Finally you have to figure out how to make your current investable assets match your ideal plan.
Depending on how much you can contribute each month, minimum account balances and the like, it could take as much as a few years to get to where you want to go. But at least you’ll have some concrete goals and you’ll be able to measure your progress.