The 60/40 portfolio: stocks and bonds
Sixty percent in stocks, forty in government bonds, brought back to that split a few times a year. The classic calm portfolio.
The rule
Keep 60% of the account in stocks and 40% in bonds. When prices move the shares away from 60/40, sell some of what grew and buy what lagged.
Why people use it
Bonds usually swing less than stocks and often rise when stocks fall, so the account drops less in a crisis. Rebalancing makes you sell high and buy low without any forecast.
Where it hurts
When inflation and interest rates rise, stocks and bonds can fall together, as in 2022. In a long stock rally the bond part holds the result back.
How our bot runs it
60% in SPY (the S&P 500) and 40% in IEF (US Treasuries of 7 to 10 years). The split is restored on the first trading day of each quarter.
Live account
A virtual $100,000 account that follows this rule. Every trade is on the bot's page.
| Bot | Account | Return |
|---|---|---|
| 60% stocks / 40% bonds | $99,943 | −0.06% |