In the case of a larger US retirement portfolio, you would add a few more asset classes:
-Domestic Stocks
-MSCI EAFE
-Emerging Markets
-Corporate Bonds
-Government Bonds
-International Bonds
These could be done with the following ETF’s:
-Domestic Stocks:
-IVV or SPY: Two very popular and low fee US ETF’s that track the S&P500, they are both traded on US markets
-MSCI Eafe:
EFA – Ishares ETF that tracks much of the developed world
-Emerging Markets:
VWO – Vanguard’s Emerging markets fund, traded on US markets
-Corporate Bonds
AGG – ETF that provides exposure to investment grade bond market
LQD – ETF that provides exposure to investment grade bond market
-Government Bonds
SHY – ETF that invests in short term US government bonds
TLT – ETF that invests in long term US government bonds
TIP – ETF that invests in inflation protected bonds
-International Bonds
EMLC – ETF that invests in international bonds
As you can see, there are many different possibilities even for a simple portfolio that only includes 5-6 ETF’s. I think the first step would be to select what you want in each of those asset classes. When you will combine that with your investor profile, you will get a very good idea of what to include in your portfolio. Here is the table again:
SPY/IVV EFA VWO AGG/LQD SHY/TLT/TIP EMLC
Investor 1 10 0 0 40 50 0
Investor 2 15 0 0 40 45 0
Investor 3 20 0 0 40 40 0
Investor 4 25 2.5 2.5 35 35 0
Investor 5 25 7.5 7.5 30 30 0
Investor 6 30 10 10 25 25 0
Investor 7 35 12.5 12.5 20 20 0
Investor 8 35 20 20 15 10 0
Investor 9 35 22.5 22.5 10 5 5
Investor 10 35 25 25 5 5 5