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| Which Portfolio is Right for You? |
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Are you an aggressive investor willing to take big chances in order to bring in big profits? Maybe you're a retired investor looking to receive a monthly dividend check. You may even prefer investing strictly within the same fund family. Regardless of who you are I've probably got a portfolio(s) to match your investment style. Continue on to find out which portfolio is right for you.
Our Total Return Portfolio represents the core of my advice in Profitable Investing. It's our flagship portfolio, designed to meet the needs of the broadest cross-section of my subscribers.
When shopping for new investments in the portfolio, I suggest you look first at the stocks, bonds or mutual funds that are quoted furthest below our "Buy Below" price. Generally, these are the names I consider to have the greatest upside potential over the next 12-24 months. Use the percentage allocations for the different asset classes (World-Class Franchises, Emerging Markets, Utilities, Five-Year Bank CDs, etc.) to help determine how much money you should earmark for each.
It's easy to follow our balanced Profitable Investing strategy. For those who don't care to buy individual stocks, I've set up mutual fund portfolios to mirror our Total Return Portfolio.
Our Fund Supermarket Portfolio is made up exclusively of funds you can purchase through leading discount brokers (Schwab, Fidelity, TD Waterhouse, etc.).
Some readers have asked why the funds listed as Mutual Fund Alternatives in the Total Return Portfolio table aren't identical to those in the Fund Supermarket Portfolio. The main reason is that some of my favorite funds aren't available fee-free through discount brokers. The Fund Supermarket Portfolio is for folks who want the convenience of a discount brokerage account and prefer, wherever possible, to avoid transaction fees.
All in the Family Fund Portfolio:
My All in the Family Fund Portfolio is for investors who prefer to do all of their investing within the same fund family. Specifically, I've drawn up fund portfolios from three large no-load fund groups: Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard.
With low cost and low maintenance in mind, I've drawn up a Hassle-Free ETF Portfolio to parallel our main model portfolio. I don't tinker with this portfolio very frequently-only when I make a strategic change in our Total Return Portfolio (by raising the weighting in Utilities, say, or lowering the percentage in World-Class Franchises).
The Incredible Dividend Machine:
I've drawn up a roster of stocks that will enable you to earn dividend checks every month of the year. I call it the Incredible Dividend Machine.
As you'll see, I've split the "machine" into sections based on time of payout: stocks that pay dividends in January, April, July and October; those that pay in February, May, August and November; and those that pay in March, June, September and December. I've also included a section for stocks that pay dividends on a monthly basis, and a list of standby holdings.
To earn a check every month, all you need to do is choose at least one stock from each of the dividend cycles. Upon clicking the above link you'll find a chart that clearly shows each cycle. Next to the company name, I've provided the ticker symbol and the current yield. The column at right indicates the maximum price I recommend you pay for each stock.
The list of standby holdings highlights stocks that we're watching until the price is right. In most cases, these stocks have appeared as buys in the Incredible Dividend Machine, but became too expensive for new money. So if you own any of my standby holdings, hold on to them and do not add money just yet (except through automatic dividend reinvestment). They will be rotated into the Machine as the market warrants.
For the active holdings, buy as many different issues (in equal dollar amounts) as you can afford. That way, you'll spread your bets and reduce the risk that a blow-up at one company might damage your portfolio. As a rule of thumb, I advise you to limit any single stock–whether drawn from the Incredible Dividend Machine or any other source–to no more than 5% of your invested wealth.
Because of changes in the tax law, I no longer advise that you put new money into "variable" annuities. (VAs are really just mutual funds wrapped inside a tax-deferred annuity policy.) However, I recognize that many investors still own VAs purchased back in the 1980s and 1990s. I've got a couple myself; and while I'm not adding to them, I do want to keep them growing until I retire.
In my Annuity Portfolios you'll find my suggested allocations for two of the more popular variable annuities, both previously recommended in Profitable Investing. You'll notice that the weightings broadly follow those of our mutual fund portfolios.
Niche Investments are extra investments that go beyond our model portfolios. Use them to fill special niches in your own portfolio–for example, when you need additional income or when you're looking to diversify beyond the core investments I recommend in the newsletter. I update the comments on this page as significant events occur.
Can you accept more risk than the typical Profitable Investing subscriber? If so, this page is for you. Our Aggressive Plays are designed to reap bigger returns, often in a shorter time, than our model portfolio selections. Bear in mind, though, that Aggressive Plays tend to fluctuate widely (you might even say wildly!) in price. Be sure to speculate with only a small percentage of your wealth –money you could afford to lose, if necessary, without endangering your financial or emotional well-being.
In cases where I believe it's important to limit our downside, I've listed a "stop loss" price in the Protective Stop column. If the stop price is touched, close out your position. For stocks, options and futures, I recommend placing the stop via a good-till-canceled (GTC) order with your broker. That way, the order will be executed automatically if our price is touched.
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