How your PPs looks like?

[escafandro]

I really like to know How the diferent people in this board are setup your personal PPs? In order to view differents options and different approaches to compare or improve trough experiences and results, etc.
For example I´m from Uruguay and my PP is:

Gold
20% GTU
5% IAU (for rebalance)
more easy to implement that buy bullions and storage here

Stocks
12.5% VTI
12.5 ILF

LT
20% 30yrs Treasury individually
5% TLT (for rebalance)

CASH
20% SHY
5% Money Market (for rebalance)

I feel comfortable with gold and LT allocation, not sure with SHY because being foreing I have 30% of instant deduct in the interest and not sure that the 50/50 split between VTI and ILF is consistent with the rest.
I plan to use Oportunistic Rebalancing because I dont pay capital gain taxes.

regards

[steve]

Approximate
Gold approx 35% bullion 65% GTU
Stocks 100% VTI
Long term bond 1/3 EDV 1/3 VGLT 1/3 TLT  to total 100%
Cash 100%  Vanguard treasury only MM
My last rebalance was the end of Jan 2011  It is now the middle of June and my percentages now are:
Gold 27.22%
Stocks 23.46%
Long term bond 25.16%
Cash 24.16%
other note dividends are not reinvested they go to cash

[AdamA]

Short Term Treasury Fund--25%
T-bonds--25%
S&P Indes--25%
GTU/American Eagles--25% (80/20).

[rhymenocerous]

US Stock- 20% VIFSX + NAESX (S&P 500 + Small-cap Index in 80:20 split to approximate the TSM)
Intl Stock- 5% VGTSX
Long-term Treasuries- 25% TLT
Gold- 25% IAU
Cash- 25% Savings Account yielding 1%

[KevinW]

Stock:
VTI
401k TSM fund

Bonds:
TLT

Gold:
IAU

Cash:
Vanguard Prime MMF
401k MMF
ING Direct

I plan on moving into physical bullion and Treasury-only MMFs at the next convenient opportunity.

[Reub]

All PRPFX.

[pp2910]

Gold: IAU - 12.5% & Inflation Protected Treasuries (TIP) - 12.5%
Stock: Emerging Market (VWO) - 12.5%; Small Cap Value (VBR) - 12.5%
Cash: Short Term Treasury (SHY) - 25%
Bond: Long Term Treasury (TLT) - 25%

[Pkg Man]

Gold: IAU - 12.5% & Inflation Protected Treasuries (TIP) - 12.5%
Stock: Emerging Market (VWO) - 12.5%; Small Cap Value (VBR) - 12.5%
Cash: Short Term Treasury (SHY) - 25%
Bond: Long Term Treasury (TLT) - 25%

If you haven't already, you might want to read up a bit on using TIPS for part of the gold allocation, just so you know the risks.  It is of course everyone's choice to modify as they see fit, but TIPS are not the same as gold for inflation protection. 

[pp2910]

Gold: IAU - 12.5% & Inflation Protected Treasuries (TIP) - 12.5%
Stock: Emerging Market (VWO) - 12.5%; Small Cap Value (VBR) - 12.5%
Cash: Short Term Treasury (SHY) - 25%
Bond: Long Term Treasury (TLT) - 25%

If you haven't already, you might want to read up a bit on using TIPS for part of the gold allocation, just so you know the risks.  It is of course everyone's choice to modify as they see fit, but TIPS are not the same as gold for inflation protection. 

I understand TIPS will not offer the same protection but 25% of Gold makes me uncomfortable especially when it has run up so much over the last decade.

[Gumby]

Gold: IAU - 12.5% & Inflation Protected Treasuries (TIP) - 12.5%
Stock: Emerging Market (VWO) - 12.5%; Small Cap Value (VBR) - 12.5%
Cash: Short Term Treasury (SHY) - 25%
Bond: Long Term Treasury (TLT) - 25%

If you haven't already, you might want to read up a bit on using TIPS for part of the gold allocation, just so you know the risks.  It is of course everyone's choice to modify as they see fit, but TIPS are not the same as gold for inflation protection. 

I understand TIPS will not offer the same protection but 25% of Gold makes me uncomfortable especially when it has run up so much over the last decade.

Keep in mind that you now have 62.5% invested in government securities. That's a lot of money to hand over to the government.

Do you choose to look at each of the other assets in isolation? or just gold? (I try my best not to look at any of the assets in isolation).

[MediumTex]

I understand TIPS will not offer the same protection but 25% of Gold makes me uncomfortable especially when it has run up so much over the last decade.

Would you have been more comfortable buying gold at $1,000 per ounce?

To echo PkgMan, it is your money so do what you are comfortable with, but what you are doing is almost certainly increasing the risk in your overall portfolio when I assume your intention was to reduce risk, not increase it.

As Harry Browne said, the PP is a package, and if you break the package you lose the security it offers, and to me that security is one of the PP's strongest selling points.

[pp2910]

If you haven't already, you might want to read up a bit on using TIPS for part of the gold allocation, just so you know the risks.  It is of course everyone's choice to modify as they see fit, but TIPS are not the same as gold for inflation protection. 

I understand TIPS will not offer the same protection but 25% of Gold makes me uncomfortable especially when it has run up so much over the last decade.

Keep in mind that you now have 62.5% invested in government securities. That's a lot of money to hand over to the government.

Do you choose to look at each of the other assets in isolation? or just gold? (I try my best not to look at any of the assets in isolation).

I will admit I just looked at Gold in isolation. If the Gold continues its run then I will get to recommended 25%  . If it fails here then I will be happy I did not invest more  .

Another reason for tinkering with Gold %age is that my stocks are in relatively riskier assets (Small Cap Value and Emerging Markets) and I do not want another volatile asset class.

In essence my portfolio is a combination of PP & Larry Swedroe's Minimize Fat Tails Portfolio (LSMFT). Also, backtesting using Simba's sheet gives results comparable to both PP & LSMFT.

[MediumTex]

Another reason for tinkering with Gold %age is that my stocks are in relatively riskier assets (Small Cap Value and Emerging Markets) and I do not want another volatile asset class.

If you want the safety that the PP offers you MUST buy the three distinct volatile asset classes (otherwie you don't get the offsetting volatility among the assets that makes the ride so smooth).

Buying volatile stocks and then avoiding gold because of its volatility makes no sense in the context of the PP.

What does you LT bond exposure look like?

Was your intention to assemble a portfolio with greater risk and greater overall volatility than the straight HB PP, because that is what you have done.

[AdamA]

In essence my portfolio is a combination of PP & Larry Swedroe's Minimize Fat Tails Portfolio (LSMFT). Also, backtesting using Simba's sheet gives results comparable to both PP & LSMFT.

Have you read Fail Safe Investing?  If not, you should read it.  If so, re-read it.

Make sure you understand the four economic conditions that can effect investments, as described by Harry Brown.

I really think that's it hard to understand the PP until you've really spent some time fretting over inflation and deflation.

[escafandro]

I use SCV and EM in my VP, with EDV and IAU 33/33/33.

[HB Reader]

My current PP approximately:

Stocks (Target: 25%) - 25% (SP 500 Index funds & VTI)
Gold -        "              - 29% (Coins, bullion, ~35% in ETFs)
Cash -        "              - 25% (TBills, I Bonds, TSP Fed Gov. G Fund)
LTTs -        "              - 21% (LTTs, TLT)

I also use PRPFX, but consider it part of our VP.  Our PP has about 60% of our investments. 

[AgAuMoney]

Would you have been more comfortable buying gold at $1,000 per ounce?

I sure was! 

But the hardest gold I purchased was about $575/oz.  I had started purchasing regularly at about $620 and up quite a bit from there.  Then prices started going down.  At first that was OK.  But after awhile it got harder and harder to put money into something that everyone was saying was finally going back to $300 "where it should be."

I've kicked myself many times, but I slowed down my purchases and sat on cash.  I bought less than 1/4 as much during the next year as I had planned to buy.    Once it started pushing $750 and higher I realized what an idiot I had been and resumed my plan.  I'm quite a bit poorer today because of it.

The next hardest was about $1200-$1300.  Psychologically that was double the price when I had made my plan, and the higher end of that range was actually double my average cost.

Now at $1500-$1600 we are getting close again to double my average cost....  Those fast moves up really kill me.

[escafandro]

Does anyone have an international or global PP?

And why so few use individual bonds in the LT part?

Regards

[melveyr]

Right now I have the laziest PP possible.

25% VTI
25% T-bills
25% TLT
25% GLD

This summer I plan on going something like

9% GLD
8% IAU
8% American Eagle coins

for the gold portion. That's my project. I just don't have a good place for the bullion. Yet 

[Reido]

Permanent Portfolio - 25% Stocks (1/2 SPDR and 1/2 VB - I think this is close enough to a TSM and bumps the performance slightly)
25% GLD
25% SHY
25% TLT

Variable Portfolio is 50% REITs and 50% DIA
- Mainly like the income stream and long-term returns despite being lightly less tax efficient.  I rebalance by investing into the one representing less than 50% so that I minimize my tax exposure.

[melveyr]

I see some portfolios here with ETF's other than GLD, including some who hold multiple ETF's.  I haven't done enough research to figure out whether diversification among several gold ETF's makes sense.  I do plan to gradually increase the bullion percentage of our gold holdings though.

I guess my general feeling is why not? Its just one more click and the gold is (hopefully) spread out in more vaults. Also, if there was fraud at one there is a chance of there not being fraud at the other. Its so easy to be in the two big boys of GLD/IAU that I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about it if it feels right

And with some personally held bullion and your golden (damnit, pun).