What do YOU do?

[beafet]

Hey, I thought it would be cool if we had a thread where everyone could share their particular allocations and assets used, along with everyone telling how that has worked out for them so far, how long you have been using the PP, what they use for rebalancing criteria, custodian used, etc.

I will go first:

ASSETS/ALLOCATIONS (so far):

Stocks
25% - 80% TSP C fund (S&P 500), 20% TSP S Fund (Wilshire 5000 minus S&P 500)

LT Bonds
25% - EDV

Gold
25% - IAU

Cash
25% - TSP G-fund

How long have I been doing the PP? Less than a week.

What kind of returns am I getting: too early to tell.

Rebalancing plans: Rebalance every May/October, or at 15/35 if necessary.

I have a Roth IRA I just started with ShareBuilder that holds the EDV and the IAU. The rest so far is in my TSP.


How about you?

[cabronjames]

nice thread beafat.

you might also add Custodian used, with the understanding that gold might just put "physical" for any physical holdings out of privacy concern.

The rough sense I have on Custodian "best in class", USian perspective, is that
-Vanguard in general (stock, bonds if you hold EDV in 2/3 portion as you would 30 yr T-Bond or TLT, paper gold like closed end fund like GTU or ETF like SGOL).
-Fidelity for direct 30 yr T-Bond holding
-Treasury Direct for Savings Bonds (I-Bonds & also possibly EE-Bonds if you exceed annual I-Bond limit) for cash

[SteveGo]

Three different portfolios:

Small IRA for wife:
SCHB for stock
TLT for bonds
SGOL for Gold
T-Bill for cash

My IRA:
VTI for stock
30 year Treasuries for bonds
SGOL + IAU for Gold
SHY +  Money Market Fund for cash

Taxable:
VTI for stock
30 year Treasuries for bonds
SGOL + IAU for Gold
SCHO + 3 Year Treasury Ladder for Cash

I run these as 3 separate portfolios, independently rebalanced, etc.

Standard 15%-35% bands for rebalancing.

Started at end of April 2011, up 19% annulalized last time I looked.

[Ad Orientem]

Great idea for a thread.  I am a big fan of the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid). With that said my PP is as follows...

25% VTI
25% TLT
25% SHV
25% Physical Gold

Yes, I recognize that there is some counterparty risks in using ETFs for cash and bonds.  But I have looked at it carefully and made a personal judgment that the risk is low barring a catastrophic scenario.  In my mind the added risk is slight and the added convenience significant.  In the event of a catastrophic scenario gold will most likely be the asset that gets you through.  That one I take no unnecessary risks with, storing my stash in two safe deposit boxes at different banks.  In the event that a serious crisis appeared to be building (ex. inflation punches deep into double digit territory, a major foreign policy crisis with China etc.) I would pull my gold out of the bank and either ship it overseas or grab a shovel and flashlight for a late night trip out to mom's 100 acre place in the country.

[beafet]

Great idea for a thread.  I am a big fan of the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid). With that said my PP is as follows...

25% VTI
25% TLT
25% SHV
25% Physical Gold

Yes, I recognize that there is some counterparty risks in using ETFs for cash and bonds.  But I have looked at it carefully and made a personal judgment that the risk is low barring a catastrophic scenario.  In my mind the added risk is slight and the added convenience significant.  In the event of a catastrophic scenario gold will most likely be the asset that gets you through.  That one I take no unnecessary risks with, storing my stash in two safe deposit boxes at different banks.  In the event that a serious crisis appeared to be building (ex. inflation punches deep into double digit territory, a major foreign policy crisis with China etc.) I would pull my gold out of the bank and either ship it overseas or grab a shovel and flashlight for a late night trip out to mom's 100 acre place in the country.

How long have you been using it, and what have your returns been like? And where do you keep it (which brokerage)??

Thanks for participating everyone! I know we talk a lot about theory here, so I wanted to see less abstract and more concrete stuff.

[Ad Orientem]

How long have you been using it, and what have your returns been like? And where do you keep it (which brokerage)??

Thanks for participating everyone! I know we talk a lot about theory here, so I wanted to see less abstract and more concrete stuff.

Dad's an independent broker.  He handles everything except the gold.  I had been looking at PRPFX for a while but it was the crash of '08 that made me realize I needed to start getting serious about sheltering assets from whatever might be coming down the road.  I think it was in '09 that I really started getting into Harry Browne's writings.  Like a lot of people I started with PRPFX and made the migration to the HB PP fairly recently.  I still like PRPFX and think it's a good way to introduce people to the PP concept without freaking them out.  There is a certain psychological comfort that comes with managed mutual funds.  We are programed to assume that Wall Street money managers are smart people who know what they are doing.  Couple that with a 5 star fund that has PRPFX's track record and you have a good draw for the conservative minded investor.  One step at a time.

[Khisanth]

Vanguard IRA/Roth @ September 2011
100% PRPFX
I will get into 10% EDV when I don't get penalized for selling PRPFX.

Vanguard Taxable @ September 2011
30% TLT
30% GLD, SGOL, PHYS
30% VTSAX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (Admiral)
10% Prime Money Market Fund

Admittedly, I did some premature rebalancing in October.

[rhymenocerous]

Stocks:
This is all in my 401k, which is through Vanguard.
16% VG 500 Index (VIFSX)
4% VG Smallcap Index (NAESX)
5% VG Total International Index (VGTSX)

The reasoning behind this is to split the US 80% 500 Index and 20% Smallcap in order to approximate the TSM.  Total International comprises 20% of the overall stock portion.

LT Bonds:
These fill my Roth IRA and spill over into my taxable account.
25% TLT

Gold:
This is held entirely in taxable.  I might consider adding some GTU in the future.
25% IAU

Cash:
This mostly sits in a bank account to maintain liquidity because it doubles as my emergency fund.  However, with my stock portion at 25%, I've started also adding cash to a money market account in my 401k.
25% Ally Online Savings Account

How long have I been doing the PP? 5 months

What brokerage do you use?  All accounts are at Vanguard.

What kind of returns are you getting? This is actually really interesting.  I've only just started investing about 2.5 years ago.  I think I started out as 100% stock and eventually moved into an 80/20 Boglehead type portfolio.  Everyone on that forum usually regards the PP as a "slow growth" strategy that isn't capable of producing returns in line with stocks in general.  The funny thing is that I've never reached the level of gains I earned in August 2011 in the PP with any combination of a stock-heavy portfolio since I started investing.  Perhaps I'm just missing out on what happens in the extremely good times, but the PP can definitely hold it's own against a stock-heavy portfolio. 

Rebalancing plans: I maintain a spreadsheet and will rebalance on the 15/35 bands.  I haven't hit any triggers yet, though.  Since I'm accumulating, I just contribute to the asset class with the lowest %, which right now is cash.

As a side note, I thought I'd share a strategy I'm implementing, although it might be unique to my situation.  As a recent college graduate, I initially lived at home for a few years while working in order to gain a solid financial footing.  In 3 years, I managed to accumulate $55k in taxable in addition to funding my Roth and 401k.  Now that I've moved out, my expenses have increased, making it more difficult to fully fund my retirement accounts.  However, I currently put almost 50% of my paycheck into my 401k and instead spend the taxable money, thus converting taxable to tax deferred.  This might only last for a few more years, but hopefully by then my salary will have grown enough to allow me to continue to fully fund my retirement accounts.

[akratic]

Stocks:
26% - VTI, VTSAX & RWMEX (RWMEX was the least bad of some terrible choices in my 401k)

Bonds:
27% - TLT

Gold:
22% - 1/3 physical coins, 2/3 IAU

Cash:
25% - I Bonds, EE Bonds, Checking accounts and VMMXX

I also have a 10% VP in dividend stocks.  I started out with a 20% VP, half dividend stocks and half REIT, but then I collapsed them both into a 10% VP.

VTI, VTSAX, TLT, IAU and the VP are all at Vanguard.  Only RWMEX in the 401k and IAU in Roth IRA + Rollover IRA are tax sheltered.  (I don't have much tax sheltered space.)

I've been doing the PP for about three months.

I don't think I'll hit a rebalancing band any time soon.  I'm aggressively accumulating, and I'm buying the lagging asset every time my cash builds up.

The PP has a 15.8% annualized CAGR over those three months based on etfreplay.com, but I'm not sure about my exact realized return.

Next steps for me:
- figure out how to create a SIMPLE IRA to tax shelter my self-employed income stream
- sell TLT and buy individual 30Y bonds through Fidelity
- buy more gold coins and find a better place to store them; eventually sell IAU into more coins as well
- move cash from checking accounts and VMMXX into a manual 0-3Y treasury ladder, or into SHY + SHV

[Ralphy]

Stocks:
27% - VTSMX (traditional IRA) and JEINX (401k)

Bonds:
23% - TLT (Roth IRA)

Gold:
22% - All physical

Cash:
29% - HSA and Stable Value Fund (401k)

I started back in June, so about five months ago.  Last time I checked, the amount I contributed had gained about 7%.  ETFreplay.com (thanks for the link!) calculates a 7.7% gain for the period and a 19.6% CAGR.  The lower estimate is probably more accurate since I started low on gold and a little cash-heavy.

I have a separate pile of cash that I consider my VP, since my current two choices for cash aren't liquid enough to cover any short-term emergencies.  That's split between a rewards checking account and physical cash. 

None of my current brokerage accounts have very attractive options for buying individual bonds, so I'm looking at transferring the Roth money to Fidelity to switch from TLT to T-Bonds.