“Never ask anyone for their opinion, forecast, or recommendation. Just ask them what they have in their portfolio.” – Nassim Taleb
Sure, I tell my clients to invest in a Low-Cost, Automated, Diversified, and Simple manner, but do I apply the same principles to my own investing portfolio?
Yes, I do.
This is important to note: just because I invest this way does not mean it’s a good way for you to invest. My asset allocation may be a good match for your risk appetite and your need for money, but you are not living my life and I am not living yours. You may be retired (I am still working) and you may have a higher or lower income than me. That will all change how you should invest your money.
There is a good chance that you have different needs, wants, desires, lifestyle, family situation, obligations, housing requirements, and other lifestyle factors.
It is very important to give unique financial advice to the individual, given their unique circumstances, and to build a holistic financial plan for individual circumstances.
That being said, there are some generalized principles that apply to most Kiwi investors. For example, you want to ensure that you are matching your investments to when you may need the money. I also believe that most Kiwis will benefit from an investment plan that has 4 of my core investing principles:
- Low-cost: the less your investments cost to implement your desired asset allocation, the more of the returns you’ll keep
- Automation: The more automated you can make your plan, the less you allow behavioral finance traps to sneak in to your plan
- Diversification: by diversifying your investments, you increase the probability that your money will survive through bad times and prosper in good times
- Simple: A simple strategy, executed with as few funds as possible, has the greatest change of success by the average Kiwi investor. We’re looking to survive and thrive, not to hit home runs.
My Personal Investment Plan
My wife and I typed up a simple “investment policy statement.” This is a document that captures our values, believes about investing and money, and gives us a structured way to invest. Without this document, it’s easy to fall into fads, trends, or be distracted by the latest shiny object.
There are an infinite number of better and worse portfolios than the one I’ve constructed for myself. Thankfully, I live in the real world and I only have to live with one portfolio. I don’t bother back-testing other portfolios, since hindsight is 20/20 and the future is inherently unknowable.
My asset allocation at the moment of writing this article in July 2026 is a target of 60% US shares, 30% international, and 10% global bonds. Currently, my portfolio has drifted a little since US equities have outperformed international equities in recent years. You can see the current mix of asset below:
You’ll notice some big asset classes missing from this portfolio. Gold or other precious medals, cryptocurrencies, and real estate. We also count our cash separately and don’t consider cash as part of our core investment portfolio.
This portfolio also has a slight home country bias. In July 2026, the US share market is about 62% of the global share market. A more accurate market cap weighted portfolio would be 56% US, 34% excluding US, and 10% bonds. Even professionals (like myself) are allowed a little bit of messiness in their portfolio. Better to get it half right than all wrong.