Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio

by ElderLemon · shared 16 Sept 2026 · Published by Paul Merriman, 2 Feb 2007 · source

Weights

IEFiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF20.0%EFAiShares MSCI EAFE ETF12.0%EFVISHARES MSCI EAFE VALUE ETF 12.0%SHYiShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF12.0%TIPiShares TIPS Bond ETF8.0%SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust6.0%IVEiShares S&P 500 Value ETF6.0%IJRiShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF6.0%IJSISHARES S&P SMALL-CAP 600 VALUE ETF 6.0%VNQVanguard Real Estate ETF6.0%EEMiShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF6.0%

IEFiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF20.0%
EFAiShares MSCI EAFE ETF12.0%
EFVISHARES MSCI EAFE VALUE ETF 12.0%
SHYiShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF12.0%
TIPiShares TIPS Bond ETF8.0%
SPYSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust6.0%
IVEiShares S&P 500 Value ETF6.0%
IJRiShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF6.0%
IJSISHARES S&P SMALL-CAP 600 VALUE ETF 6.0%
VNQVanguard Real Estate ETF6.0%
EEMiShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF6.0%

Performance

CAGR: +6.3%
Final value: $36k
Max drawdown: −35.4%
Volatility: 10.8%
Sharpe: 0.62
Sortino: 0.88

Correlation

weekly returns

	SPY	IVE	IJR	IJS	VNQ	EFA	EFV	EEM	IEF	SHY	TIP
SPY	·	0.96	0.88	0.85	0.74	0.87	0.84	0.77	−0.21	−0.18	0.07
IVE	0.96	·	0.90	0.90	0.78	0.86	0.86	0.74	−0.24	−0.20	0.05
IJR	0.88	0.90	·	0.99	0.77	0.81	0.80	0.71	−0.22	−0.18	0.05
IJS	0.85	0.90	0.99	·	0.77	0.79	0.80	0.70	−0.23	−0.18	0.04
VNQ	0.74	0.78	0.77	0.77	·	0.67	0.66	0.61	−0.03	−0.06	0.16
EFA	0.87	0.86	0.81	0.79	0.67	·	0.98	0.85	−0.17	−0.13	0.11
EFV	0.84	0.86	0.80	0.80	0.66	0.98	·	0.82	−0.21	−0.16	0.08
EEM	0.77	0.74	0.71	0.70	0.61	0.85	0.82	·	−0.18	−0.14	0.06
IEF	−0.21	−0.24	−0.22	−0.23	−0.03	−0.17	−0.21	−0.18	·	0.76	0.73
SHY	−0.18	−0.20	−0.18	−0.18	−0.06	−0.13	−0.16	−0.14	0.76	·	0.54
TIP	0.07	0.05	0.05	0.04	0.16	0.11	0.08	0.06	0.73	0.54	·

Growth of $10K

Long only · Fixed weights · annually · 2005-08-12 to 2026-10-09

$36,400Oct 9, 2026

−3.6%Oct 9, 2026

Annual returns

* partial

through 2026-10-09