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60/40 Portfolio

Apr 10, 2007 – Sep 23, 2026, Rebalanced annually

Backtest it
60/40S&P 500
Final balance$45,161$75,807
CAGR8.06%10.97%
Max drawdown−33.93%−55.19%
Sharpe ratio0.730.63

Allocation

  • VTIUS total stock market60%
  • BNDUS total bond market40%

Loading the growth chart…

Growth of $10,000

  • 60/40
  • S&P 500

Metrics

Return60/40S&P 500
Final balance$45,161$75,807
Total return351.61%658.07%
CAGR8.06%10.97%
Calendar years60/40S&P 500
Best year21.93%32.31%
Worst year−19.45%−36.80%
Positive years15 of 1815 of 18
Risk60/40S&P 500
Max drawdown−33.93%−55.19%
Longest drawdown2.5 years4.9 years
Volatility (annualized)11.60%19.64%
Risk-adjusted60/40S&P 500
Sharpe ratio0.730.63
Sortino ratio1.020.89
Calmar ratio0.240.20

Worst drawdowns

DeclinePeakBottomRecovered
−33.9%Oct 2007Mar 2009Apr 2010
−21.8%Feb 2020Mar 2020Jul 2020
−21.6%Dec 2021Oct 2022Feb 2024
−12.1%Sep 2018Dec 2018Mar 2019
−11.6%Dec 2024Apr 2025Jun 2025

Annual returns

Year60/40S&P 500
2007*+3.64%+2.57%
2008−19.45%−36.80%
2009+18.80%+26.35%
2010+12.94%+15.06%
2011+3.75%+1.89%
2012+11.05%+15.99%
2013+19.23%+32.31%
2014+9.86%+13.46%
2015+0.44%+1.23%
2016+8.70%+12.00%
2017+14.33%+21.71%
2018−3.09%−4.57%
2019+21.93%+31.22%
2020+15.73%+18.33%
2021+14.66%+28.73%
2022−16.96%−18.18%
2023+17.89%+26.18%
2024+14.84%+24.89%
2025+13.09%+17.72%
2026*+7.37%+13.47%

* Partial year

About the 60/40 Portfolio

The 60/40 portfolio holds 60% stocks and 40% bonds. It's the standard balanced portfolio.

Bonds usually soften stock market falls, as they did in 2008. In 2022 they didn't, and stocks and bonds fell together.

The 60/40 Portfolio returned 8.1% a year from Apr 2007 to Sep 2026, against 11.0% for the S&P 500. Its biggest drop was 33.9%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500. It took 2.5 years to recover. It beat the S&P 500 in 4 of 18 full years.

Uses daily closing prices with dividends reinvested. Fund fees are included, but not taxes or trading costs. The backtest starts on Apr 10, 2007, the first day both funds have prices. The S&P 500 is SPY.

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