The Sleepy Mini Portfolio returned 4.7 percent since my previous update. The portfolio was started with an initial investment of $1,000 in August 2007 and I assume that savings of $1,000 are added to the portfolio every 90 days. Here’s how the portfolio components were valued as of November 30, 2010:
TDB909 – Canadian Bonds – $2,633 (19.0%)
TDB900 – Canadian Equities – $2,890 (20.8%)
TDB902 – US Equities – $4,260 (30.7%)
TDB911 – International Equities – $4,094 (29.5%)
Total – $13,877
Total Invested – $13,000
We’ll add another $1,000 to the portfolio and rebalance it to the target asset allocation — 20% bonds, 20% Canadian stocks, 30% US stocks and 30% International stocks. I use this spreadsheet to divide up the new money between the portfolio components.
Transactions
TDB909 – TD Canadian Bond Index (e-Series) – Buy units for $328.18.
TDB900 – TD Canadian Index (e-Series) – Buy units for $100.00.
TDB902 – TD US Index (e-Series) – Buy units for $202.84.
TDB911 – TD International Index (e-Series) – Buy units for $454.48.
The Sleepy Mini Portfolio does not end up with a precise 20-20-30-30 asset allocation because the TDB900 requires a minimum investment of $100 but the amount to buy came out to $85.50. Therefore, I bumped up the Canadian stock allocation slightly at the expense of Canadian bonds.
A formulaic approach to investing such as this helps to mitigate much of the emotional traps that await investors. And you can get it done in less time than it takes to shop for a couple of Christmas gifts.
NB: I picked 5 entries at random for The MoneySense Guide to Retiring Wealthy giveaway. I haven’t heard back from two of the winners, Catherine and Stella. Can the winners please check their email accounts and send me a reply? If I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll be picking out two new winners. Thank you.