Episode 462: Creating Your Own Sample Portfolio, Asset Swaps With Cash, Low-Bar-Setting Financial Advisors, And Portfolio Reviews As Of October 31, 2025

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Nov 2, 2025

Explore the art of DIY investing with hands-on sample portfolios and innovative asset swaps for tax efficiency. Dive into critiques of the low withdrawal rates suggested by financial advisors and why a diversified, risk-parity approach can yield better results. Get insights on current market performance and the crucial role of holding underappreciated assets. Plus, enjoy detailed portfolio reviews, including the All-Seasons and Golden Ratio portfolios, showcasing performances and monthly withdrawals.

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ANECDOTE

Listener Test Portfolios Teach Faster

Jess set up small test portfolios across Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard to learn platform UIs and limitations firsthand.
She used the Golden Ratio portfolio at Fidelity and found the hands-on experiment faster and more educational than theory.

INSIGHT

Simplicity Myths Foster Learned Helplessness

The myth that multi-asset portfolios are 'too hard' cultivates learned helplessness and prevents people from trying.
Frank argues DIY experimentation with small amounts demystifies portfolio management and teaches faster than passive listening.

INSIGHT

Diversification Shows Its Value In Variance

Diversification means some assets will lead while others lag, and that mix ensures something is often up even in bad years.
Frank recommends a multi-year perspective and using periods when some assets outperform to withdraw while others recover.

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In this episode we answer emails from Jess, Phil and Scott. We discuss an experience of setting up a sample RPR portfolio for one's self, using asset swaps to manage cash, and fun with the low bar standards and other inadequacies of many financial advisors.

And THEN we our go through our weekly and monthly portfolio reviews of the eight sample portfolios you can find at Portfolios | Risk Parity Radio.

Additional Links:

Father McKenna Center Donation Page: Donate - Father McKenna Center

How To Do An Asset Swap Video from Risk Parity Chronicles: How to Do an Asset Swap

Bigger Pockets Money Test Risk Parity Style Portfolio: We Built a 5% SWR Retirement Portfolio Using Fidelity in 48 Minutes (Golden Ratio Portfolio)

Excess Returns Podcast With Rick Ferri (forward to minute 49): Most Never Escape Stage 3 | Rick Ferri on How You Can Beat the Complexity Trap

Breathless Unedited AI-Bot Summary:

Tired of being told that everything beyond a three-fund portfolio is “too hard”? We pull back the curtain on practical tools that make DIY investing simpler in practice, not smaller in ambition. Starting with a listener’s test portfolios, we show how hands-on experience beats theory, why diversification means loving today’s winners and tomorrow’s comebacks, and how to turn rebalancing into reliable cash flow.

We go deep on asset location and the overlooked power of asset swaps. By “selling here, buying there,” you can keep your overall mix unchanged while moving ordinary income into tax-deferred accounts and positioning equities in taxable for qualified dividends and capital gains. If you’ve been parking big cash balances in a HYSA and wondering why your tax bill keeps creeping up, this segment is your blueprint for tax efficiency without extra risk.

Then we tackle withdrawal rates with clear eyes. Many advisors still anchor to 3 percent for retirees in their 60s. We explain why diversified, risk parity style allocations can responsibly target closer to 5 percent over long horizons, especially when you harvest from strength. Case in point: trimming gold after a powerful run to fund November distributions across our sample portfolios. We share market snapshots, what’s leading and lagging, and how a rules-based process keeps emotion out of the driver’s seat.

If you want an investing plan that funds a life—relationships, experiences, generosity—rather than an accounting hobby, this conversation is your on-ramp. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge to start that test portfolio, and leave a review telling us your target withdrawal rate and why.

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