All Articles
Portfolio Setup Summary
July 10, 2026
A retirement portfolio for income, built step by step in 8 posts: how I set my objectives, screened and picked ETFs, assembled the complete portfolio, and now manage it. This is my real portfolio, not a theoretical exercise - I started converting a large part of my assets into this exact setup in summer 2026.
Why I underweight the US
July 6, 2026
My target regional allocation is 45% US, 30% Europe, 25% Other. The 45% US is a big and deliberate cut versus the ~71% US weight in MSCI World and ~63% in MSCI ACWI. My reasons: concentration risk, a currency problem, and a shifting geopolitical landscape - the hardest of the three to quantify, but maybe the most important.
A painful 2022
June 12, 2026
In 2022, stocks and bonds fell together, breaking the diversification retirees usually count on. It changed how I approach investing: even a passive portfolio needs active risk management. I used backtested data on three iShares ETFs to see exactly how hard bonds were hit, and why.
Dry powder: handle with care
June 12, 2026
Dry powder is the cash inside your portfolio that you hold back for rebalancing and withdrawals - not the same as an emergency fund, which exists purely for survival. Holding too much cash drags on returns, so I cap mine at 10% and only deploy it using fixed rules. That takes the emotion out of my actions.