A portfolio built around your plan.
Your portfolio is aligned with your goals, your time horizon, the income you will need, your taxes, and the risk you are able to accept. That is more than picking funds. It is deciding what the money is for, how much risk it can carry, and how every account works together. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
Purpose first, portfolio second.
Three questions come before any investment decision. The answers decide the mix, not a forecast about what the market does next.
What the money is for
Retirement, a business transition, education, a property, or money meant for the next generation. Each goal carries its own time horizon, its own need for cash along the way, and its own tolerance for a bad year, so each one is funded differently.
Risk tolerance and risk capacity
Tolerance is how much movement you can live with. Capacity is how much your plan can absorb without changing what you are able to do. The two are often different, and when they are, the plan settles it: the allocation follows what the money has to accomplish, not a gut feeling in a good year.
What you already own
Every account gets looked at together: what overlaps, what it costs, where you are concentrated, what the cost basis is in taxable accounts, and which holdings are left over from a decision that made sense years ago. Old accounts drift, and drift is usually where the risk hides.
Six building blocks, one philosophy.
Every portfolio is built from the same parts. The mix changes with how much risk is right for you. The approach does not.
A balanced stock core
Your stocks follow where seven respected research firms agree the market is, instead of one person's guess about what wins next. Broad and balanced, with no big bet on any one style.
Global, not just American
You hold both U.S. and international companies in sensible proportions, so you own a slice of the whole world's economy instead of betting only on your home country.
A few careful leans
I lean slightly toward a handful of areas I believe in, but only a little, sized so that if I am wrong for a couple of years it is a disappointment, not damage.
Owning the stocks, not just a fund
In taxable accounts I can hold the actual stocks in an index instead of one fund. That creates the chance to capture losses through the year, lets you leave out companies you would rather not own, and keeps taxes in view all year.
Active bonds, only where they pay off
For bonds, I pay for hands-on management only where it has historically been worth the fee. If the extra cost is not buying something real, I skip it. Past results are no promise of future ones.
A different kind of cushion
A slice of investments that have tended to move differently from stocks and bonds, meant to steady the portfolio in years when both fall together. More cautious portfolios hold more of it. Nothing here removes the risk of loss.
The edge is risk reduction.
These portfolios are not trying to beat the market in a boom. They are built to be steadier for the amount of risk you take: more diversified, with real cushioning, and designed to be better behaved when markets fall. In a year that hits both stocks and bonds, the alternatives sleeve is there to help soften it. Diversification does not remove risk, and no portfolio can be protected from loss.
A portfolio designed for the rough patches, instead of one chasing whatever is hot.
Eleven models, one discipline.
There are eleven portfolios, from all-stock growth to all-bond income. Each one is a set level of risk, not a guess. I match you to the one that fits your plan, your comfort with risk, and everything else you own, then adjust it over time to keep it on track. Different accounts can sit at different points on that lineup: a taxable account funding a purchase in three years should not look like a Roth you will not touch for twenty.
A portfolio matched to your real risk, reviewed and adjusted over time, not a one-size-fits-all option sold to everyone.
Direct indexing, beyond the fund.
A direct-indexed sleeve owns the individual stocks of an index instead of a single fund. That one structural change does what a fund cannot: it harvests losses on individual names even when the index is up, excludes sectors or specific securities you do not want to hold, and moves a concentrated, low-basis position into a diversified portfolio on a tax budget you set. It runs in the background, and you keep full oversight.
A portfolio shaped around your holdings, your basis, and your preferences, with the tax side handled all year rather than in one December scramble.
Managed for what you keep.
Taxes are one of the few investing costs you can influence, so they are considered all year, not just in December. Owning the individual stocks (above) creates the flexibility, and careful tax work puts it to use. Before a trade I weigh the tax cost against the reason for it, losses are captured as they appear to offset gains elsewhere, and you see the impact in plain reports instead of a surprise at filing time. Tax-inefficient holdings sit in the accounts where they cost you the least, and a large change follows a schedule you agree to. Results depend on your own tax situation, and I do not provide tax advice.
Investment decisions made with the tax bill in view, tracked and visible all year instead of discovered at filing time.
Alternatives, everyday and private.
Stocks and bonds can drop at the same time, and 2022 was a good example. Alternatives are meant to behave differently. They come in two forms here.
Everyday cushioning
A slice in every portfolio that can be sold on any market day, used more heavily as the risk level comes down. It spreads across things like commodities, gold, and several hedge-style strategies chosen because they have tended not to move with stocks and bonds. Its job is diversification, which is what the higher cost is buying.
Private investments, if you qualify
If you qualify, you can add private investments like private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure from well-known managers such as Blackstone, Apollo, KKR, and JPMorgan. These used to be reserved for the largest investors. Here they sit alongside the rest of your portfolio in one place, set up online instead of with a stack of paperwork. They can't be sold quickly and are only available to clients who meet the requirements.
Diversification that doesn't rise and fall with the market, in whatever form fits your situation.
Balanced around what you already own.
If most of your wealth sits in one company, or in the stock of the company you work for, a standard portfolio quietly piles more risk on top of the risk you already carry. I do the opposite: a diversified base built around that one large holding, cash flow that does not force a sale, and taxes in view at every step. When a concentrated position does need to come down, whether it is founder stock, restricted units, options, or an employer plan, owning the individual stocks allows it to be unwound gradually and on a tax budget you set rather than all at once.
A portfolio that knows where the rest of your wealth sits, and balances around it instead of ignoring it.
From saving to spending.
A portfolio that has to send money out every month is a different job from one that only has to grow. The allocation, the cash on hand, and the order accounts are drawn from all change.
- Near-term spending held in something stable, so a down market does not have to be sold into
- The order accounts are drawn from, taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth, set with the tax bracket in view
- Required minimum distributions built into the schedule rather than handled in December
- Rebalancing used as a source of cash, trimming what has run up to fund the next withdrawal
- A withdrawal rate tested against poor early returns, higher inflation, and a longer life
- The plan's income need, not a rule of thumb, deciding how much risk the portfolio carries
Reviewed on a schedule, not on a headline.
A strategy is only as good as the discipline behind it. Changes happen for a reason that traces back to your plan, not to what the market did last week.
- Rebalancing when the mix drifts past its bands, not on a hunch about timing
- Contributions and withdrawals directed to wherever they bring the portfolio back toward target
- Tax-loss opportunities reviewed through the year, and the wash-sale rules respected
- Allocation revisited when your plan changes: a sale, a job change, a new goal, a shifting income need
- Costs and holdings checked so you keep paying only for what is doing something
- A written review at least annually, and a conversation whenever something real changes
I pay for active management only where it is worth it.
The growth-focused portfolio costs about as much as a basic index fund. The overall cost only rises as you add the active bonds and alternatives that are there to lower your risk, and you see that trade-off in plain numbers. Costs are illustrative and subject to change.
A strategy you can actually explain.
Not a product pitch. A written approach, the reasoning behind it, and the discipline to keep it in place.
- A clear purpose for each account and each goal
- A risk level set from both your tolerance and your plan's capacity to absorb a loss
- A review of what you own today: overlap, cost, concentration, and cost basis
- A target allocation, in writing, with the reasoning behind it
- A plan for how the accounts fit together rather than six copies of the same mix
- Tax considerations built into where holdings sit and when trades happen
- A course of action for concentrated or employer stock, on a timeline you agree to
- A withdrawal approach for the years the portfolio pays you
- Rebalancing bands and the rules for when changes are made
- Plain reporting, so you can see what you own and what it cost
- A standing review schedule and a person to call between reviews
Before we start.
How do you determine the right investment risk level?
From two things at once. Risk tolerance is how much movement you can live with without changing course, and risk capacity is how much the plan can absorb before your goals are affected. When the two disagree, the plan decides: the allocation follows the income you will need and when you will need it, not the mood of the current market.
Should every account have the same allocation?
Usually not. Accounts have different jobs, different time horizons, and different tax treatment. Money you will spend in three years should not be invested like money you will not touch for twenty, and holdings that throw off taxable income generally belong in the accounts where that costs you least. The target is the household total, with each account positioned inside it.
How often should a portfolio be rebalanced?
When it drifts past the bands set for it, rather than on a fixed date or a headline. New contributions and withdrawals do part of the work on their own. In taxable accounts the tax cost of a trade is weighed against the benefit of correcting the drift, so rebalancing there is done with more care.
How are taxes considered in investment decisions?
Before the trade, not after. That means weighing the tax cost of a sale against the reason for it, placing holdings in the accounts where they are treated best, capturing losses as they appear to offset gains elsewhere, and spreading a large change over time where that helps. Your results depend on your own tax situation, and I do not provide tax advice or promise tax savings.
What happens to the strategy during a market decline?
Declines are expected and planned for in advance, which is the point of setting the risk level from your plan. Near-term spending is held where it does not have to be sold in a downturn, rebalancing generally means buying what has fallen, and losses may be harvested where it is useful. What does not happen is a rewrite of the strategy in the middle of a bad month.
All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Diversification and asset allocation do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and nothing here is a promise of any particular return, income, or tax outcome. Figures, charts, and allocations shown on this page are illustrative only. Modern Wealth does not provide legal or tax advice; work with your attorney and tax professional on those questions. Investment advisory services are offered only under a written agreement.
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Create an investment strategy designed around your goals, taxes, time horizon, and real-world financial needs. Start with a complimentary thirty-minute conversation about what you own today and what the money is meant to do.
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