Why A Portfolio Mix of Stocks & Bonds Is Best...

In the last 30 calendar years (1981-2010), a 70/30 mix of stocks to bonds (with annual rebalancing) produced an average annual total return of +10.5% (before-tax) with the worst year being a -24.3% loss in 2008.

A 100% stock portfolio produced a +10.7% average annual total return (before-tax) with the worst year being a -37.0% loss in 2008.

Thus the stock/bond combination produced 98% of the return of the all-stock portfolio with less volatility.

Source: BTN Research