Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio
The Simple Money Portfolio is a lazy portfolio by Tim Maurer, a Wealth Advisor and Director of Personal Finance for Buckingham and the BAM ALLIANCE. This portfolio was introduced in his book of the same name Simple Money. It is a variation of a traditional 60/40 stocks/bonds portfolio with tilts toward value and small-cap stocks.
Asset Allocation
Performance
Performance Chart
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The earliest data available for this chart is Dec 12, 2007, corresponding to the inception date of SCZ
Returns By Period
As of May 31, 2025, the Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio returned 6.02% Year-To-Date and 5.30% of annualized return in the last 10 years.
| YTD | 1M | 6M | 1Y | 5Y* | 10Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^GSPC S&P 500 | 0.51% | 6.15% | -2.00% | 12.92% | 14.19% | 10.85% |
| Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio | 6.02% | 2.72% | 2.59% | 9.98% | 7.26% | 5.30% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
IWD iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 2.32% | 3.48% | -4.70% | 10.22% | 12.80% | 8.41% |
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 0.90% | 6.13% | -1.49% | 14.25% | 15.90% | 12.79% |
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -6.98% | 5.24% | -14.77% | 1.65% | 9.47% | 6.51% |
IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 3.43% | -0.73% | 2.60% | 6.84% | -0.59% | 1.36% |
EFV iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 21.29% | 4.40% | 18.23% | 19.74% | 14.62% | 5.44% |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -7.83% | 4.16% | -15.67% | -0.36% | 11.74% | 5.97% |
SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 16.26% | 6.21% | 12.58% | 14.10% | 8.66% | 5.67% |
Monthly Returns
The table below presents the monthly returns of Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio, with color gradation from worst to best to easily spot seasonal factors. Returns are adjusted for dividends.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.21% | 0.70% | -0.69% | 0.98% | 2.72% | 6.02% | |||||||
| 2024 | -0.93% | 1.16% | 2.54% | -3.06% | 3.47% | -0.60% | 4.43% | 1.26% | 1.29% | -2.85% | 2.86% | -3.24% | 6.10% |
| 2023 | 5.62% | -2.45% | 0.50% | 1.01% | -2.28% | 2.99% | 2.79% | -2.12% | -2.83% | -2.85% | 6.01% | 5.38% | 11.69% |
| 2022 | -2.90% | -1.19% | -0.54% | -5.04% | 1.26% | -5.85% | 4.69% | -3.56% | -7.02% | 4.68% | 5.89% | -2.13% | -12.02% |
| 2021 | 0.34% | 2.64% | 1.92% | 1.99% | 1.52% | -0.52% | 0.32% | 1.14% | -2.25% | 1.89% | -2.56% | 2.48% | 9.11% |
| 2020 | -1.26% | -4.39% | -9.43% | 5.97% | 3.48% | 1.46% | 1.65% | 3.47% | -1.72% | -1.09% | 9.30% | 3.82% | 10.36% |
| 2019 | 5.24% | 1.71% | 0.41% | 1.93% | -3.29% | 3.76% | -0.44% | -1.08% | 1.85% | 1.91% | 1.28% | 1.98% | 16.08% |
| 2018 | 2.14% | -2.88% | -0.12% | 0.41% | 0.65% | -0.40% | 1.35% | 0.36% | -0.38% | -4.87% | 0.99% | -4.05% | -6.83% |
| 2017 | 1.26% | 1.27% | 0.79% | 1.39% | 0.72% | 0.74% | 1.50% | -0.01% | 1.93% | 0.57% | 1.01% | 0.67% | 12.49% |
| 2016 | -2.97% | -0.50% | 4.46% | 1.08% | 0.56% | -0.47% | 2.77% | 0.46% | 0.89% | -1.49% | 1.14% | 1.84% | 7.83% |
| 2015 | -0.11% | 2.97% | -0.13% | 0.97% | 0.61% | -1.16% | 0.51% | -3.61% | -1.72% | 3.54% | 0.22% | -1.66% | 0.23% |
| 2014 | -1.67% | 3.25% | -0.20% | 0.17% | 1.08% | 1.43% | -2.19% | 1.58% | -2.80% | 1.62% | 0.31% | -0.42% | 2.01% |
Expense Ratio
Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio has an expense ratio of 0.23%, which is considered low. Below, you can find the expense ratios of the portfolio's funds side by side and easily compare their relative costs.
Risk-Adjusted Performance
Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank
The current rank of Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio is 72, indicating average performance compared to other portfolios on our website. Here’s a breakdown of how it compares using common performance measures.
Risk-Adjusted Performance Indicators
This table presents a comparison of risk-adjusted performance metrics for positions. Risk-adjusted metrics are performance indicators that assess an investment's returns in relation to its risk, enabling a more accurate comparison of different investment options.
| Sharpe ratio | Sortino ratio | Omega ratio | Calmar ratio | Martin ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IWD iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 0.62 | 0.92 | 1.13 | 0.61 | 2.16 |
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 0.73 | 1.03 | 1.15 | 0.68 | 2.57 |
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 0.07 | 0.24 | 1.03 | 0.04 | 0.11 |
IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 1.68 | 2.53 | 1.31 | 0.70 | 4.14 |
EFV iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 1.19 | 1.62 | 1.23 | 1.38 | 4.63 |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -0.02 | 0.13 | 1.02 | -0.03 | -0.07 |
SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 0.84 | 1.23 | 1.17 | 0.70 | 2.70 |
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Dividends
Dividend yield
Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio provided a 2.79% dividend yield over the last twelve months.
| TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 2.79% | 2.96% | 2.56% | 2.03% | 1.74% | 1.51% | 2.60% | 2.51% | 2.01% | 2.00% | 2.04% | 2.14% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||||||||
IWD iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 1.86% | 1.88% | 2.02% | 2.15% | 1.62% | 2.05% | 2.45% | 2.71% | 2.09% | 2.25% | 2.47% | 2.00% |
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1.31% | 1.30% | 1.44% | 1.66% | 1.20% | 1.57% | 1.99% | 2.21% | 1.75% | 2.01% | 2.27% | 1.83% |
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 1.20% | 1.15% | 1.35% | 1.48% | 0.94% | 1.04% | 1.26% | 1.40% | 1.26% | 1.38% | 1.54% | 1.26% |
IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 3.23% | 3.18% | 2.36% | 1.37% | 0.73% | 1.12% | 2.01% | 1.95% | 1.51% | 1.33% | 1.39% | 1.23% |
EFV iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 3.85% | 4.66% | 4.36% | 4.17% | 4.07% | 2.42% | 4.62% | 4.56% | 3.56% | 3.28% | 3.59% | 4.87% |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | 1.92% | 1.80% | 2.04% | 2.12% | 1.48% | 1.60% | 1.92% | 1.99% | 1.78% | 1.74% | 2.15% | 1.88% |
SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 3.01% | 3.50% | 2.95% | 1.99% | 2.96% | 1.52% | 3.51% | 2.79% | 2.38% | 2.82% | 2.06% | 2.61% |
Drawdowns
Drawdowns Chart
The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.
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Worst Drawdowns
The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.
The maximum drawdown for the Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio was 36.29%, occurring on Mar 9, 2009. Recovery took 398 trading sessions.
The current Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio drawdown is 0.20%.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -36.29% | Dec 13, 2007 | 310 | Mar 9, 2009 | 398 | Oct 5, 2010 | 708 |
| -21.12% | Jan 21, 2020 | 44 | Mar 23, 2020 | 114 | Sep 2, 2020 | 158 |
| -20.69% | Nov 8, 2021 | 223 | Sep 27, 2022 | 447 | Jul 10, 2024 | 670 |
| -13.4% | May 2, 2011 | 108 | Oct 3, 2011 | 120 | Mar 26, 2012 | 228 |
| -12.57% | Jan 29, 2018 | 229 | Dec 24, 2018 | 205 | Oct 17, 2019 | 434 |
Volatility
Volatility Chart
The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.
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Diversification
Diversification Metrics
Number of Effective Assets
The portfolio contains 7 assets, with an effective number of assets of 4.40, reflecting the diversification based on asset allocation. This number of effective assets suggests a highly concentrated portfolio, where a few assets dominate the allocation, potentially increasing the portfolio's risk due to lack of diversification.
Asset Correlations Table
| ^GSPC | IEI | SCZ | EFV | IWN | IWM | IVV | IWD | Portfolio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ^GSPC | 1.00 | -0.27 | 0.77 | 0.79 | 0.83 | 0.86 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.89 |
| IEI | -0.27 | 1.00 | -0.16 | -0.22 | -0.26 | -0.25 | -0.27 | -0.28 | -0.11 |
| SCZ | 0.77 | -0.16 | 1.00 | 0.89 | 0.70 | 0.72 | 0.77 | 0.76 | 0.91 |
| EFV | 0.79 | -0.22 | 0.89 | 1.00 | 0.73 | 0.73 | 0.79 | 0.82 | 0.92 |
| IWN | 0.83 | -0.26 | 0.70 | 0.73 | 1.00 | 0.97 | 0.83 | 0.88 | 0.88 |
| IWM | 0.86 | -0.25 | 0.72 | 0.73 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 0.86 | 0.87 | 0.89 |
| IVV | 1.00 | -0.27 | 0.77 | 0.79 | 0.83 | 0.86 | 1.00 | 0.93 | 0.89 |
| IWD | 0.93 | -0.28 | 0.76 | 0.82 | 0.88 | 0.87 | 0.93 | 1.00 | 0.90 |
| Portfolio | 0.89 | -0.11 | 0.91 | 0.92 | 0.88 | 0.89 | 0.89 | 0.90 | 1.00 |
AI Insight on Diversification
The portfolio is moderately diversified but leans toward concentration in correlated equity positions. The correlation matrix shows that most equity holdings—SCZ, EFV, IWN, IWM, IVV, and IWD—are highly correlated with each other, with correlations mostly above 0.7 and often exceeding 0.8 or 0.9. This high inter-correlation among equity positions suggests that these holdings tend to move in tandem, which limits diversification benefits within the equity portion of the portfolio.
The fixed income position, IEI, stands out as the least correlated asset with the rest of the portfolio, showing negative correlations ranging from -0.11 with the overall portfolio to about -0.28 with individual equity positions. This low and negative correlation helps reduce overall portfolio volatility and provides a diversification benefit by offsetting some equity risk.
The portfolio’s correlation with individual positions is highest with SCZ (0.91), EFV (0.92), and IWD (0.90), indicating these holdings have a dominant influence on the portfolio’s behavior. The relatively high correlations suggest that these positions likely represent larger weights or more impactful components within the portfolio, contributing significantly to its risk and return profile.
Given the strong correlations among the equity positions and the dominance of a few highly correlated holdings, the portfolio is somewhat concentrated within the equity space. However, the inclusion of IEI as a negatively correlated fixed income asset improves diversification and risk mitigation. Overall, while the portfolio benefits from some diversification due to the fixed income allocation, it remains fairly concentrated in correlated equity positions, which may limit its resilience to equity market downturns.