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 15, 2025, the Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio returned 4.54% Year-To-Date and 5.07% of annualized return in the last 10 years.
| YTD | 1M | 6M | 1Y | 5Y* | 10Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^GSPC S&P 500 | 0.60% | 9.64% | -0.54% | 11.47% | 15.67% | 10.79% |
| Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio | 5.32% | 5.16% | 4.08% | 7.75% | 8.39% | 5.16% |
| Portfolio components: | ||||||
IWD iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF | 2.67% | 6.46% | -1.43% | 7.88% | 14.83% | 8.38% |
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 1.08% | 9.81% | 0.15% | 12.91% | 17.42% | 12.75% |
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | -5.60% | 11.44% | -9.80% | 0.51% | 12.16% | 6.64% |
IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 2.76% | -0.06% | 3.18% | 5.31% | -0.71% | 1.28% |
EFV iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 18.72% | 7.82% | 17.91% | 15.53% | 16.22% | 4.96% |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -5.87% | 10.56% | -10.91% | -1.34% | 15.24% | 6.13% |
SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 13.43% | 8.28% | 12.93% | 10.32% | 10.17% | 5.31% |
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% | 2.04% | 5.32% | |||||||
| 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 58, 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 | 0.48 | 0.89 | 1.12 | 0.58 | 2.08 |
IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | 0.67 | 1.18 | 1.17 | 0.79 | 3.04 |
IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | 0.02 | 0.34 | 1.04 | 0.10 | 0.30 |
IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF | 1.30 | 2.21 | 1.27 | 0.61 | 3.65 |
EFV iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF | 0.93 | 1.50 | 1.21 | 1.26 | 4.21 |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | -0.06 | 0.19 | 1.02 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap ETF | 0.61 | 1.08 | 1.15 | 0.60 | 2.33 |
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Dividends
Dividend yield
Tim Maurer Simple Money Portfolio provided a 2.82% dividend yield over the last twelve months.
| TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 2.82% | 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 | 1.85% | 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 | 1.19% | 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 | 3.25% | 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 | 3.93% | 4.67% | 4.36% | 4.17% | 4.07% | 2.42% | 4.62% | 4.56% | 3.56% | 3.27% | 3.59% | 4.87% |
IWN iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF | 1.88% | 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 | 3.09% | 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 0.38%.
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 reveals that most equity holdings—SCZ, EFV, IWN, IWM, IVV, and IWD—exhibit very high positive correlations with each other, generally above 0.7 and often exceeding 0.8 or 0.9. This indicates these positions tend to move closely together, which limits diversification benefits within the equity portion of the portfolio. In particular, IWN and IWM are almost perfectly correlated (0.97), suggesting significant overlap in exposure.
Conversely, the IEI position, representing a fixed income or bond-like asset, shows negative correlations with all equity positions (ranging from about -0.11 to -0.28). This low or negative correlation is a key diversification strength, as IEI can provide a buffer against equity market volatility and reduce overall portfolio risk.
The portfolio’s correlation with individual positions is highest with EFV (0.92), SCZ (0.91), and IWD (0.90), indicating these holdings have a strong influence on the portfolio’s overall behavior. The relatively lower correlation with IEI (-0.11) confirms its role as a diversifier rather than a dominant driver of portfolio returns.
Given the dominance of highly correlated equity positions, the portfolio is somewhat concentrated in equity risk factors, with limited diversification across different equity styles or regions. The presence of IEI adds meaningful diversification by introducing an asset class with a negative correlation to equities, but the overall portfolio could benefit from further diversification across less correlated equity segments or alternative asset classes to reduce concentration risk.
In summary, while the portfolio includes a valuable low-correlation fixed income component, its equity holdings are tightly clustered in highly correlated assets, resulting in moderate diversification but notable concentration risk within the equity sleeve.