Strategic: DIY, ranked by M-squared

for period ending August 31, 2026

More ways to view this list of Portfolio Recipes:
Recipe Summary Page (Total Return with Maximum Drawdown Scatterplots)
by Return: Total Return (1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 years), Historical Return (past 5 years)
by Risk vs. Return: Risk vs. Return Compass, M-Squared, Alpha, Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio, Treynor Ratio
by Volatility / Risk: Maximum Drawdown, Standard Deviation, Downside Deviation, Beta
by Peer Group: Strategic: DIY, Tactical: DIY, Tactical: Managed

M-Squared is the Modigliani risk-adjusted performance, shown as an annual total return percent. It is derived from the Sharpe ratio, but M-Squared is in units of percent return. M-Squared inputs include standard deviation, the monthly total return, the risk-free rate (3-month T-bill), and the return of a benchmark equity portfolio (the S&P 500, represented by the SPY exchange-traded fund).

Note: The Free plan includes full multi-year analytics for all 200+ Portfolio Recipes. Click any recipe name to view its complete performance details. Investable percentage allocations require a paid plan.

Portfolio Recipes: Strategic: DIY Peer Group
Sort by any column by clicking on the gray column heading.

      M-Squared   Total Return, annualized
Recipe Name ID Category 1 year 3 year 5 year 10 year 15 year 20 year   1 year 3 year 5 year 10 year 15 year 20 year
    Group average  
 
U.S. Total Bond Market BND Benchmark -24.2% -17.3% -20.4% -16.7% -12.9% -5.1%   1.8% 4.1% -0.4% 1.4% 2.0% 3.1%
S&P 500 SPY Benchmark 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%   20.2% 20.9% 12.7% 15.3% 15.0% 11.3%
Strategic 50-50 s.5050 Balanced -3.5% -4.6% -6.3% -3.6% -2.1% 0.3%   10.9% 12.2% 5.7% 8.2% 8.4% 7.4%
Strategic 60-40 Portfolio s.6040 Benchmark -2.3% -3.4% -4.8% -2.7% -1.6% 0.2%   12.7% 13.9% 6.9% 9.5% 9.7% 8.2%
7Twelve Israelson s.712 Balanced 9.2% -3.1% -4.5% -5.7% -7.1%     18.7% 13.2% 7.0% 7.6% 6.4%  
Couch Potato: Scott Burns s.couc Balanced -4.8% -4.0% -5.9% -3.0% -2.3% -0.1%   10.3% 12.1% 6.0% 8.6% 8.5% 7.5%
Ben Graham 50-50 s.grah Balanced 1.5% -4.5% -6.0% -6.1% -5.2% -3.0%   11.9% 11.8% 5.9% 6.8% 6.9% 6.0%
Safe Haven Portfolio s.have Balanced -4.6% -0.7% -1.9% -4.7% -6.1%     14.8% 16.7% 9.0% 8.0% 6.8%  
Six Ways from Sunday s.lazy Balanced 6.1% -4.8% -4.0% -6.7% -6.9%     16.5% 12.6% 7.7% 7.5% 7.0%  
ETF Moderate s.mode Balanced -1.9% -4.7% -7.0% -5.2% -4.8%     13.0% 12.8% 5.4% 7.8% 7.7%  
David Swensen inspired s.swen Balanced -3.5% -7.0% -8.1% -6.2% -4.7%     13.0% 12.5% 4.6% 7.6% 8.3%  
Lazy: Ultimate Buy & Hold s.buyh Balanced -1.0% -5.7% -7.4% -6.4% -5.9% -3.4%   13.1% 11.5% 5.0% 6.6% 6.5% 5.9%
Lazy: Coffeehouse s.coff Balanced -2.6% -7.8% -8.2% -6.7% -4.9% -2.7%   11.6% 10.9% 4.5% 6.8% 7.5% 6.5%
Lazy: Margaritaville s.marg Balanced -0.1% -1.8% -5.3% -4.1% -4.6% -2.8%   15.4% 14.6% 6.7% 8.8% 8.1% 6.9%
Lazy: Smart Money s.smar Balanced -0.0% -4.2% -5.7% -5.1% -4.2% -2.5%   13.0% 12.2% 6.1% 7.6% 7.7% 6.6%
Strategic 70-30 Portfolio s.7030 High Equity -1.5% -2.5% -3.6% -2.0% -1.2% 0.1%   14.6% 15.6% 8.1% 10.9% 10.9% 9.0%
Strategic 80-20 Portfolio s.8020 High Equity -0.8% -1.8% -2.6% -1.5% -1.0% -0.1%   16.4% 17.3% 9.3% 12.2% 12.2% 9.8%
ETF Aggressive s.aggr High Equity 0.2% -3.4% -5.2% -4.6% -6.0%     16.3% 15.0% 7.0% 9.5% 8.4%  
Ben Stein inspired s.bens High Equity 5.4% 0.8% -1.6% -2.8% -3.8% -2.5%   19.5% 16.7% 9.5% 10.3% 9.3% 7.6%
Low Volatility Portfolio s.lowv High Equity -6.7% -3.9% -7.4% -6.5%       7.7% 9.5% 4.8% 5.4%    
Lazy: Aronson s.aron High Equity -0.7% -4.3% -6.7% -5.1% -4.8% -2.5%   16.5% 14.5% 5.7% 8.5% 8.4% 7.4%
Lazy: No Brainer s.nobr High Equity -0.2% -3.8% -5.0% -4.4% -4.1% -2.6%   14.8% 14.8% 7.1% 9.4% 9.4% 7.7%
Lazy: Second Grader s.seco High Equity 1.6% -0.0% -2.3% -2.3% -2.9% -2.0%   19.8% 18.8% 9.7% 11.9% 11.3% 8.8%
Lazy: Yale Unconventional s.yale High Equity -4.1% -6.9% -8.4% -6.5% -5.0% -2.9%   12.6% 12.5% 4.3% 7.4% 8.1% 7.1%
Harry Browne inspired s.brow Low Equity -4.3% -2.1% -5.2% -4.4% -4.9% 1.2%   12.9% 13.7% 6.3% 7.0% 6.1% 7.1%
Ray Dalio inspired s.dali Low Equity -1.6% -5.9% -9.8% -7.0% -6.5%     10.1% 9.7% 3.7% 5.4% 5.1%  
Ivy Portfolio s.ivyp Low Equity 11.1% -2.3% -4.2% -4.6% -6.2%     20.2% 13.8% 7.3% 8.4% 7.0%  
No Equity Portfolio s.noeq Low Equity -7.6% -7.3% -8.5% -8.9% -8.6% -2.7%   12.6% 13.2% 4.2% 5.4% 5.4% 7.1%
Permanent Plus s.plus Low Equity -7.3% -1.4% -4.1% -2.8% -4.0% 1.9%   13.4% 17.2% 7.7% 9.6% 8.3% 9.4%
Black Swan Hyperinflation s.swan Low Equity 7.4% -0.7% 4.9% -3.9% -10.5%     34.6% 19.3% 15.4% 10.3% 4.5%  
Talmud Dividend Equities s.talm Low Equity -3.7% -2.4% -1.8% -4.0% -5.0% -1.3%   17.4% 17.8% 10.0% 9.6% 8.8% 9.0%
Worst Case Scenario s.wors Low Equity -13.6% -13.1% -17.9% -15.7% -19.7%     5.0% 5.7% 1.1% 1.7% -0.6%  
Talmud with Blue Chip s.talc Low Equity -7.0% -9.0% -8.6% -6.8% -4.9% -2.6%   9.2% 10.3% 4.2% 6.8% 7.7% 6.9%
Talmud Broad Market s.talb Low Equity -6.2% -7.9% -8.3% -6.6% -4.6% -2.9%   10.2% 11.5% 4.5% 7.2% 8.3% 7.2%
Talmud with Small Cap s.tals Low Equity -3.8% -9.6% -9.0% -8.2% -6.5% -4.4%   12.3% 10.7% 3.8% 6.2% 7.2% 6.2%
Talmud Equities and Gold s.talg Low Equity -0.8% 2.0% -0.4% -2.0% -3.8% -0.6%   19.8% 21.0% 11.2% 11.3% 9.9% 9.8%