How should you invest your savings?

Investment Normal Allocation Value Adjusted
Stocks
US Companies
International Companies
Long-Term Bonds
Long US Treasury
Long US Corporate
International Hedged
Short-Term Bonds
1-5 Year US Treasury or CD
Cash
Bank Savings, Money Market
Predicted Return

How this calculator works

If you are saving money for any purpose, the Best-Invest calculator will help you decide how to invest it. With a specific goal in mind, such as retirement, buying a home, or attending college, think about the questions below.  
  • Long-term, is your goal to maximize potential gains, minimize potential losses, or do both?
  • Near-term, what is your willingness to accept fluctuations, up and down, in the value of your investments?
  • When will you start spending your savings?  Examples of possible answers might be 10, if your child is that many years from entering college, or 2 if you are saving to buy a home two years from now. Enter 0 if you will spend some of the savings this year.
  • How many years will it take you to spend all the savings? Possible answers might be 4 for a college education, or 1 for a lump-sum purchase. For retirement, we recommend you find your life expectancy, add six, and subtract your age at retirement. Example: Life expectancy = 84; add six = 90; plan to retire at 67; so subtract 90 - 67, and enter 23.
Answer each question in the left panel. Then click the Calculate button to see the results. ​
Normal allocations reflect long-term historical trends. Value-adjusted percents are lower than normal if U.S. stocks are over-valued (expensive), higher if they are under-valued  (a bargain). To learn more, read Finding Value.

If some savings are to be spent this year, the calculator assigns a suitable portion to cash. To simplify a portfolio, you could invest the total for U.S. and International stocks in a global stock-index fund, and the total for long-term and short-term bonds in a broad index of intermediate bonds. See Basic Portfolios for some ideas.

The predicted return applies to the next 12 months. It is based on U.S. historical data and assumes an inflation rate equal to the long-term U.S. average. ​Taxes could reduce your actual net gain; the future may depart from historical trends; and market changes could cause your results to differ, up or down. You could lose money. Even low-risk investments like T-Bills, bank savings, and money market funds can lose buying power when interest rates are very low or inflation runs higher than expected.

To learn more, read "How Long?" for examples of using the calculator's results. Or try one of our customized calculators:
  • Safe Payout. Each year, find out ... How much can you safely spend from your retirement savings?
  • Retiree Reserves. If retired ... How much should you reserve for medical costs, long-term care, and home repairs?
For more information on how to apply the recommendations made by our calculators ...
  • Read Using Our Calculators for tips, FAQs, and explanation of the calculator's methods.
  • Use the menus at the top of this page to find helpful articles.
Note: This calculator was most recently updated on January 8, 2017, with current inflation rates and long-term value-adjustments. (See our article Finding Value for details.)