Which tool do you use to measure your asset allocation?

[physics911]

How do you measure your asset allocation? By that I mean, do you use Empower, Quicken, the view in your brokerage account, etc., or the old fashioned spreadsheet method like me?

While I personally use both of the platforms mentioned, I don't use them to check my allocation as they are too granular for me.
Since my wife and I are a simple 3-fund couple (more/less), I just look at FSKAX as US Stock, FXNAX as US Bonds, and FTIHX as International ex. US, and do any rebalancing at that high level. Empower and Quicken further break the holdings down into more granular allocations, which I look at for informational purpuses, but don't really pay too much attention to the granular level.

[TomatoTomahto]

I use Quicken, but don’t really measure AA. That’s the joy of having enough.

[rkhusky]

Spreadsheet.

[greg24]

Eyeball it.

[livesoft]

I use Vanguard Portfolio Watch and other tools provifded by my financial institutions as described in this thread:

viewtopic.php?t=150267

[windaar]

Paper, pencil, and calculator.

[LilyFleur]

Googlesheets.

There are fields that automatically calculate the asset allocations when I update the positions. A recent Treasury/CD ladder has added about 5 or 10 minutes to the copy and paste from Fidelity to my spreadsheet. Unlike Schwab, Fidelity doesn't have a total for the account's fixed income on the positions screen online.

There are several iterations (automatically updated) that I find interesting: % in Roth, % cost basis in the brokerage account, % in cash, % in bonds/fixed income (Treasury/CD ladder), % in equities.

I do watch it fairly carefully, as I may be supporting/partially supporting an ill adult child for their lifetime, as much as I am able.

[Tyler Aspect]

Started using TestFol.io instead of PortfolioVisualizer for portfolio simulation.

[physics911]

Googlesheets.

There are fields that automatically calculate the asset allocations when I update the positions. A recent Treasury/CD ladder has added about 5 or 10 minutes to the copy and paste from Fidelity to my spreadsheet. Unlike Schwab, Fidelity doesn't have a total for the account's fixed income on the positions screen online.

There are several iterations (automatically updated) that I find interesting: % in Roth, % cost basis in the brokerage account, % in cash, % in bonds/fixed income (Treasury/CD ladder), % in equities.

I do watch it fairly carefully, as I may be supporting/partially supporting an ill adult child for their lifetime, as much as I am able.

This is pretty much exactly what I do. When my wife and I do our 15-minute quarterly review, I update the balances in Google Sheets and I have it pivoted down to be able to see not just allocations, but by account type, tax type, hers vs. mine, etc. It really doesn't take long to do the updates and gives a very thorough, yet easy to read, view of where we stand.

[hirlaw]

I have been using Empower. I don't link the accounts. I enter them and update them manually. Previously used Morningstar XRay. I was happy with that tool, but Morningstar now requires membership to use it.

[baconavocado]

Quicken to generate a report which I then copy into an Excel worksheet with embedded formulas. It's a little clunky, takes me 2-3 minutes to put together, but it tells me what I need to know. I only break it down into 4 categories: domestic stocks, domestic bonds, intl stocks, intl bonds.

[scarcely]

One of the joys of a three fund portfolio: either a calculator or spreadsheet for a 30 second calculation.

[Dead Man Walking]

Although most Bogleheads would view a Morningstar subscription as an extravagant expense, I find it a good way to calculate my asset allocation and the value of my investments. I can enter the shares of mutual funds, stocks, treasuries, money market funds, savings account, etc. and the X-ray tool can calculate my asset allocation, show bond and stock style diversification, stock overlap in addition to the total value of my portfolio. I’ve spent more on a family dinner at exclusive restaurants than the cost of a Morningstar subscription. I enjoy some of the content that comes with the subscription.

DMW

[tibbitts]

I use Vanguard's Portfolio Watch, which is somewhat inaccurate but good enough. I do miss not being able to characterize outside investments as it was possible to do many years ago.

[Keebtree]

Google sheets that pulls ticker pricing and other info in automatically. Just need to update amount of shares owned (takes 10 minutes).
Will also tell me where new money needs to get invested to get back to my desired asset allocation. Makes rebalancing (I rebalance annually) very straightforward.

[Lastrun]

Quicken for diagnosing and a spreadsheet for surgery (rebalancing).

[beernutz]

I don't agreed with the sentiment sometimes expressed on this site that it is frowned upon to frequently look at your investment balances. There are countless horror stories reported here of people ignoring their investment accounts who come to find they've been compromised and evil has been done. For that reason alone I login to each of my 4 primary accounts multiple times per week and since I'm already logged in why not transfer the balances to my net worth spreadsheet in order to calculate my exact asset allocation? It takes maybe 10 minutes each time I do this. I don't see the downside to doing it this way and I've been doing so for long over a decade.

[Artful Dodger]

Fidelity. It is one of their standard analysis tools.

[steadyosmosis]

When I log into my brokerage, 95% of my AA is right there on the screen.

[MikeG62]

Excel spreadsheet into which I download individual positions by account. I update the spreadsheet quarterly.

I also use Fidelity's FullView to get a quick look at our overall financial assets. It does show asset allocation, although it is not totally accurate for that purpose. It is close enough though.

[TipsQuestions]

Raw vanguard holdings dumped into Excel.

[Dufus]

Excel calculates it for me based on my balances.

[Sandtrap]

How do you measure your asset allocation? By that I mean, do you use Empower, Quicken, the view in your brokerage account, etc., or the old fashioned spreadsheet method like me?

While I personally use both of the platforms mentioned, I don't use them to check my allocation as they are too granular for me.
Since my wife and I are a simple 3-fund couple (more/less), I just look at FSKAX as US Stock, FXNAX as US Bonds, and FTIHX as International ex. US, and do any rebalancing at that high level. Empower and Quicken further break the holdings down into more granular allocations, which I look at for informational purpuses, but don't really pay too much attention to the granular level.

Vanguard "Portfolio Watch"

j

[grabiner]

I use a spreadsheet. which is available on my wiki user page. (If you use this spreadsheet, make your own copy; I keep a master copy on Google Drive.)

The spreadsheet allows me to make my own allocation of each fund to multiple asset classes. For example, I divide the market as 80% large/20% small, not treating mid-caps as a separate asset class, and 50% value/50% growth. Thus Total Stock Market is 40% LV, 40% LG, 10% SV, 10% SG, and I combine that with other funds to get my total allocation to small-cap value

[catlady]

Excel

[Jack FFR1846]

Excel spreadsheet. I only have a 2 fund portfolio AA. My categories and contents are like this:

US Stock: FZROX, VTI, SCHB, BRK/b, SWPPX.
US Bond and fixed income: US savings bond, FXNOX, cash

I have greatly expanded my spreadsheet over the years and it includes an RMD predictor, an income (MAGI) predictor to compare with expected IRMAA, a net worth calculator, a tracking of costs, Medicare information, retirement spending, tax bracket tables, IRMAA tables, interest documentation, dividend documentation etc.

[jebmke]

I use the little chart that shows up on my main dashboard at Vanguard. More of a curiosity now that I do not re-balance.

[Kendall]

This topic is now in the Personal Investments subforum.

[Target2019]

Actual Target Category
67.13% 65.00% STOCK
32.87% 35.00% FIXED

Each month I collect end-of-month values to my Excel book. The numbers come from several institutions, and I've been doing this since 1990.

[Outer Marker]

Excel spreadsheet into which I download individual positions by account. I update the spreadsheet quarterly.

I also use Fidelity's FullView to get a quick look at our overall financial assets. It does show asset allocation, although it is not totally accurate for that purpose. It is close enough though.

Same here. I look at Fidelity FullView daily. (Can't help peeking) and run an occasional detailed spreadsheet.

[Nyc1967]

Same!

Paper, pencil, and calculator.

[Onlineid3089]

Another Excel user here.

[Steelersfan]

Vanguard Portfolio Watch.

I have few non-Vanguard investments and those don't change much so it works just fine for me.

[tonyclifton]

Quicken to generate a report which I then copy into an Excel worksheet with embedded formulas. It's a little clunky, takes me 2-3 minutes to put together, but it tells me what I need to know. I only break it down into 4 categories: domestic stocks, domestic bonds, intl stocks, intl bonds.

This describes exactly the tools I use and the general workflow. It took time to setup but using it is nothing more than copy-from-Quicken-paste-to-Excel and click refresh in Excel. Zero manipulation or reformatting of what is pasted is required.

[HomerJ]

Excel... Multiple sheets.

My current sheet goes back to 2013.. I haven't changed my investments much since then.

But I also have older sheets, where I still had individual stocks listed. They go back to 2006.

So almost 20 years of history now. Interesting to look back.

[peppers]

Being long in the tooth and gray in the beard I use paper, pencil and a calculator.
If nothing else it helps with my hand eye coordination.

[Regal 56]

Although most Bogleheads would view a Morningstar subscription as an extravagant expense, I find it a good way to calculate my asset allocation and the value of my investments. I can enter the shares of mutual funds, stocks, treasuries, money market funds, savings account, etc. and the X-ray tool can calculate my asset allocation, show bond and stock style diversification, stock overlap in addition to the total value of my portfolio. I’ve spent more on a family dinner at exclusive restaurants than the cost of a Morningstar subscription. I enjoy some of the content that comes with the subscription.

T. Rowe Price offers a free Morningstar membership to clients who meet a certain investment threshold. Perhaps other investment companies do the same.

[delamer]

(Have not read other comments.)

I use Quicken too, and I’m surprised about your comment that it is too granular.

My asset allocation report has just five categories: US stocks (large cap); US stocks (small/medium cap); International stocks: Bonds; Cash

We hold about 10 different index funds across six different accounts.

Are you using a boilerplate Quicken report, or have you created a report that meets your needs? All of my reports are modified versions of Quicken’s standards.

[DSBH]

Primarily number of shares x prices for 3 fund portfolio in Excel - updated at end of each month - and double checked against Vanguard (where we have our tax-advantaged accounts) Portfolio Watch and triple-checked against Fidelity (where we have our taxable account) Portfolio Analysis.

[sfyetter]

I use Excel to manually track my shares and the Stock Connector Add-In to dynamically update share prices. That way I have a constantly updating view of my actual vs target allocation and know what to buy or sell for rebalancing.

[scotchbriar]

I use a Numbers spreadsheet, I'm a MAC guy, for AA. In the past I've tried to use some online tools but I find a spreadsheet works the best for me. As others have said, cut a paste information from your online brokerage/retirement accounts in the spreadsheet. I also like the fact that I can create my own charts/graphs and take into account items that might not play well when using something like Empower or Full View

[cnrohio59]

Spreadsheet

[50/50]

Paper, pencil, and calculator.

Me too.

[wwhan]

I have a custom Excel spreadsheet to track asset allocation and total portfolio value, plus I use the Vanguard Portfolio Watch. They match pretty well.

I manually enter my Fidelity 401K account in the Vanguard Portfolio Watch.

When I update the spreadsheet (twice a year) I save a copy of it, so I have spreadsheets going back to 2005.

[friar1610]

Vanguard Portfolio Watch.

I have few non-Vanguard investments and those don't change much so it works just fine for me.

This ^

I manually update the non-Vanguard holdings on VG Portfolio Watch at the end of each quarter. And today’s the day to do that for Q3!

[Clever_Username]

A spreadsheet is great. For non-proprietary funds, I keep the ticker and number of shares listed, and I update them periodically. For proprietary funds, and also Series I Bonds, I have to periodically update the balances. Then I have another sheet within that can tell me what percent, and how many dollars, are in stocks vs bonds, how much is in tax-deferred / Roth / brokerage / treasury, and even what levels of emergency finance I have in various forms (brokerage balance, Series I, governmental 457b balance, Roth contributions and past-the-clock conversions).

[sailaway]

I created an excel spreadsheet, but now use it as a Google sheet.

Follow on question: did retirement change your tracking procedures? We did updates twice a year, when RSUs vest because that was generally the largest influx and so a good time to rebalance. So much so, when the vesting schedule changed, we changed our dates. Thinking I might go to quarterly now that we don't have any such lump sums coming in.

[schwank]

Current AA and drift from a target is calculated in my personal spreadsheet on GDocs. However I don't rebalance as its something like 95 ITOT / 3 BND / 2 cash. I will start building the short term position a couple years ahead of retirement, but even then will remain aggressive by many BH standards.

[Stinky]

Although most Bogleheads would view a Morningstar subscription as an extravagant expense, I find it a good way to calculate my asset allocation and the value of my investments. I can enter the shares of mutual funds, stocks, treasuries, money market funds, savings account, etc. and the X-ray tool can calculate my asset allocation, show bond and stock style diversification, stock overlap in addition to the total value of my portfolio. I’ve spent more on a family dinner at exclusive restaurants than the cost of a Morningstar subscription. I enjoy some of the content that comes with the subscription.

DMW

This is exactly why I also have a Morningstar subscription. I spend essentially nothing on managing my portfolio , so I feel
I can “splurge” on a Morningstar subscription.

One of the nice byproducts of using Morningstar is that the mobile app gives me access to their portfolio tool. So I’m able to check how much my portfolio “made” or “lost” every day from my phone by just opening the app.

There may be cheaper ways to do the same thing. But Morningstar sure makes it easy.

[YeahBuddy]

A calculator.