PORTFOLIO BUILDER

How to use it

1. Your suggested portfolioThis is the tool's suggestion: how much of your money goes into each stock, as a percent and in dollars. The coloured bar above draws the same split.
2. How it behaved beforeThe "Average yearly return", "Yearly swing" and "Biggest drop it went through" of this portfolio over the last 3 years. The smaller the swing, the calmer it is.
3. Pick your stocksPut in 5 to 10 stocks you are thinking of buying: tap "+ Add a stock" to add one and × to remove it. Stocks from different sectors cut risk.
4. Goal and amount"Lowest risk" gives a calm portfolio; "Best return for the risk" looks for the most gain per unit of swing. Then type the amount you want to invest.
5. The risk and return mapEach dot is one of your stocks. The yellow line is the best portfolios possible with these stocks, and the star is your suggested portfolio.
6. A real testWe ran the same method a year ago; here is what happened in the year after, against an equal split and the S&P 500. The past does not always repeat.

Why it helps

Splitting money equally is not always best, because some stocks swing much more than others. The tool shows the yearly return, yearly swing and biggest drop of the portfolio, a map of each stock’s risk and return, and a real test of what happened in the year after.

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