Paul Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy Portfolio vs Burton Malkiel Mid-Fifties Portfolio Portfolio Comparison

Simulation Settings

Currency:

Period: (~ years)

Inflation:

Initial Amount:

When applied, rebalancing & filter settings for each portfolio are shown next to its name in the Results section below.
Click the Simulation Settings Change button to edit them.

The minimum date range must be at least 12 months or 24 months if you are applying filters.
'Date To' cannot be beyond June 2026.

Date From:

Date To:

Inflation:

Cashflows Reset

Initial Amount:

Contribution Amount:

Contribution Frequency:

Portfolios and Strategy

Configure a rebalancing strategy and a trend filter for each compared portfolio. Rebalancing has no effect on single-asset portfolios.

Portfolio

Rebalancing

Trend Filter

Paul Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy Portfolio

Rebalancing:

Trend Filter:

+Filter

✖

Burton Malkiel Mid-Fifties Portfolio

Rebalancing:

Trend Filter:

+Filter

✖

Generic Error - Please retry

Default Settings

Results

Inflation Adj:

With the current simulation settings, as of June 2026, in the previous 30 Years:

the Paul Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy Portfolio obtained a 8.82% compound annual return, with a 15.90% standard deviation. It suffered a maximum drawdown of -57.21% that required 63 months to be recovered.
the Burton Malkiel Mid-Fifties Portfolio obtained a 8.77% compound annual return, with a 13.09% standard deviation. It suffered a maximum drawdown of -46.21% that required 40 months to be recovered.

Disclaimer: The simulations on this website are provided in good faith but should NOT be taken as investment advice. We are not liable for any errors or actions based on this information. The authors of the website are not affiliated with the portfolio creators, who are the sole owners of their intellectual property. The translation of asset allocations into ETFs is based on the interpretation of LazyPortfolioETF.com and may not exactly reflect the original intent of the portfolio creators. Content is for informational, educational, illustrative, and entertainment purposes only.

Asset Allocations and ETFs

The compared portfolios have the following asset allocations.

Paul Merriman Ultimate Buy and Hold Strategy Portfolio

Weight (%)	Ticker	Name
10.00	DLS	WisdomTree International SmallCp Div
10.00	EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets
10.00	IJR	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap
10.00	IJS	iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value
10.00	SPY	SPDR S&P 500
10.00	VTV	Vanguard Value
10.00	VEA	Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets
10.00	SCZ	iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap
10.00	EFV	iShares MSCI EAFE Value
10.00	VNQ	Vanguard Real Estate

Burton Malkiel Mid-Fifties Portfolio

Weight (%)	Ticker	Name
27.00	VTI	Vanguard Total Stock Market
14.00	EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets
14.00	EFA	iShares MSCI EAFE
12.50	VIG	Vanguard Dividend Appreciation
12.50	VNQ	Vanguard Real Estate
7.50	EMB	iShares JP Morgan USD Em Mkts Bd
7.50	LQD	iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond
5.00	BIL	SPDR Blmbg Barclays 1-3 Mth T-Bill

Try Your Own Simulation!

Evaluate your portfolio strategy in 7 different currencies

Try the Backtest Tool

Portfolio Returns as of Jun 30, 2026

Returns are calculated in USD, assuming:

no fees or capital gain taxes.
rebalancing: at every Jan 1^st.
dividend reinvestment, when applicable.

Return Comparison

Capital Growth

Inflation Adj:

Swipe left to see all data

Readings that may interest you

Portfolio Metrics as of Jun 30, 2026

The following metrics, updated as of 30 June 2026, provide an overview of performance and risk, with the best value in each row highlighted within the table.

METRIC COMPARISON

Period: ()


Author
ASSET ALLOCATION
Stocks	%
Fixed Income	%
Commodities	%
STRATEGY
Rebalancing
# Rebalances
Filter
PERFORMANCES

Infl. Adjusted (%)
Ann. Return, excluding cashflows (%)
DRAWDOWN
Deepest Drawdown Depth (%)
Start to Recovery (months)
Longest Drawdown Depth (%)
Start to Recovery (months)
Longest Negative Period (months)	*
Drawdowns / Negative periods marked with * are in progress
Portfolio values are normalized by invested capital to remove the impact of cashflows on drawdown calculations
RISK INDICATORS
Standard Deviation (%)
Sharpe Ratio
Sortino Ratio
Ulcer Index
Ratio: Return / Standard Deviation
Ratio: Return / Deepest Drawdown

Drawdowns

A drawdown refers to the decline in value from a relative peak value to a relative trough. A maximum drawdown is the maximum observed loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio before a new peak is attained.

DRAWDOWN COMPARISON

Inflation Adj:

Rolling Returns

By selecting the 'Rolling Period', the chart and data will update. To study a different date range, change the Simulation Settings.

You can explore the Rolling Returns for a single portfolio, or check the return differential, by switching on "Head To Head" toggle.

Rolling Returns Comparison

Annualized Rolling Returns Chart

Time to Target

What it shows: Months to reach your target capital from each historical entry point, accounting for your initial investment and periodic contributions.

Time to Target Comparison

Time to reach your Target Capital

Yearly Returns

For each year, the following table provides the return and intra-year drawdown. The highlighted returns represent the highest values for that specific year.




Returns over 1 year are annualized.


Year

Table of contents

Asset Allocations and ETFs

Portfolio Returns as of Jun 30, 2026

Portfolio Metrics as of Jun 30, 2026

Drawdowns

Rolling Returns

Time to Target

Yearly Returns