What asset allocation should I have for my age?

As a rough starting point, more stocks when young and more bonds as you near needing the money. But your time horizon, other income, and risk tolerance matter more than age alone — test a mix you could actually hold through a downturn.

Is the '100 minus your age' rule good?

It's a reasonable conversation starter but too blunt to rely on. It ignores pensions, behavior, and your real spending horizon. Use it as a sanity check, not a prescription.

Should young investors hold any bonds?

With a long horizon, many hold few or none for maximum growth. But a slice of bonds can reduce volatility and the temptation to panic-sell — which is worth more than the lost return if it keeps you invested.

Asset Allocation by Age: How Your Mix Should Change Over Time

6 min read · Updated 2026-06-15

The basic idea behind age-based investing is simple: when you're young and have decades to recover, you can hold mostly stocks; as you get closer to needing the money, you gradually shift toward bonds for stability. That gradual shift is called a glide path.

But age is a crude proxy for what actually matters. Here's how the mix typically evolves, where the popular rules of thumb help and mislead, and how to test a glide path that fits you.

Test an allocation for your age →

Why the mix shifts over time

Stocks reward patience but punish bad timing — a 40% drop is survivable with 30 years ahead and devastating two years before you retire. So the logic is to hold more stocks while your time horizon can absorb the swings, then dial up bonds as that cushion shrinks. You're trading some growth for predictability exactly when predictability starts to matter.

The rules of thumb (and their limits)

You've probably seen formulas like “hold (100 minus your age) percent in stocks,” or 110 or 120 minus your age for a more aggressive tilt. They're fine as conversation starters, but they're blunt:

•They ignore your other income (a pension or Social Security/CPP acts like a big bond position you don't see).
•They ignore how you actually behave in a crash — the best allocation is one you won't abandon.
•They treat a 65-year-old with a 30-year horizon the same as one drawing down immediately.

Horizon matters more than age

What really drives the right mix is when you need the money, not your birthday. Someone who's 60 with a pension covering their expenses effectively has a very long horizon for their portfolio and can hold more stocks than the formula suggests. Someone the same age living off the portfolio has a much shorter effective horizon. Map the money to when you'll spend it.

The danger zone: the years around retirement

The riskiest window is the handful of years right before and after you stop working, when a bad market plus withdrawals can do permanent damage (sequence-of-returns risk). Many glide paths deliberately get most conservative right around this point, then can actually re-risk slightly later in retirement.

Test your glide path

Rather than trust a formula, backtest a few allocations for your situation, and stress-test the mix you'd hold near retirement against 2008 and 2022. Seeing the worst-case drawdown at each life stage makes the right glide path obvious far faster than a rule of thumb.

Try it yourself

Backtest PortfolioTest an allocation for your age and horizon on real data.Open tool →Asset Class BacktestCompare stock/bond glide paths by asset class.Open tool →Efficient FrontierFind the best risk/return mix for your stage.Open tool →

FAQ

What asset allocation should I have for my age?: As a rough starting point, more stocks when young and more bonds as you near needing the money. But your time horizon, other income, and risk tolerance matter more than age alone — test a mix you could actually hold through a downturn.
Is the '100 minus your age' rule good?: It's a reasonable conversation starter but too blunt to rely on. It ignores pensions, behavior, and your real spending horizon. Use it as a sanity check, not a prescription.
Should young investors hold any bonds?: With a long horizon, many hold few or none for maximum growth. But a slice of bonds can reduce volatility and the temptation to panic-sell — which is worth more than the lost return if it keeps you invested.

Key terms in this guide

Plain-English definitions in the Learning Hub.

Volatility (annualized standard deviation) →Maximum drawdown →Sequence-of-returns risk →Efficient frontier →

Stop guessing — run the numbers on your own portfolio, free.