Retire Rich Weekly: Is Your ‘Balanced’ Portfolio Still Balanced?

For years, a familiar investment rule has shaped how people build their portfolios: hold stocks for growth and bonds for stability. The idea is reassuring. When stocks fall, bonds help cushion the losses. Put them together—perhaps 60% stocks and 40% bonds—and you have a “balanced” portfolio. But what if this is no longer the case? Stocks and bonds have become more correlated nowadays. In simple terms, they have increasingly moved in the same direction, weakening the protection investors...