Does the amount you have to invest change the asset mix?

Question: Do you recommend the same asset mix regardless of how small or large an amount of money a person has to invest? For example, would you use the exact same formula whether a person had $10,000 to invest or $1,000,000? – D.C.

Answer:

The amount of money involved would not normally be a significant factor. The asset mix should be based on such considerations as age, risk tolerance, economic climate, tax status (for non-registered portfolios), etc.

The total available to invest might only influence the mix to the extent that someone with a large amount of assets and a long time horizon might decide he or she could assume more risk and therefore increase their growth percentage.

What would be more significant in asset mix determination would be whether the portfolio is registered or non-registered. In the latter case, tax considerations would figure in, and the weighting might be more heavily skewed to tax-advantaged securities that generated dividends and capital gains.