Today were going to talk about rebalancing. An investment portfolio is a group of assets you own. Ideally you have plan based on what you want that money for, when you need it, and how much risk you are willing to take in order to grow your investment. This investment plan typically includes asset allocation, which is the balance of different types investments you plan to use to achieve your goals. Invest according to your plan and you can think of your investment portfolio as “in balance”.

There are two main things that can throw your investment allocation out of balance. First, your needs and goals may change and you realize your original allocation plan doesn’t fit your new situation. You may discover you need a different portfolio allocation than you have now. You are out of balance.

One of the most common ways a good asset allocation gets out of balance is when one asset grows faster than another. Investment allocation is done by percentages. Let’s say based on your specific needs and tolerance for risk, you set your asset allocation at 50% of your investment dollars in a US Stocks, 25% in an International Stocks, and 25% in a US Bonds. Over time as your some investments grow faster than others, your allocation may drift to 55% invested US stocks, 25% International stocks, and 20% in bonds. To get back in balance, you would sell enough of your US stocks and using that to buy more bonds to bring your asset allocation back to your specific goal of 50/25/25. Keeping your risk at a level appropriate for you is the biggest benefit. Periodic rebalancing may also you earn a higher overall return. You’re selling relative winners to buy losers. And in this way you are following the mantra of successful investing – buy low and sell high.

One of the easiest ways to is to invest in a target date fund, or if your in the Thrift Savings Plan, TSP Lifecycle Funds. Typically set up in retirement accounts, all you do is choose a fund that matches the year you plan to retire. Everyone’s investment in the fund will be allocated as part of a set plan, depending on how much time you have left to retirement. The fund will do the rebalancing for you to keep your asset allocation on target. The target date fund will also gradually shift you from a relatively risky allocation to less risky allocation percentages over time.

Or you can rebalance yourself. With TSP you just is enter in your desired asset allocation percentages and TSP will do the rest. Outside TSP you may need to do some math to figure how much in dollars you need to buy and sell to get back to your target percentage. Some companies offer rebalancing tools to help you. Some offer mutual funds that maintain set asset allocations and rebalance automatically for you. Financial advisors can also help with this.

Beware, there may be tax consequences. First, if you rebalance inside a retirement account like IRAs, TSP, and 401k you don’t pay any taxes on these trades until you pull the money out, usually in retirement. But if you are rebalancing a taxable investment account, you will owe capital gains tax on investments you sell. It’s a good time to go back and listen to Episode 44 of my podcast on Capital Gains Tax. And watch the Wash Sale tax rule. It’s a bit complicated, but in general if you buy and sell the same, or nearly identical, asset within 30 days, it is also not taxed favorably. Rebalancing less often will help you avoid this altogether. And epending on where you invest, you may have to pay fees when you buy and sell. The costs can mount up.

How often? Setting time, like yearly is simplest. A second method is using tolerance bands. You do nothing when your investment allocation varies within a set range or band, like guardrails. If one asset gets out of bounds, it’s time to rebalance. This helps minimize unnecessary trading, but does require you to monitor your investments regularly.