Automatic Pilot Portfolio Lets You Relax

If you do not want to constantly monitor your long-term investment portfolio, a diverse portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a few high-quality, dividend-paying stocks might be you. Buy the investments when they are down in price but on the price upside and then hold them for the long run. Be sure to reinvest all dividends so you accumulate additional shares with no extra effort.

Once you make your selections, your portfolio is on automatic pilot. You do not need to check it daily or weekly but be sure to review it at least once every six months.

The following sample automatic pilot portfolio includes a diverse mix of domestic and global exchange traded funds that track broad market averages. The gold and natural resource ETFs broaden the diversity of the portfolio. Six individual stocks add the opportunity to outperform the broader market averages.

This mix of investments should provide the opportunity for capital gains over many years.

Automatic Pilot Portfolio
Investment	Symbol	Type	Comment
SPDR 500	SPY	ETF	Tracks S&P 500.
Nasdaq 100 Trust Series I	QQQQ	ETF	Tracks Nasdaq 100.
SPDR Utilities	XLU	ETF	Large electric and gas utilities - pay dividends.
India Fund	IFN	Closed-end Fund	India.
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund	FXI	ETF	China.
iShares GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust	GSG	ETF	Natural Resources and commodities.
iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund	EFA	ETF	Tracks MSCI EAFE Index (Europe, Australia and the Far East)
PowerShares Dividend Achievers Portfolio	PFM	ETF	Dividend-paying stocks that comprise the Broad Dividend Achievers Index (^DAA).
streetTRACKS Gold Shares	GLD	ETF	Tracks gold.
3M	MMM	Stock	Conglomerate.
Emerson Electric	EMR	Stock	Industrial Goods.
General Electric	GE	Stock	Industrial Goods.
Illinois Toolworks	ITW	Stock	Industrial Goods.
Procter & Gamble	PG	Stock	Consumer Goods.

Related Articles:

buyupside.com BRIC Portfolio
buyupside.com Global Stock Portfolio
Closed-End Funds
Exchange-Traded Funds

Updated June 10, 2008.