The magical week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a common time of relaxation and reflection.  It’s maybe a little more frantic on my end as I prepare for year-end market returns and some exciting accompanying updates I have in the works, but it’s always helpful to pause and take a moment to review the year that was.

An annual tradition in our home is to watch the many “year in review” recaps that fill the television airwaves this time of year.  Remembering the inspiring personalities who passed away can be a little sad, while recapping the top viral videos of the year is always good for a laugh.  I think the thing I enjoy about these shows the most is simply how they keep you connected with the world around you even while time flies by.

So following that same mindset, I reviewed the site stats for the past year and took note of the top five most popular new posts by views per day.  Some of the results were expected, but a few were quite a surprise!  This type of information is really helpful for me to learn what types of new content I can focus on to reach the most people, and I figure knowing what other people are reading might be helpful to you as well.

So without further ado, here are the top five most popular Portfolio Charts posts of 2016:

 

5. The Ultimate Portfolio Guide For All Types Of Investors

Perhaps my most unique new tool of the year, the Portfolio Finder explores every possible combination of assets over every available timeframe and helps you navigate the cloud to identify the most consistent options that met your personal needs.  This post first introduced the concept, and if you find it interesting be sure to also read the two subsequent updates.

 

4. The Theory Behind The Golden Butterfly

One of the more interesting portfolios on the site is a personal creation, and this explains the reasoning behind it in detail.  Even if the Golden Butterfly is not the portfolio for you, the thought process and supporting data may offer you a valuable new perspective on your own asset allocation and the important tradeoffs involved with any investing decision.

 

3. Thinking Beyond Stocks Can Fortify Your Accumulation Plan

As this is my personal favorite post of the year, I’m excited that it made the list.  Have you ever wondered what the point of asset allocation really is while accumulating money, and whether just putting all of your savings in the single highest earning stock fund is the obvious choice for someone with many years to retirement?  This is my effort to make the case for the benefits of wide diversification at all points in life.

 

2. An Illustrated Guide To Retirement Spending Strategies

Retirement planning is something extremely important to so many of us, but there are surprisingly few resources that explore the effects not only of multiple asset classes in your portfolio but also of varying spending methods. This addresses both issues by offering a new tool to help compare truly diverse retirement strategies.

 

1. How To Manage Investment Drawdowns By Thinking Differently

I suspect the most popular post of the year reached that point because it directly addresses the thing we all struggle with at some point — fear of loss.  This touches on investor psychology and the beneficial effects of asset allocation not only in meeting our financial obligations but also our emotional needs.

 

I’d like to thank every single one of you for making 2016 such a fun year. If you enjoy the site, perhaps you can share this post with friends and family as a sampling of the types of information and insights Portfolio Charts has to offer.  I have lots of exciting ideas for the new year, and look forward to sharing them soon.

May 2017 be the best year yet!