While the charts available online will always be free, it is impossible to account for every possible idea that creative investors may come up with. For those looking to take the next step beyond the default asset options and calculation assumptions, Portfolio Charts also offers a variety of affordable, downloadable charting tools to let you analyze your own investments. Here’s how they work.
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Things You Can Do
- Model the historical performance of your own specific funds and investments.
- Enter data for countries and investing options not found on Portfolio Charts.
- Chart the results of custom trading and rebalancing strategies.
- Account for how your personal tax situation affects returns.
- Save the results for as many portfolio ideas that you can think of.
Does your portfolio consist of a momentum strategy using Bitcoin and TIPS? These tools have you covered and will help you visualize the historical performance. The options are limited only by your ability to think of new ideas, find asset data, and calculate annual returns! You can leave the visualizations to the pros and focus your attention on portfolios.
How They Work
The standalone charting tools are Excel spreadsheets that you can download and modify with your own calculations. They display the exact same charts that you find on the site, but the interface is much simpler. Instead of choosing percentages of pre-defined asset classes, you simply enter the annual returns.
That’s it! There are no extra data modifiers like home countries or expense ratios, as all of the numbers are up to you to provide. Any years in gray are ignored, and the only additional settings are an optional portfolio name and notes that are included in the chart. For example, here’s what these settings look like in the Annual Returns chart:
Every chart lives in its own sheet, and you can save as many versions as you like to model a variety of your own ideas. They’re designed to be as simple as possible to offer professional-grade visualizations for any data you can get your hands on.
Screenshots
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Requirements
- Requires Microsoft Excel — The tools are created in Excel, and they may not work properly in other spreadsheet programs. To use them online, just sign up for a completely free Microsoft Office account and upload a spreadsheet to your Excel app. And if you want to use them on a desktop, Microsoft 365 is required. Older standalone versions of Excel may not recognize some of the newer charts and functions.
- Source data NOT included — You can model anything you want and even point the returns data inputs to your own calculations on different sheets. But you’ll have to supply your own data. For a list of free sources for personal use, read the Data Sources page.
I highly recommend that you not only enter as much historical data as possible but also adjust the numbers for inflation. Some charts like Withdrawal Rates, Retirement Spending, and Drawdowns that focus on worst-case spending power could be very misleading without it!
Free Sample
I understand spending your hard-earned money on something you haven’t tried before can be tough. So to help you decide, here’s a completely free and fully-functional sample of the Equalizer spreadsheet. Download it, make sure you can open and use it in Excel, and play around to see exactly how it works.
When you first open it, the spreadsheet may display an alert about “Protected View” because you downloaded it from the internet. Just click “Enable Editing” to continue. You can also run it through an antivirus check since it’s always smart to be careful, but I hope I’ve earned your trust. And you may also notice that there are no gray lines like the original. That’s simply because the tools only model one data series and not many, but it doesn’t stop it from being a useful sample.
Once you’re comfortable with the setup and excited about embracing DIY portfolio modeling, either follow the link from your favorite Chart, browse the Supplies section, or head straight to The Portfolio Charts Store. There are tons of charts to get you started, and they’re way cheaper than hiring an expensive financial analyst.
Happy portfolio hunting!
FAQ
Where can I find free data to model?
Check out the Data Sources for lots of public options for personal use.
Will I need to buy a new spreadsheet every year?
No! They’re designed to be future-proof through 2029, so all charts will continue to be useful year after year. Just add more data as it becomes available.
Do I get access to future spreadsheet updates?
Each spreadsheet operates as a standalone item, and they’re not offered as a subscription. But the good news is that they’re pretty timeless.
Can I make an exchange if the spreadsheets change soon after my purchase?
All sales are managed by Spring and are subject to their return policies. But if you get unlucky with some bad timing, contact me and I’ll make it right.
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