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.
Table of Contents
- Things You Can Do
- How They Work
- Screenshots
- Requirements
- Free Sample
- Using Excel
- Questions & Feedback
- FAQ
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.
Browse the spreadsheet downloads 📈
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
Click to enlarge




Requirements
- Requires the most recent 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 OneDrive. 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. See the Using Excel section for more info.
- 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. It uses the full store purchasing process to let you see how it all works, but no credit card info is required.
When you download the spreadsheet after completing your transaction, look for it in the downloads folder of your computer. The file name will end in .xlsx, and while the name may initially be a random series of letters and numbers you can rename it to whatever you like.
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.
Using Excel
The spreadsheets are created in the latest version of Microsoft Excel. The way you open them depends on your current Excel version.
If you have Microsoft 365
You’re all set! Just open the file and start experimenting.
If you don’t have Excel
No worries. There’s a free way to use the spreadsheets online.
- Open your favorite web browser and go to the page for Free Microsoft 365 Online. Microsoft makes it tricky to find, but you can follow the link or enter those search terms into your favorite search engine.

2. Sign up for a free account. This is what the home page will look like when you login.

3. Click the OneDrive icon on the left side of the page. While Excel is the app that will open the file, OneDrive is where it will be stored. In this image, I created a folder called OneDrive Example where I’ll be saving our downloaded spreadsheet.

4. Drag the file to the browser window and it will upload to the cloud.

5. Finally, click on the spreadsheet icon to open it. Viola! It’s fully functional in your browser window.

If you have an old version of Excel
While your downloaded spreadsheet may open and look fine at first glance, the calculations use modern charts and functions that may not be available in your Excel version. The result may be limited functionality or strange chart behaviors. You have two choices:
- Sign up for a Microsoft 365 subscription to always have the latest version of Excel.
- Use the free Office.com version as described above to use the spreadsheets in a browser window.
Questions & Feedback
If you have any issues at all with the spreadsheets, please feel free to contact me any time. I’m always happy to help. And even if you try the free sample and decide it’s not for you, I’d love to hear why! Suggest a new feature that pushes them over the top, and not only will you help me make things better but you’ll also help out your fellow investors in the process.
-Tyler-
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?
Minor future revisions (not qualifying as a full new product) are available via the same download link you receive at purchase. So don’t stress about updates — I’ve got you covered.
Can I make an exchange or get a refund?
All sales are managed by Fourthwall and are subject to their return policies.