# Stocks, bonds and cash: the three building blocks

> Learn what stocks, bonds and cash each do in a portfolio, using 10 years of real ETF benchmark data: growth, worst falls and the mix in between.

Data as of Nov 5, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

## Stocks, bonds and cash: the three building blocks

Data as of Nov 5, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

Over the 10 years to Oct 30, 2026 , ETFIQ's all-stock benchmark grew $10,000 to $32,075 and its US bond benchmark to $11,525 , hypothetically.

Build a Simple Portfolio · Lesson 1 of 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

Set an amount. Watch it grow in stocks, bonds, cash and a 60/40 mix over ten years. Amount (hypothetical) $10,000 Stocks 60/40 mix US bonds Cash (BIL) $10,000 from Nov 2016 to Oct 2026: Stocks $32,075, 60/40 mix $21,772, US bonds $11,525, Cash (BIL) $12,588. Hypothetical amount. Benchmark mixes are ETFIQ rule results on past prices, Oct 31, 2016 to Oct 30, 2026; cash is BIL.

### The question

What goes in a portfolio, and why not just pick whatever grew the most?

### The idea

- Almost every portfolio is built from three blocks. Stocks are small slices of companies. Bonds are loans to governments or companies that pay interest. Cash here means Treasury bills : very short loans to the US government that pay a small, steady rate.

- Each block does a different job. Stocks grow the most but fall the hardest. Cash barely falls but grows slowly. Bonds pay interest and often hold up when stocks drop, but their prices move with interest rates. How much you put in each, your mix , decides both how much you might grow and how hard a bad year can hit you.

### Worked example

ETFIQ publishes benchmarks : rule-based mixes of low-cost index funds. An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a basket of investments split into shares that trade on a stock exchange; an index fund holds everything on a published list, called an index. Follow $10,000 for ten years in each block. Two numbers matter: the total return (how much the money grew, counting interest and dividends as if put back in) and the worst fall (the biggest drop from a high to a later low).

The benchmark returns are hypothetical: ETFIQ's rules date from October 2026, so earlier years show what today's rule would have done on past prices. To turn a percentage into dollars, write it as a decimal ( 220.75% is 2.2075 ) and multiply.

Stocks (ETFIQ Global Stocks, 100% in VT, a world stock fund), Oct 31, 2016 to Oct 30, 2026 :

- Growth: $10,000 × (1 + 2.2075 ) = $32,075

- Worst fall: −34.23% , Feb 12, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020 . At the low, $10,000 × (1 − 0.3423 ) = $6,577

Bonds (ETFIQ US Bonds, BND and AGG in equal parts), same ten years:

- Growth: $10,000 × (1 + 0.1525 ) = $11,525

- Worst fall: −18.5% , Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 20, 2022

Cash (BIL, a Treasury bill ETF), the ten years to Oct 30, 2026 :

- Growth: $10,000 × (1 + 0.2590 ) = $12,590

- Worst fall since 2010 : −0.4%

A 60/40 mix (ETFIQ Strategic 60: 60% stocks, 40% bonds, traded back to those weights every month; lesson 6 explains why):

- Growth: $10,000 × (1 + 1.1772 ) = $21,772

- Worst fall: −22.31% , Nov 8, 2021 to Oct 14, 2022

Stocks ended $20,550 ahead of bonds ( $32,075 − $11,525 ), and paid for it with a fall that took a third of the money in six weeks. The 60/40 mix gained $11,772 , a bit over half the stocks' $22,075 gain, with a shallower worst fall.

### The common mistake

"Bonds are safe, so they never lose money." They can. When interest rates rise, older bonds paying less interest are worth less, and rates rose fast in 2022. ETFIQ's US bond benchmark lost 13.07% that year, and stocks lost 18.01% . Bonds lower risk; they do not remove it. Over this decade cash even out-earned bonds. Bonds earned their place another way: in 2020, the year stocks fell 34.23% in six weeks, the bond benchmark ended up 7.6% .

### Check your understanding

Pick an answer to see why. Two of three right passes the lesson.

1. Over the ten years in this lesson, which block had both the most growth and the deepest worst fall? A Cash B Bonds C Stocks D The 60/40 mix Answer: C. Stocks. Stocks grew $10,000 to $32,075 but fell 34.23% at their worst. Not D: the mix fell less ( −22.31% ) because 40% sat in bonds, and it also grew less. 2. Someone holds 80% stocks and 20% bonds. Going by the benchmarks, which worst fall is closest to the past record for that mix? A About −5% B About −18% C About −28% D About −45% Answer: C. About −28% . ETFIQ's Strategic 80 fell 28.15% at its worst, between the 60% mix ( −22.31% ) and all stocks ( −34.23% ). Not B: −18% is the all-bond record; more stocks meant deeper falls. 3. What happened to US bonds in 2022? A They rose, as bonds always do B They fell 13.07% , because interest rates rose C They stayed flat D They fell more than stocks Answer: B. They fell 13.07% , because interest rates rose. Rising rates lower the price of existing bonds. Not A: bonds often hold up when stocks fall, but not always.

### Takeaways

- Stocks are for growth, bonds for a cushion when stocks drop, cash for money that must not fall.

- Your mix sets both your likely growth and your worst year; you cannot pick one alone.

- Before choosing a mix, look at its worst fall and ask whether you could sit through it.

### Do it on ETFIQ

Set your own stock and bond mix in the Model builder

### Where to next

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, Stocks, bonds and cash: the three building blocks, data as of Nov 5, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/build-a-simple-portfolio/stocks-bonds-cash/
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
HTML: https://etfiq.com/academy/build-a-simple-portfolio/stocks-bonds-cash/