When was the last time you looked at your portfolio allocation — not just your balance, but whether the mix of stocks and bonds still matches the plan you started with?

As a financial advisor in Lexington, Kentucky, one of the first things I look at with a new client is drift. Markets move, and over time a well-intentioned 60/40 portfolio can quietly become a 70/30 one — carrying more risk than the investor ever agreed to take on. Rebalancing is how you fix that. And Vanguard found it adds approximately 0.26% in net annual returns when practiced consistently.

This episode is week two of our five-week series on Vanguard's Advisor's Alpha — five disciplines that, together, can add approximately 3% in net returns over time.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

•      What rebalancing is: bringing your portfolio back to its original target allocation after the market has shifted things

•      A real-life example: a 60/40 portfolio that drifts to 70/30 — and why that drift means more risk than you intended

•      The Vanguard finding: the purpose of rebalancing is to control risk, not maximize return

•      Why rebalancing is not the same as market timing

•      The emotional challenge: why diamond hands feels right and rebalancing feels wrong — and why the hardest moments are usually the most important ones

•      The most common mistake: letting the market decide your allocation over time

•      How an advisor adds value: setting a threshold, applying it systematically, holding you to the plan, and managing the tax side

Haven't rebalanced in the last 12 months? That's worth a conversation.

If you're a family in Lexington, Central Kentucky, or anywhere across the Bluegrass — and you'd like to take a look at whether your portfolio is still positioned where you want it, or better yet where it needs to be — I'd be glad and honored to do that with you.