Score your investing risk tolerance across six questions and translate it into a concrete stock/bond allocation with a realistic worst-case drawdown estimate.
Answer the six questions to see your profile.
Situation: A 32-year-old with a 30-year horizon, a 12-month emergency fund and prior crash experience answers the most risk-tolerant option to all six questions.
How it's computed: Total score 24. Equity = 30% + 24 × 2.5% = 90%. Because the allocation is capped at 95% and floored at 20%, the suggested equity is 90%.
Risk band Aggressive; suggested equity 90%; plan for a bear-market drawdown of about 45% of the portfolio.
Situation: A 45-year-old with a 15-year horizon and a stable income but less appetite for losses picks mostly the second-high option.
How it's computed: Total score 19. Equity = 30% + 19 × 2.5% = 77.5%, which lands in the Growth band. The expected worst-case drawdown is about 77.5% × 50%.
Risk band Growth; suggested equity 78%; plan for a drawdown near 39%.
Situation: A 70-year-old who needs the money within two years, has no crash experience and wants to preserve capital answers the low option to each question.
How it's computed: Total score 6. Equity = 30% + 6 × 2.5% = 45%. With a short horizon the investor may want to lean even more conservative than this baseline.
Risk band Conservative; suggested equity 45%; plan for a drawdown near 22%.
Each of the six questions is scored from 0 (most cautious) to 4 (most aggressive), for a maximum of 24 points. Your stock allocation is then mapped linearly from the score:
equity % = 30% + (score × 2.5%), capped between 20% and 95%. The remainder goes to bonds and cash.
The drawdown estimate assumes a severe equity bear market of roughly 50% — historically the S&P 500 has fallen 30-50% in sustained bear markets. Your portfolio’s expected loss is the equity weight times that figure.
The same scoring framework maps to widely-used target-date glide paths. Use this table to sanity-check your result.
| Score | Band | Typical equity | Expected bear loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | Aggressive | 80-95% | ~40-48% |
| 15-19 | Growth | 68-78% | ~34-39% |
| 10-14 | Moderate | 55-65% | ~28-33% |
| 5-9 | Conservative | 42-53% | ~21-27% |
| 0-4 | Very Conservative | 30-40% | ~15-20% |
Loss estimates assume a 50% peak-to-trough equity decline. Actual drawdowns vary; 2008 saw a 57% S&P 500 peak-to-trough fall.
⚠️ Important: This questionnaire produces a starting-point allocation from general risk principles, not personalised financial advice. It does not account for your full financial picture, tax situation, or specific goals. The drawdown figures are historical illustrations, not predictions. Speak to a fiduciary adviser before making major allocation decisions.
Behaviour, not selection, drives most investor outcomes. DALBAR's long-running study of fund investor returns shows the average equity-fund investor underperforms the funds they own by several percentage points a year — almost entirely because they buy after rallies and sell after declines. A portfolio you can hold through a crash beats a theoretically optimal one you abandon.
Knowing your risk score in advance turns a market decline from a crisis into an expected event. If the calculator says a 40% drawdown is possible, a 30% fall is a normal cost of the returns you are chasing, not a reason to sell.
Risk capacity typically peaks in mid-career when income is high, obligations are stable and the time horizon is long. It falls sharply near retirement, when withdrawals begin and a crash can permanently impair the portfolio — the sequence-of-returns risk. This is why target-date funds glide from mostly stocks to mostly bonds as the date approaches.