Earlier this year, I took on two different reallocation projects. The first was using ChatGPT to rebalance my 401(k). The second was redistributing my weekly contributions from my naked put and dividend growth accounts into a new ETF that wasn’t previously part of my allocation.
It’s now been about five months since the 401(k) changes and roughly 45 days since starting the ETF shift—so it’s a good time to check in and see how things are going.
Reviewing my 401(k) Allocation
Back in January, I turned to ChatGPT with two simple questions:
- Should I rebalance?
- How should I allocate future contributions?
The analysis showed I was 98% in equities and only 2% in bonds/cash, with 83% in U.S. equities and about 15% international. That put me well beyond a typical moderate-aggressive allocation.
The recommendations were straightforward:
- Trim a tiny bit and
- Adjust how future contributions are allocated
I took the advice and did the following:
Here’s how things look—where I started, where I am now, and my target:
| Allocation | Goal | 1/6/2026 | 4/28/2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Large Cap Equity | 40% | 49% | 44% |
| U.S. Mid/Small Cap Equity | 20% | 34% | 35% |
| International Equity | 20% | 25% | 16% |
| Bonds | 10% | 1% | 2% |
| Cash / Stable | 10% | 1% | 3% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Yeah… still a long way to go. For now, I’m staying the course. I can’t justify pushing even more into cash at this point, and at 44, I’m not interested in selling down positions inside my 401(k) to force the allocation.
If I were 54, I’d probably be thinking about this very differently. My plan is every 4 to 6 months check in on the account and see if anything has completely tilted. Alternatively, I could see checking in if there is a large correction (missed the one earlier this year) and putting some cash to work.
Reviewing my Non-Qualified ETF Allocation
In March of this year, I wrote about how I was updating my Non-Qualified Brokerage Proceeds. As part of that audit, I decided that my weekly deposits were to be used to purchase just ETFs (rather than individual equities). In addition to that sentiment, I wanted to add a new ETF to the mix, ITOT, which is basically just a boring bet on America without a dividend focus.
| Fund | Percentage of ETF Portfolio | Goal |
| VIG | 34.07% | 30% |
| SCHD | 33.42% | 30% |
| SMDV | 10.12% | 10% |
| VIGI | 17.58% | 15% |
| ITOT | 4.81% | 15% |
| 100.00% | 100% |
Again, I am far off from the goal, but I should be there in a few months.