Larry Berman CFA, CMT, CTABMO Balanced SeriesUnits ETFZBAL.TOCOMMENTOct 26, 2026

 It depends on what you need. ZBAL-T is more tax-efficient; when you ultimately sell it, you get a higher capital gains. It doesn't earn that much, so it pays out more than it earns. ZPAY does pay that much, and is tax efficient, if you don't mind current taxes as opposed to deferred taxes. 

He uses these balanced ETFs in smaller accounts. These ETFs do the rebalancing for you. But eventually, you want to invest in the individual building blocks instead of this single solution.

You don't need any fixed income 15 years ahead of retirement, because it depends on your level of risk. If inflation is more persistent for a decade or more because of tariffs, the bonds in a portfolio will fail. Fixed income has been terrible for a decade and will be for a decade more.