Different kinds of asset have often moved differently, and that's the diversification benefit: when holdings don't move in step, a mix swings less than its parts. Government bonds have often risen when shares fell, as they did in 2008 and 2020. Real assets — property, infrastructure, commodities — have tended to keep pace with inflation over long periods, though not reliably from one year to the next.
But correlation between asset classes isn't fixed. In 2022, as interest rates rose quickly, shares and bonds fell together and the usual cushion wasn't there. Gold lost more than a quarter of its value in 2013 while shares rose. The record describes what happened, not what will; the app doesn't calculate correlation, and the Total Assets widget shows how your money splits between holdings, cash and other assets, not how those parts will behave next time.
What the record shows is useful. It isn't a promise.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.