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Portfolio Rx
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August 1, 2000: 5:58 a.m. ET
How a Southern investor can make his portfolio as sweet as a Georgia peach
By Staff Writer Jennifer Karchmer
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - As an administrator at a busy nursing home in Georgia, 50-year-old Gerry Trevisol can't even go to the movies without getting paged. It's a stressful job, but he enjoys helping people. But when retirement finally rolls around he'll be content to enjoy more time with wife Beverly, a nurse, and his three adult children.
For now he's contributing to his company's 401(k) plan and saving for a down payment on a house he plans to buy upon retirement. But like most investors who have worked hard during their career, Trevisol wonders if he's got the right mix of funds and if he's saving the most effective way.
Portfolio Rx is a weekly CNNfn.com feature that looks at issues like  diversification, asset allocation and rebalancing. In each article, we will review an investor's long-term portfolio and ask financial experts to give their advice. If you want help with your nest egg, see below for more information.
"We've saved and we work hard for our money so we just want to make sure the money is working for us," Trevisol said. "Is it invested in the right types of things?"
Southern charmer
Trevisol and his wife envision a quiet retirement in the South -- hopefully in the next five-to-10 years.
 To be closer to their three children, they recently moved to McRae, Ga., a small community with about 5,000 residents located an hour southeast of Savannah, Ga.
Retirement for Gerry and Beverly means working in the community, spending more time with the kids and waking up to stress-free days.
"We're looking for time for ourselves," he said. "When you're a nurse or an administrator, you put in long hours. Just to be able to get up in the morning and drink your coffee and read the paper and not worry about getting to the office or the hospital would be nice."
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To achieve those goals during retirement, Trevisol has been contributing to his 401(k) plan, socking away 8 percent of his pre-tax dollars and enjoying a 1.25 percent company match. That account, currently around $156,000, holds the following funds:
- Aim Value Fund (AVLFX)
- Alliance Growth and Income Fund (AGOAX)
- Alliance Technology Fund (ALTFX)
- Janus Balanced Fund (JABAX)
- Janus Twenty Fund (JAVLX)
- Janus Worldwide Fund (JAWWX)
"We're not real conservative but fairly conservative," said Trevisol. "Our thought is to try to spread the money out and if you can get a 10 percent return, then that would be fine."
In addition, Trevisol has a pension plan with his former employer that will pay $1,000 a month, or $600 a month if he elects to have his wife continue to receive the retirement benefits should he die first. He holds an IRA account worth about $17,500 currently earning about 5.85 percent. Beverly holds a 403(b) retirement account of about $34,000.
According to the Social Security Administration statements the couple recently received, each spouse expects to receive about $1,000 a month if they retire at age 65.
Their combined salary is just above $110,000 a year, and they continue to help two of their children graduate from college by paying about $1,300 a month in school finances.
They rent a house for $600 a month but hope to purchase a new home at retirement.
The doctor is in
Financial planners commend Trevisol for sticking with an investment plan and regularly socking away pre-tax dollars in his retirement account. But his portfolio could be much more diversified since it is lacking small cap and international exposure.
 Marc Collier, a certified financial planner (CFP) with Wellesley Financial Architect in Wellesley, Mass., said the overall fund selection is strong especially since Trevisol has exposure to a few different fund companies - Janus, Alliance and AIM. While Janus, for example, boasts many top performing funds, investors should diversify among mutual fund shops to expose themselves to different investing styles and managers.
"The managers tend to make decisions in groups in fund families on the economy and interest rates," Collier noted.
To increase his small cap exposure, Collier suggests buying the Transamerica Small Company Fund (TPSCX) or the Berger Small Cap Growth (BESCX), two top performers in the small cap arena.
CFP Frank Armstrong, president of with Managed Account Services in Miami, Fla., concurs that Trevisol lacks small cap stock exposure, which would round out his portfolio.
In addition, if he bought an S&P index fund, he would get mostly large cap technology exposure, which already makes up about 50 percent of his portfolio.
 Armstrong suggests the Vanguard Small Cap Index Fund (NAESX) to increase Trevisol's small company names and the Vanguard International Growth Fund (VWIGX) to boost his international exposure .
Trevisol isn't the first investor to lack small cap exposure.
"We find that all the time," Armstrong said. "High growth, high-tech issues are at a point now when they're horrendously highly valued, which means he's excluding buying sectors that are fairly or undervalued."
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Eat a peach
So as Trevisol nears retirement, he knows his golden years will be spent in the heart of the South, certainly enjoying one of the best aspects Georgia living - peaches. However this year the crop has struggled.
"They're a little small this season because of the drought, but they're sweeter," Trevisol said.
* Disclaimer
If you would like to be considered for our Portfolio Rx feature, send an e-mail to retirement@cnnfn.com with the following information: your age, occupation, income, assets, debt and expenses, your retirement goals, such as when you wish to retire and what type of lifestyle you envision. Also include specifics about your long-term savings portfolio: your 401(k) and IRA accounts; which mutual funds, stocks and other securities you own; and information about any other source of retirement income you expect, such as a pension. If we choose your portfolio, we will use your information including your name in an upcoming story. Please include a daytime phone number so we may reach you. 
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