A preset portfolio is a published allocation recipe, a name you've probably seen on Bogleheads or in a finance book, with the same canonical weights its author originally suggested. The Three-Fund Portfolio, the Core Four, Dalio's All Seasons, the Golden Butterfly, and the Permanent Portfolio are all presets you can apply to your simulation in one step instead of typing out the weights by hand.

Applying a preset doesn't change the simulation you're in. FIREproof duplicates your currently selected simulation and rebuilds the new copy's accounts around the preset's mix. The original sim is left untouched, and the new sim is a regular, fully-editable saved simulation, so you can keep tweaking from there.

Where to find it

Open the Datasets section in the sidebar and pick Preset Portfolios. The first time you land on the page, every recipe in the catalog is shown; the filter chips at the top let you narrow the list (see below).

Step 1 - Browse the catalog

Each card shows a small pie chart of the recipe's canonical weights, the list of asset slots, and a few badges that tell you, at a glance, what setup work the preset needs from you:

• Pie chart - at-a-glance picture of the equity / bond / other mix.
• Slot list - every asset class the recipe contains, and the weight each gets.
• "Upload needed" badge - appears on the card if one or more slots need you to map them to a custom return series before the preset can run. (Cards without this badge can be run without any extra upload work on your part.)
• Source ↑ - opens the original published source (a Bogleheads thread, a book reference, an author's site) so you can read where the recipe comes from before committing to a run.

Narrowing the list

The chip bar above the catalog lets you filter four ways:

• Philosophy - Bogleheads, Risk Parity, Factor-Tilted, or Endowment. A portfolio can carry more than one tag (Golden Butterfly is both risk-parity and factor-tilted), so picking a filter widens or narrows accordingly.
• Risk - grouped by equity allocation: Aggressive (≥ 70% equity), Balanced (40–69%), and Conservative (< 40%).
• Complexity - by number of holdings: Simple (2–3 funds), Moderate (4–5), Complex (6 or more).
• Includes - toggle on any specific asset class you want to be in the recipe (Gold, Commodities, REITs, International, TIPS, Cash / T-Bills). Multiple selections use AND. Turning on both Gold and Commodities only shows presets that contain both.

Step 2 - Choose a portfolio

When a card looks interesting, click its Choose Portfolio button. A modal opens with the recipe's full slot list and somewhere to map each slot to a return series.

Each row in the modal carries one of these pills:

• Built-in - FIREproof already ships a historical return series for this slot (e.g. US Total Market, 10-Year Treasury, Gold, Cash). You don't have to do anything; the dropdown is preset to the built-in series.
• Upload needed - this slot's asset class doesn't have a built-in series. The dropdown lets you pick from any custom return series you've already uploaded. If you don't have a matching custom series yet, the data sources page shows where to find one for each slot type.

The Run Simulation button at the bottom of the modal stays disabled until every slot has a series picked. If a slot has no valid choice yet (e.g. no matching custom series uploaded), follow the "Upload needed" link on that row. It takes you to the Custom Series uploader so you can come back and finish here.

Step 3 - Run

When you click Run Simulation, three things happen as a single step:

1. FIREproof duplicates your currently selected simulation under a new name (the preset's name + the date).
2. In the new copy, each multi-asset account's balance is redistributed across the preset's slots at the canonical weights. Cash-only accounts (Checking, Savings) are left alone. The preset's mix doesn't apply to those.
3. The new sim is opened in the Proof view, ready for you to inspect the run.

Step 4 - Edit afterwards (this is the point)

The new sim isn't frozen and it isn't a demo. It's a regular saved simulation. Open its Accounts tab and you can:

• Raise or shrink a slot's weight (e.g. lift small-cap value from 20% to 30%).
• Add or remove an entire asset class.
• Swap a slot to a different return series.
• Change account-level glide paths over time.
• Combine the preset's accounts with your own paychecks, real estate, adjustments, etc.

A small bookmark banner at the top of the Accounts tab names the preset you started from. It's purely a label. It doesn't restrict edits or pin the sim to the recipe. Once you've changed enough that the "started-from-X" framing no longer matters, the banner is fine to ignore.

Common questions

Why is the Choose Portfolio button greyed out?

Running a preset simulation requires an active subscription. Browsing the catalog is free, so you can read every card and source link before deciding to subscribe. Without a subscription, the button shows a tooltip explaining the gate.

What do I do if a slot says "Upload needed"?

Upload a return series for that slot's asset class through the Custom Series page. Once it's uploaded, come back to the preset's slot-mapping modal and pick it from the dropdown. The data sources page lists the public, citable sources we recommend for each slot type (emerging markets, commodities, small-cap value, long-term Treasury, international small-cap, and so on).

Can I apply the same preset twice?

Yes. Each run creates a new duplicate, so you can compare "Golden Butterfly at the canonical 20% small-cap value" against "Golden Butterfly at 30% small-cap value" by running the preset twice and tweaking the second copy's weights. Both sit alongside your original sim in the saved-simulation list.

Does applying a preset change my original simulation?

No. The preset only ever writes into the new duplicate. Switch back to your original from the saved-sim picker and you'll find it as it was before you opened the catalog.

Can I delete a preset sim once I've made it?

Yes. It's a normal saved simulation, so the same delete option that's on any saved sim is available here. Useful if you tried a recipe, decided it wasn't a fit, and want to clear out the duplicate.

What if I want to switch series after applying?

Totally fine. The preset is just a starting allocation, not a contract. Open the Accounts tab on the preset sim, click into a slot, and swap its return series the same way you would on any other simulation.

Are my checking and savings balances changed?

No. Cash-only accounts (Checking, Savings) are skipped during the redistribution and keep whatever cash balance they had on the original sim. The preset's mix only applies to multi-asset accounts (Brokerage, IRA, 401(k), etc.).

Where the data comes from

For the heavier details (which built-in series back which slots, what public sources we recommend when a slot says "Upload needed," and the license caveats to keep in mind when downloading data), see the companion page: Public data sources for preset slots.