Think of your assets like a football team

An excellent football team plays a good offense and a solid defense. The solid defense has a good goalkeeper and the defenders. Their primary role is to defend the goal and prevent attacks.

A good offense is made up of the strikers. They are fast and agile, and their main job is to score as many goals as possible. 

The mid-field provides the linkage between the defense and offense. A successful attack usually originates from the mid-field and is finished off by the strikers.

A winning team has excellent coordination between the defense, mid-field, and offense.

We can use the football analogy to design an optimal asset portfolio. Our portfolio should have defensive assets and growth assets. Defensive assets are low risk and provide minimal returns. However, they are safe, and the principal is safe. They provide some security and insurance if things fall apart. These assets include cash, fixed income securities like treasury bills and unit trusts, and land.

Our portfolio needs some strikers who provide growth and potentially higher returns. So we need things like shares, businesses, and property. The risk is high, but the growth potential is high.

We can think of the mid-field, like our careers and jobs. These provide the linkage between the defense and offense. Our careers can enable us to build an adequate portfolio where all assets work together to build our wealth. A good job can provide the capital, resources, and knowledge to create an optimal asset portfolio.

So we have demonstrated that an optimal asset portfolio can consist of a solid defense, an agile offense, and an excellent career.