Glide Paths

Glide paths are used to transition invested assets from high exposure to lower exposure allocations over time. Specifically, glide paths identify the percentage of a portfolio invested in equity, fixed income, and cash asset classes at a given year on the path. This enables you, as their advisor, to have a guide to transitioning a client's investment portfolio from more aggressive to more conservative, over time.

Glide paths can be seen and customized for use in the Advisor Portal > Models > Glide tab. Once entered within the advisor portal, glide paths can be used in each client plan. Glide paths can be enabled via the Allocation Method setting in the Gear Icon > Settings > Methodology page.
RightCapital provides the ability to adjust a client's asset allocation through a glide path framework that assumes the investment allocation will be shifted to a more conservative allocation over time. The equity allocation will generally be decreased over time whereas the fixed income and cash allocation will generally be increased over time. The glide path will affect all investments except for variable annuity investments (there is a separate annuity allocation for variable annuities that is not impacted by the glide path).

Default Glide Path

RightCapital includes a "default" glide path, which is pre-built into every advisor account. The Default glide path is derived based on the average glide path from some of the largest target retirement date funds including Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Principal, American Funds, and Schwab. Below is the default glide path used:

Years to retirement

Equity

Fixed Income

Cash

45

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

44

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

43

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

42

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

41

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

40

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

39

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

38

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

37

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

36

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

35

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

34

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

33

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

32

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

31

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

30

90.00%

10.00%

0.00%

29

89.00%

11.00%

0.00%

28

88.00%

12.00%

0.00%

27

87.00%

13.00%

0.00%

26

86.00%

14.00%

0.00%

25

85.00%

15.00%

0.00%

24

84.00%

16.00%

0.00%

23

83.00%

17.00%

0.00%

22

82.00%

18.00%

0.00%

21

81.00%

19.00%

0.00%

20

80.00%

20.00%

0.00%

19

79.00%

20.80%

0.20%

18

78.00%

21.60%

0.40%

17

77.00%

22.40%

0.60%

16

76.00%

23.20%

0.80%

15

75.00%

24.00%

1.00%

14

74.00%

24.80%

1.20%

13

73.00%

25.60%

1.40%

12

72.00%

26.40%

1.60%

11

71.00%

27.20%

1.80%

10

70.00%

28.00%

2.00%

9

68.00%

29.20%

2.80%

8

66.00%

30.40%

3.60%

7

64.00%

31.60%

4.40%

6

62.00%

32.80%

5.20%

5

60.00%

34.00%

6.00%

4

58.00%

35.20%

6.80%

3

56.00%

36.40%

7.60%

2

54.00%

37.60%

8.40%

1

52.00%

38.80%

9.20%

0

50.00%

40.00%

10.00%

-1

48.50%

41.00%

10.50%

-2

47.00%

42.00%

11.00%

-3

45.50%

43.00%

11.50%

-4

44.00%

44.00%

12.00%

-5

42.50%

45.00%

12.50%

-6

41.00%

46.00%

13.00%

-7

39.50%

47.00%

13.50%

-8

38.00%

48.00%

14.00%

-9

36.50%

49.00%

14.50%

-10

35.00%

50.00%

15.00%

-11

33.50%

50.50%

16.00%

-12

32.00%

51.00%

17.00%

-13

30.50%

51.50%

18.00%

-14

29.00%

52.00%

19.00%

-15

27.50%

52.50%

20.00%

-16

26.00%

53.00%

21.00%

-17

24.50%

53.50%

22.00%

-18

23.00%

54.00%

23.00%

-19

21.50%

54.50%

24.00%

-20

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-21

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-22

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-23

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-24

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-25

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-26

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-27

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-28

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-29

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-30

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-31

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-32

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-33

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

-34

20.00%

55.00%

25.00%

The two charts here illustrate the default glide path in RightCapital. The first graph indicates the risk exposure shift in the glide path allocation over time, from higher risk (more aggressive) to lower risk (more conservative). The "risk exposure" values are illustrative, as the actual risk exposure is determined by the specific holdings in the portfolio. The second graph illustrates the asset class allocation over time.

Creating Custom Glide Paths

In addition to the default glide path, advisors can also create their own custom glide paths in the Advisor Portal > Models > Glide tab. Select Add Glide Path to add a new glide path. Name the glide path in the box on the right:
You can also make a copy of an existing model by hovering over a model, and clicking the copy icon to the right of the model name:
After adding the new glide path, use the detailed schedule on the right to adjust the allocation percentage in each year of the glide path (update the Equity / Bond / Cash splits for each year). Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save to preserve the new glide path.
What do the "years" represent?

The years reflect the period until retirement. Positive numbers are before retirement (e.g. Year 15 reflects 15 years before retirement) and negative numbers are after retirement (e.g. Year -5 reflects 5 years after retirement).

Quick Fill

When creating a custom glide path, the Quick Fill button allows advisors to populate or clear information much more easily.

  1. Interpolate will automatically populate all 0% inputs between beginning and ending values listed. This feature saves time and helps to populate values more quickly.
  2. Clear all will reset all glide path inputs to 0%.

Re-order Glide Paths

When viewing the list of your glide paths, RightCapital allows you to change the order they are displayed. Within the list of glide paths on the left, you can click on the title of one of the glide paths and then drag it to the desired location.

Delete Glide Paths

Custom glide paths can be deleted by hovering your mouse over a particular glide path, and then clicking the 'x' icon that appears to the right:

Where to Apply Glide Paths

Glide paths can be applied to a financial plan by opening the client, navigating to the Gear Icon > Settings > Methodology page, and selecting Allocation Method > Enable Glide Path:

With a glide path enabled, the client's investment allocation will slowly migrate to the glide path allocation over the specified number of years. A second dropdown menu will then appear under the allocation method to determine which glide path will be used. Options will include the Default glide path, in addition to your own custom glide paths.

Once a glide path is selected, determine how quickly the allocation shifts from the current allocation to the glide path allocation by changing the grading schedule. This can be a duration of anywhere from 1 to 40 years;

If '1-year grading' is selected, the client's allocation will automatically shift to the glide path allocation in year 2 of the projection. For any other grading schedule, the client's allocation will shift proportionally over the duration of the grading schedule, from the current allocation to the glide path allocation indicated.

Glide Path example

If the grading schedule is 10 years, in year 2 of the projection, the allocation will be 9/10 of their selected allocation and 1/10 of the glide path allocation; after 10 years the allocation will be 100% glide path allocation.

Once selected, the glide path can also be adjusted within any proposed plan through the Retirement > Analysis > Action Items > Strategies area:
The transition of equity, fixed income and cash within a client's portfolio can be visualized within the Investment > Allocation Path module:
Contact Us

For additional assistance within RightCapital please contact our Support team.

Educational Webinars

RightCapital is committed to enabling your success. Each week, we cover essential planning modules and product updates.

RightCapital in Action

Check out our YouTube channel where we highlight Advisor Success Stories and share more Tips & Tricks!