E6 Chartbooks · October 1, 2026
Higher yields. Clearer tradeoffs.
Six charts on income, purchasing power, and the time your portfolio needs.
A better yield is useful information. It is only part of the decision. This edition connects the month-end rate environment to inflation, price sensitivity, recovery and the need for ready cash.
September 30, 2026; not a realized return
August 2026; all items, unadjusted
Market evidence + transparent arithmetic
01 / Observed market data
What changed in the bond opportunity set?
A higher yield comes with a time commitment.
The 10-year Treasury par yield rose from 4.19% on January 2 to 5.29% at September month-end. More income potential comes with exposure to changing rates.
Which dollars have a known spending date, and which can tolerate changes in market value?
September 30 and January 2, 2026
02 / Observed economic data
Where are prices rising?
The average hides very different experiences.
August headline inflation was 3.4% over a year, while energy rose 16.3% and core prices rose 2.4%. Your spending mix determines which changes matter most.
Which budget categories are creating pressure, and which are relatively stable?
12 months ended August 2026 · not seasonally adjusted
03 / Observed prices + arithmetic
What happened to a fixed cash balance?
The price level is the bill you actually pay.
A basket costing $100,000 in January 2020 cost about $129,852 in August 2026. An unchanged $100,000 bought about $77,011 of the original basket.
Have near-term spending reserves been updated for today's dollar costs?
January 2020 to August 2026
04 / Illustrative price sensitivity
How sensitive is the bond to rates?
Price risk survives a higher starting yield.
For a one-percentage-point rise in yields, a duration of 5 implies roughly a 5% price decline before interest income. A higher starting yield does not eliminate that sensitivity.
Could you hold through a price decline, or might a spending need force a sale?
Assumed parallel yield change: +1.00 percentage point
05 / Mathematical illustration
How much gain repairs a loss?
The climb back gets steeper.
A 40% decline requires a 66.7% gain to return to the starting value. Recovery depends on the smaller remaining base.
How much loss can your plan and behavior withstand before you would need to sell?
No market observation period
06 / Budget arithmetic
How long could liquid assets cover a spending gap?
A reserve buys time to make decisions.
A $60,000 reserve covers 30 months at a $2,000 monthly gap, but only 10 months at $6,000. Liquidity needs depend on cash flow, not just account size.
What must be funded without depending on a favorable market or a discretionary redemption?
Illustrative reserve: $60,000 · constant monthly gap
Putting the charts together
The portfolio still needs a job description.
Higher bond yields alone do not settle the stock-versus-bond decision. Expected equity returns, future inflation, investment horizon and the ability to bear losses also matter. The useful response is to revisit what each allocation must accomplish, rather than treat the latest yield as a complete allocation rule.
Research perspective: Dimensional, September 17, 2026E6 Portfolios, LLC. Educational information, not an individualized recommendation or an offer to buy or sell a security. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Economic observations, illustrative arithmetic, and actual investment performance are different measures. No chart shows E6 or client returns. Data are dated snapshots; later releases can differ. Sources do not sponsor or endorse this publication.
E6-CB-2026-10 · Version 1.0 · U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. The downloadable PDF preserves the edition's default examples. Printing this page preserves the displayed interactive assumptions.
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