As the year comes to a close, prognostications for 2018 already are filling up our inboxes. We hope to spare readers another choice of whom to believe. Any meaningfully specific views we might share are no more likely to come true than the various others we’ll read over the next few weeks. The question on many minds, of course, is, “how will my portfolios perform next year?” We can only be abundantly honest and suggest that it’s impossible to know in absolute terms. Instead, we think a better idea would be to establish a level of ease with a range of market outcomes and align portfolios such that they might fall within that zone of comfort. Though the if-we-only-had’s are somewhat unavoidable, acknowledging potential fears and regrets in advance may leave us better off in the longer run and more relaxed in between.