The unique market conditions of the 2022 bear market exposed a major flaw in the traditional 60% stocks/40% bonds balanced portfolio used by millions of investors. That year was defined by two forces: surging inflation across both the U.S. and Canada, and aggressive interest rate hikes by their respective central banks.From January to December 2022, the Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio (VBAL), which holds a 60/40 mix, lost 15.04%, nearly as much as the 16.88% decline posted by the 100%-stocks Van