Grog, you're a high net worth individual. The average American is not in your league. 'Protect' your wealth. The financial and healthcare industries are two of the biggest shit holes around. For your savings you either educate yourself OR (if have zero interest in such ) find a trusted advisor . This trusted advisor MUST BE flat fee, NOT % of AUM.
when it comes to building a portfolio, decisions are based on historical data. Careful with too much analysis ; 'paralysis from analysis' as the saying goes, has many people in 100% cash or money market funds. In their minds they don't get don't valuations, etc etc etc. Careful with this. Having a % of cash is healthy - waiting for a black swan, a sizaable pull back ..etc ...
as for REIT's. Here's some data. note; Historical data does not predict future results ( At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself this; is your savings beating inflation? If you're cool with it NOT beating inflation, let it sit in the bank...banks love that)
REIT's ;
from 1972-2012, compounded yearly returns are 10.9%. (S&P- 8.9%). Standard deviation - 10.4% (S&P- 11.6%). With those numbers, yeah, its a good diversification tool. Consider an ETF or a managed mutual fund with exceptional historical data (if you choose to roll the dice with individual REIT's? well, make sure you pick the right one(s)...
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gl to you .