I’ve changed my mind regarding European government bonds. Even though these bonds have negative yields and that isn’t great, I think they are still useful in a diversified portfolio. A high yield government-insured savings account can be an alternative, but it does not have some qualities unique to bonds. Currently my standard suggestion for Fixed […]
The Vanguard FTSE All World ETF (Accumulating, ISIN IE00BK5BQT80) and the SPDR MSCI World (Accumulating, ISIN IE00BFY0GT14) are fairly recent funds which are suitable for the simple portfolio. The Vanguard fund exists since July 23rd 2019 and the SPDR fund exists since February 28th 2019. Should these funds be used instead of the current funds? […]
You can find a lot of information online about how to invest in index funds in general. An example of that is my “step by step guide to investing”. Yet, sometimes you need specific knowledge about aspects of investing in your own country. How should you go about finding that information? Successfully finding that information […]
Index funds/Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are an excellent vehicle to grow your savings. They have better returns than most active investment funds. They have lower fees than active investment funds and private retirement saving funds (i.e. PPRs – Planos Poupança e Reforma). This guide focuses on aspects of investing in index funds which are specific […]
You want to start investing. You hear index funds/ETFs are the proper way to do it. Yet after reading the news you learn that stock valuations are high, the bubble will burst, the economy is decelerating and a recession is coming. You feel like you don’t want to invest at a peak and then immediately […]
Over the long-term, currency hedging tends to make foreign bonds have similar returns to comparable domestic bonds. Given this, is it worth investing in currency hedged foreign bond ETFs? How does currency hedging actually work? The Portfolio I prefer includes two investments: An index fund tracking global equities. This fund should not be hedged. A […]
Given the low interest rate environment in the Eurozone, how can I know the expected returns of a bond fund so I can compare it to other safe assets (e.g. a savings account) ? I wrote before about the fact that the yields of Eurozone government bonds are low. Here, I want to explain how […]
You are ready to start investing your savings and you start wondering: what if the broker goes bust? How safe is the money I worked so hard to earn? Do the broker’s investor protection mechanisms also apply to me given I don’t live in the broker’s country? Can I trust a broker for 30 years? […]
Choosing an investment portfolio is overwhelming. There are so many “lazy” options out there: Three-fund Portfolio, Core-4 Portfolio, Coffeehouse Portfolio, Permanent Portfolio, Yale Endowment Portfolio, etc. Some of these options are more complex than their “lazy” name seems to suggest. Moreover, many of these “lazy” portfolios feature US domiciled funds which are not available for […]
The MSCI World is one of the most popular indexes for European investors. That popularity is reflected in the number of MSCI World UCITS ETFs available: 13. It can get confusing to choose among similar alternatives with minor differences. So, how do you determine which MSCI World UCITS ETF is best for you? The MSCI […]