You just created your portfolio and you would like to get a second opinion: Did I miss something? How can I improve it? Should I make any changes? You may be wondering. Below is a checklist of things I pay attention to whenever looking at other portfolios. These reflect the preferences I have therefore you […]
The S&P 500 had an approximate average annual return of 10% (before inflation) when measured from 1928-2016. This was the trigger that got me into index funds, the ability to put my savings to work for the long term, at low costs through a no non-sense approach supported by decades worth of data. It is […]
The iShares Core MSCI World ETF has 10 different listings. Which listing should you choose whenever you have access to multiple through your broker? An ETF has multiple listings across currencies, stock exchanges and countries in order to reach more investors. A listing is an entry for a security on the stock exchange. A listing […]
People may recommend you to hold IWDA but you can only find SWDA on your broker. To add to the confusion you go to the iShares profile of the funds and realize that there aren’t any differences between IWDA and SWDA. What’s the catch? IWDA, SWDA, EUNL are all tickets for the iShares Core MSCI […]
justETF lists 14 S&P 500 ETFs. Which one should you choose? How do you decide which fund is more appropriate when all track the same index? When faced with choices between comparable alternatives I prefer to use defined criteria to guide my decision making. In this case I think the important criteria is (in this […]
The choice between accumulating and distributing funds is one of the most important choices you will make when picking a specific ETF. It will narrow down the amount of funds to choose from, and it will affect your returns as well as your tax-related bureaucracy. A distributing fund is a fund that will periodically, usually […]
My goal with this article is to use the framework I shared earlier on “How to choose a stock broker” to understand a broker, DEGIRO. This isn’t a review of DEGIRO but an overview of the things you should consider if you plan to use it. Note that the information in this article may only […]
If you live outside of the USA, the world’s largest financial market, investing in a globally diversified portfolio means you are getting significant exposure to foreign currency, typically USD. This means that changes in exchange rates between currencies will affect your returns. Should you expose yourself to these risks? Should you buy ETFs hedged to […]
The common advice among EU based Bogleheads is to suggest a globally diversified low-cost portfolio which includes the following funds: iShares MSCI World – for developed markets (large cap) exposure iShares MSCI EM – for emerging market (large cap) exposure (optional) iShares MSCI World Small Cap – for developed markets small/mid cap stocks exposure. But […]
There are so many brokers out there. Different levels of service, different pricing schemes, different domiciles. How do you decide if a broker is “bad” or “good”? How do you go about choosing one suitable for long term, passive investing through buying ETFs? Different people may choose different brokers due to different preferences. This post […]