S&P 500

Pegging said:
I had about 30 k in the China one until it started imploding..
Click to expand...
So for my daughter, I diversified similarly to you (NASDAQ, S&P 500) and then the MSCI India at a third each, so hopefully there will be a cushion if the Indian one collapses - or vice versa.

And, she is young so she will have time to recover from any financial setbacks.

On that note, I wish more people understood that one of the crucial things in investing is the role of time. I do not think it gets emphasised enough.
 
I'm what you might politely term an investment ignoramus, but even at my level I'm aware of the total self-inflicted catastrophe you can bring on the value of your investments if you're the kind of person who reacts to a 'sell-off' over a couple of days.

What most have so far said about the hit you take on fees, CGT etc when switching or cashing out is valuable advice.
Somebody else put it along the lines of:
  • pay for the right advice,
  • tweak it if needed,
  • invest,
  • check how it's doing once every 6 months.
Similar to @Candystore I have something split 3 ways across MSCI India, S&P and Nasdaq.
 
Like I said before @Candystore you need an investment strategy because it’s clear you have none.

If you sell your ETFs now at the low you are realising your losses, if you leave it alone you lose nothing.

You take a 5,10,15 year investment outlook and only touch your investments based on that…nothing in between when you get emotional about and that’s how you lose money.

If you don’t touch it, you don’t lose anything.

If you touch it on a whim with market movements you will lose.

People who failed at the markets did so because they touched it repeatedly when it in the dips instead of sticking to a strategy.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Like I said before @Candystore you need an investment strategy because it’s clear you have none.

If you sell your ETFs now at the low you are realising your losses, if you leave it alone you lose nothing.

You take a 5,10,15 year investment outlook and only touch your investments based on that…nothing in between when you get emotional about and that’s how you lose money.

If you don’t touch it, you don’t lose anything.

If you touch it on a whim with market movements you will lose.

People who failed at the markets did so because they touched it repeatedly when it in the dips instead of sticking to a strategy.
Click to expand...
Sorry if I was misunderstood. I will not sell on a whim and definitely not on the advice of a forum member. I am simply obtaining opinions, well aware that the rule of thumb is to HODL.
 
Candystore said:
So for my daughter, I diversified similarly to you (NASDAQ, S&P 500) and then the MSCI India at a third each, so hopefully there will be a cushion if the Indian one collapses - or vice versa.

And, she is young so she will have time to recover from any financial setbacks.

On that note, I wish more people understood that one of the crucial things in investing is the role of time. I do not think it gets emphasised enough.
Click to expand...
My daughter now 10 has an Equities account sitting at +196% and a TFSA started much later at +32% purely because it gets a constant monthly influx and has never been touched (as in sold) other than stopping contributions to one thing and adding to another instead.
 
Candystore said:
Sorry if I was misunderstood. I will not sell on a whim and definitely not on the advice of a forum member. I am simply obtaining opinions, well aware that the rule of thumb is to HODL.
Click to expand...
If you want to do anything just change where contributions go.

Stop adding to what you think is bad and shift it over to another ETF instead and then re-evaluate in 3-5 years.
 
Candystore said:
So for my daughter, I diversified similarly to you (NASDAQ, S&P 500) and then the MSCI India at a third each, so hopefully there will be a cushion if the Indian one collapses - or vice versa.

And, she is young so she will have time to recover from any financial setbacks.

On that note, I wish more people understood that one of the crucial things in investing is the role of time. I do not think it gets emphasised enough.
Click to expand...


I read this book every couple of years for the last 15 or so years. I've read quite a few books on investing, and can say that this is the best one so far. It takes less than 2 hours to read.

A summary if you are too cheap to buy it:

kelly-nguyen.medium.com

Summary of “The Elements of Investing” by Burton Malkiel and Charles Ellis

This is a great, compact book for individual investors, especially for beginner investors. I wish I had read it much earlier, when I first…
kelly-nguyen.medium.com kelly-nguyen.medium.com



Or a video interview.

 
Pegging said:
I read this book every couple of years for the last 15 or so years. I've read quite a few books on investing, and can say that this is the best one so far. It takes less than 2 hours to read.

A summary if you are too cheap to buy it:

kelly-nguyen.medium.com

Summary of “The Elements of Investing” by Burton Malkiel and Charles Ellis

This is a great, compact book for individual investors, especially for beginner investors. I wish I had read it much earlier, when I first…
kelly-nguyen.medium.com kelly-nguyen.medium.com



Or a video interview.

Click to expand...

Most books are available for free on the internet. Thanks for offering the summary, though.

Found the video distracting, I think the book is easier to consume.
 
I think putting a third of your money into India is way too much for a market which only makes up 2% of the world's stocks. Not saying it won't pay off (maybe it does handsomely one day), but I feel more comfortable sticking my money somewhere with a proven long term track record.

Also of the opinion that diversifying into world funds is a waste and throwing away better returns because 1) the US has vastly outperformed world stocks since forever and 2) you can bet your house that if the US market tanks then the rest of the world will go down with them anyway, as has been proven in the past.

I just DCA almost all my money into SCHG every month. Btw, for those interested in the Nasdaq, buy QQQM instead of QQQ. Exactly the same holdings & percentages with a lower expense ratio (0.15% vs 0.2%).
 
Candystore said:
After the recent sharp drop in the S&P500, do we just ignore that and leave our ETFs as is? Move it?
Click to expand...

Get out. While you still can with limited losses.

The big drop is still coming. All big investors are predicting it.

The US is now in the same boat as SA. The S&P500 will keep dropping and then eventually stabilize and trade sideways for many decades. Just like Zim and SA.

Where to go? I do not know.
 
Bill Clitnon said:
Also of the opinion that diversifying into world funds is a waste and throwing away better returns because 1) the US has vastly outperformed world stocks since forever and 2) you can bet your house that if the US market tanks then the rest of the world will go down with them anyway, as has been proven in the past.

I just DCA almost all my money into SCHG every month. Btw, for those interested in the Nasdaq, buy QQQM instead of QQQ. Exactly the same holdings & percentages with a lower expense ratio (0.15% vs 0.2%).
Click to expand...

I feel the same vis a vis US versus the rest of the world.

Since the world is a global village, if the US is screwed, then so will SA, 100 times over.

"DCA almost all my money into SCHG" = ?
 
rvZA said:
Get out. While you still can with limited losses.

The big drop is still coming. All big investors are predicting it.

The US is now in the same boat as SA. The S&P500 will keep dropping and then eventually stabilize and trade sideways for many decades. Just like Zim and SA.

Where to go? I do not know.
Click to expand...
@Snyper564 ???
 
Pegging said:
I read this book every couple of years for the last 15 or so years. I've read quite a few books on investing, and can say that this is the best one so far. It takes less than 2 hours to read.

A summary if you are too cheap to buy it:

kelly-nguyen.medium.com

Summary of “The Elements of Investing” by Burton Malkiel and Charles Ellis

This is a great, compact book for individual investors, especially for beginner investors. I wish I had read it much earlier, when I first…
kelly-nguyen.medium.com kelly-nguyen.medium.com



Or a video interview.

Click to expand...
Thanks for the link to the summary - interesting readin
 
Just never say you did not know or have not been warned.
 
Candystore said:
I feel the same vis a vis US versus the rest of the world.

Since the world is a global village, if the US is screwed, then so will SA, 100 times over.

"DCA almost all my money into SCHG" = ?
Click to expand...
Dollar cost average every month into Schwab US Large-Cap Growth ETF (ticker: SCHG).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X