My savings in ETF

Blacktie.

First time investor here. I currently have about 10k euro to invest with the chance to invest another 15k over the next year.

I'm 26 years old with no mortgage, no debt and no dependants. I don't really want to leave this money in the bank earning a tiny interest rate that in itself gets taxed so I've been looking into investing.

I don't mind a bit of a risk and don't mind tieing the money up for a good few years.

I may be moving to Canada in the next year or so but I'll have money set aside for this separately.

My plan is to invest about 10k of my savings in an ETF. I'm going to put it through a broker into SPY for S&P500.

Over the next year I'll have another 15k to invest. I was going to put another 5k into SPY and 10k into EM for a bit of diversity. I'll basically be putting the money in and leaving it there for a good long while. I'll possibly buy some other funds in future if the opportunity presents itself. Does this sound like a decent start to investing long term or is there something else I need to consider?

I will be keeping a few thousand behind as an emergency fund.

purple cow

Blacktie. wrote: »

First time investor here. I currently have about 10k euro to invest with the chance to invest another 15k over the next year.

I'm 26 years old with no mortgage, no debt and no dependants. I don't really want to leave this money in the bank earning a tiny interest rate that in itself gets taxed so I've been looking into investing.

I don't mind a bit of a risk and don't mind tieing the money up for a good few years.

I may be moving to Canada in the next year or so but I'll have money set aside for this separately.

My plan is to invest about 10k of my savings in an ETF. I'm going to put it through a broker into SPY for S&P500.

Over the next year I'll have another 15k to invest. I was going to put another 5k into SPY and 10k into EM for a bit of diversity. I'll basically be putting the money in and leaving it there for a good long while. I'll possibly buy some other funds in future if the opportunity presents itself. Does this sound like a decent start to investing long term or is there something else I need to consider?

I will be keeping a few thousand behind as an emergency fund.

Sounds like a pretty good strategy. Low cost ETF. The only thing you might want to consider is currency risk, by being overweight in dollar investments. Having said that, you may feel that the US market offers better growth than Eurozone. An ETF I like is MSCI World. It's comprised of about 1400 global companies.

valderrama1

Try keeping 10% in cash or in a bond ETF OP. Although which bonds/country I have no idea.
For the simple reason that a crash (and a boom) are always just around the corner.
That way you'll have something in reserve to profit from a big downturn.

Blacktie.

valderrama1 wrote: »

Try keeping 10% in cash or in a bond ETF OP. Although which bonds/country I have no idea.
For the simple reason that a crash (and a boom) are always just around the corner.
That way you'll have something in reserve to profit from a big downturn.

I plan on having about 15% of my money in cash in a current bank account which didn't come into my original numbers. I hadn't considered bonds as I thought they were just a low risk low reward investment but I'm think of allocation about 20% to them and possibly replacing my SPY index with a European one so there's no currency risk. There's a lot to take in when learning all of this for the first time. How does my revised plan sound?

househero

You may have received advice to the contrary.

But here is what I will tell you...
DONT.

The market is at its peak. You will loose 5 to 8% within the year. Possibly cover your losses next year and come out minus €6k if your lucky.

Lambs to the slaughter.

This is not a game and the market is NOT bouyant.

househero

Blacktie. wrote: »

How does my revised plan sound?

It sounds like you are 3 years from making your first loss. Congratulations.

househero

By that I mean. Do some research for 3 years. Then Invest your hard earned money, and loose it.

THIS IS NOT A GAME.

Your plan is retarded, even just for one massive problem you are totally oblivious of... Fed tapering. Which isn't even medium term, this is now. The s&p 500 will not make ANY significant gains for the firceeable future. You WILL loose money and that us guaranteed.

If you don't know what you are doing (asking a q on boards red flag) buy something at the bottom of its economic cycle, not the top ffs. Buy 2 acres of arable land. And buy me a pint in 6 months when you realize I saved you a ****e load of a loss.

Blacktie.

Ok so if it's at a high then wouldn't government bonds make sense to invest in for a few years? I'm not looking for any kind of quick cash I'm basically looking to leave it there for the long term but if I invest the majority into government bonds and wait for the market to go down in a few years it should be worth more than leaving it in the bank correct?

househero

Blacktie. wrote: »

Ok so if it's at a high then wouldn't government bonds make sense to invest in for a few years? I'm not looking for any kind of quick cash I'm basically looking to leave it there for the long term but if I invest the majority into government bonds and wait for the market to go down in a few years it should be worth more than leaving it in the bank correct?

Given that gov bond yields are at historic lows and if you mitigate the risk of loosing your investment (possible and higher risk than you might think at the moment with such low growth) its not a sensible plan.

Medium term I would look at agri land and even flirt with metals if you are risk averse. Forex markets offer some good potential with relatively stable pairs usd EUR and GBP showing signs of movement in the short term. But they are VERY risky for the beginner.

Seriously if I was you, I would buy a few acres. Its stable, in a growth market and at the bottom of a cycle.

If you only want bonds or shares to show off, you will loose your shirt. Making money gets dirty.

househero

If you are hell bent on investing, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH a couple of strong IPOs and try your luck... Alibaba group is coming up.

Facebook twitter etc are serious risks ATM IMO poor earnings and no clear sign of translating users to revenue. If your thinking established companies you will loose as they are pumped with fed $ since the tech giants took a serious hit in the last few weeks.

The market you are interested in is at the top of its cycle.

I don't know how much you know, some people think stocks always rise... Google to see the UK's FTSE's highest ever peak

Blacktie.

househero wrote: »

If you are hell bent on investing, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH a couple of strong IPOs and try your luck... Alibaba group is coming up.

Facebook twitter etc are serious risks ATM IMO poor earnings and no clear sign of translating users to revenue. If your thinking established companies you will loose as they are pumped with fed $ since the tech giants took a serious hit in the last few weeks.

The market you are interested in is at the top of its cycle.

I don't know how much you know, some people think stocks always rise... Google to see the UK's FTSE's highest ever peak

With the job I'm in I just don't have the time to do proper in depth research. I don't want to buy individual stocks as I just don't have the time that it would require. That's why I thought an ETF would be a much better option for. I'm not looking to cash this money out anytime soon so I thought this would all average out over the long term. I thought by going with a European index I wouldn't have to worry about the currency risk and I could basically just leave the money there.

househero

Blacktie. wrote: »

With the job I'm in I just don't have the time to do proper in depth research. I don't want to buy individual stocks as I just don't have the time that it would require. That's why I thought an ETF would be a much better option for. I'm not looking to cash this money out anytime soon so I thought this would all average out over the long term. I thought by going with a European index I wouldn't have to worry about the currency risk and I could basically just leave the money there.

Did you Google to see the FTSE historic peak?

And you can never just leave your money in a ETF fund, you need to keep on top of it an transfer out to cash when your risk becomes too great ( in about 2 months probably by the look of the markets )

At the very least. Watch the market from now, every lunch break up to around sept.

I am not your financial advisor. But you really don't strike me as being well suited to this market right now. Its too hairy for the best if us, we see things swinging out of convergence and a correction is imminent. Buy a commodity or land that will offer decent rates of return over a medium period.

If its just your reluctance to see a poor rate of interest in a bank, that is set to change in the not so distant future. If you are risk averse then you will have to dedicate time to look after your investment. This is a full time job. Paying a broker to manage your account does not mitigate your financial risk. You really have very little to gain in this market. Reassess your situation In a few months after doing some heavy research, or find a less risky investment such as LAND.

Blacktie.

househero wrote: »

Did you Google to see the FTSE historic peak?

Yeah just took a look. Peaks at 7k and drops twice over the last 15 years. At ~7k now by the looks of it.

househero

Blacktie. wrote: »

Yeah just took a look. Peaks at 7k and drops twice over the last 15 years. At ~7k now by the looks of it.

When. When it peaked is the important part. 1999 was the highest it's EVER been. If you invested in 1999 you lost your shirt for the last 14 years. We are back up, nearly at record highs... Is it because the economy is booming... No. Is it because the future looks promising (aka 1999) NO. Is it because the FED has been on the biggest government backed stocks n shares spending spree in history with historical low interest rates, low growth, inflation and people piggy backing their savings on something 'too big to fail'

Welcome to the new bubble. You might as well go back to 2008 to buy s house while your at it. The fed is ending its stimulus program. People will get burnt, especially if they are not keeping their eye on the ball.

Went back and edited my previous post for you with more info for you. Check it out.

Mr.David

househero wrote: »

Your plan is retarded, even just for one massive problem you are totally oblivious of... Fed tapering. Which isn't even medium term, this is now. The s&p 500 will not make ANY significant gains for the firceeable future. You WILL loose money and that us guaranteed.

Utter nonsense. If you are so sure of impending economic doom, why not short the US market and make millions yourself?

Do you really think that the markets have not priced in fed tapering? You seem to have little understanding yourself tbh. To say someone is guaranteed to lose money is just as ridiculous as claiming someone is guaranteed to make money.

OP, I think your plan is broadly sensible. Invest in low-cost, broad-base ETFs. The only thing I would suggest is to consider reducing your % portfolio allocation to EMs as they are much higher risk. I would suggest maybe 40% US, 40% EU, 20% EM.....

I'm sure there are ETFs out there that will hedge any EUR/USD rate exposure you may be worried about allowing you to still take a currency neutral position in US equities.

valderrama1

househero wrote: »

Did you Google to see the FTSE historic peak?

And you can never just leave your money in a ETF fund, you need to keep on top of it an transfer out to cash when your risk becomes too great ( in about 2 months probably by the look of the markets )

At the very least. Watch the market from now, every lunch break up to around sept.

I am not your financial advisor. But you really don't strike me as being well suited to this market right now. Its too hairy for the best if us, we see things swinging out of convergence and a correction is imminent. Buy a commodity or land that will offer decent rates of return over a medium period.

If its just your reluctance to see a poor rate of interest in a bank, that is set to change in the not so distant future. If you are risk averse then you will have to dedicate time to look after your investment. This is a full time job. Paying a broker to manage your account does not mitigate your financial risk. You really have very little to gain in this market. Reassess your situation In a few months after doing some heavy research, or find a less risky investment such as LAND.

He doesn't have to invest everything in one big bang though..

"you can never just leave your money in a ETF fund"
Yes you can. The longer you can leave it there without fidilling with it the better. Think 20 years. If you're not prepared to do it for that time period, it's not money for investing.
OP if you'll need money in the next 5-10 years for something consider not investing it.

The FTSE peaked in 1999 but if you were contributing to it every month since then you would have done well. Lesson is to average in and obviously not to invest everything when the markets are totally over valued i.e. during the crazy tech boom when p/e multiples were just outrageous. The danger is that you will not invest at all because of that.

The thing is though at the moment they are fairly valued, maybe a little bit pricey. This doesn't mean however that they are definitely about to crash next month.

I personally would go with smaller contributions every month, and keep it up every month. I wouldn't not do that. For the simple reason that the compounding is impossible to catch up with later on in life (you are only 26). When you're 55 trying to do the donkey work of actually saving the cash for retirement instead of having had it grow for you is very difficult. Google the effect of compound interest over time.

"Watch the market from now, every lunch break up to around sept."
???!
Watch it once a week tops.
Don't be occupied with the fluctuations of the market. The less you are the better you'll do.

"Its too hairy for the best if us, we see things swinging out of convergence and a correction is imminent."
As soon as you hear someone who's definite about an upswing or a downturn run a mile.
How do they know?

odd1

An old wall street saying

Put 10% of your portfolio in gold and hope it doesn't work out for you.

betonit

any views on a large cap corp bond etf. If the market head south these bonds will still pay the coupon and would be unlikely to default so the price of the bond shouldnt fall. Safe in a downturn with income unlike a dividend paying etf where the share price would fall??

househero

Looks like the weekend warriors are out in force. Good on you, I have to take my money from somebody. Thanks for covering my shorts lads. I will not make millions, (just incase you are ignorent of the risks associated with leverage) but I have done rather well since 09, how have your interests performed?

The downside risk of an ETF right now, is huge compared to the tiny potential on the upside. Unless of course YOU can see macro economic news to the contrary. The recovery is non existent.

Your opinion regarding the market 'pricing in' tapering is as hilarious as your idea about 'if you pay in regularly you will be winning'. Watch over the next three months. The 99 FTSE is an extreme example that doesn't even take in to consideration inflationary devaluation over the past 14 years. Your money would have been safer and more profitable in a bank.

Stocks should not be used as a piggy bank.

MayoSalmon

Dear lord please keep your money out of the markets especially the US markets, they are rigged or at the very very least highly manipulated.

DarkDusk

Stocks are peaking, commodities have bottomed and are ticking up... Why on earth would you put such a large some into the S&P?

househero

valderrama1 wrote: »

He doesn't have to invest everything in one big bang though..

"you can never just leave your money in a ETF fund"
Yes you can. The longer you can leave it there without fidilling with it the better. Think 20 years. If you're not prepared to do it for that time period, it's not money for investing.
OP if you'll need money in the next 5-10 years for something consider not investing it.

The FTSE peaked in 1999 but if you were contributing to it every month since then you would have done well. Lesson is to average in and obviously not to invest everything when the markets are totally over valued i.e. during the crazy tech boom when p/e multiples were just outrageous. The danger is that you will not invest at all because of that.

The thing is though at the moment they are fairly valued, maybe a little bit pricey. This doesn't mean however that they are definitely about to crash next month.

I personally would go with smaller contributions every month, and keep it up every month. I wouldn't not do that. For the simple reason that the compounding is impossible to catch up with later on in life (you are only 26). When you're 55 trying to do the donkey work of actually saving the cash for retirement instead of having had it grow for you is very difficult. Google the effect of compound interest over time.

"Watch the market from now, every lunch break up to around sept."
???!
Watch it once a week tops.
Don't be occupied with the fluctuations of the market. The less you are the better you'll do.

"Its too hairy for the best if us, we see things swinging out of convergence and a correction is imminent."
As soon as you hear someone who's definite about an upswing or a downturn run a mile.
How do they know?

Holy cow. Your advice is to Google compound interest? A 12 year old can tell you about compound interest. Fundamentals are not basic arithmetic, they are key performance indicators.

We sir, are two very different people. Do you see the different way we invest?

I do not have a high street bank managed ETF. I manage my own account according to macro economic news as KPIs and I guarantee that my interests have significantly outperformed your own.

A bold statement? No, not rrally, as I know exactly how badly your high street investment has done. I am in possession of information you choose to ignore on a weekly basis.

You are advising somebody poorly.

Allow me to pass on some potentially valuable advice... Pay VERY close attention to the performance of your investment over the next few months. At least once a day. If you get nervous, dont worry, liquidate your position and move it back when the market corrects.

Your investment has seen double digit growth for the last 26 months. Its Obviously going to continue. We are at historic highs without economic fundamentals supporting the trend. Its clearly going to break resistance.

But you, you have a managed ETF account, what do I know? The banks did you proud in 08/09... Too long ago? Forgotten already?

purple cow

OP, if you believe that stocks are the best investment over the long term (10+ years) then low cost diversified ETFs are your best bet in my opinion. I've been investing in shares since 1998 and have only been in ETFs over the last 5 years or so having previously bought individual shares (not a good strategy IMHO unless you have lots of time for research)

Currently I hold MSCI world ETF. EM ETF and Eurozone 50 ETF. The only individual holding I have is Paddy Power plus shares in the multinational that I work for. Also have about 10% in a Rabodirect long Eurobond fund.

I think you approach is sensible as long as you're planning to invest over the long term.

If you're worried about the market being too high consider averaging in by buying over the next 12 months.

househero

DarkDusk wrote: »

Stocks are peaking, commodities have bottomed and are ticking up... Why on earth would you put such a large some into the S&P?

Because idiots and commission motivated managers have badly advised him it's a good idea... S&P ETF... Worst idea of 2014

househero

purple cow wrote: »

OP, if you believe that stocks are the best investment over the long term (10+ years) then low cost diversified ETFs are your best bet in my opinion. I've been investing in shares since 1998 and have only been in ETFs over the last 5 years or so having previously bought individual shares (not a good strategy IMHO unless you have lots of time for research)

Currently I hold MSCI world ETF. EM ETF and Eurozone 50 ETF. The only individual holding I have is Paddy Power plus shares in the multinational that I work for. Also have about 10% in a Rabodirect long Eurobond fund.

I think you approach is sensible as long as you're planning to invest over the long term.

If you're worried about the market being too high consider averaging in by buying over the next 12 months.

Another weekend warrior. STOP TELLING THIS GUY TO INVEST NOW ITS THE WORST POINT IN THE LAST 14 YEARS TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT.

OP don't listen to anybody who has a bank managed portfolio. Its like a football fan telling a premier league team why a 442 would work better.

DarkDusk

Looking forward, everything is down to the Fed. Most people know by now that the "recovery" was artificial and influenced by the astronomical amounts of QE programs, which are now coming to an end. If the Fed continue with the taper you will soon see a huge correction in the stock market which could cause an economic catastrophe worse than 2008. If they decide to "save" the economy by increasing QE (to levels probably higher than ever before) then the "sheeple" are going to know that there was no recovery at all... This will lead to volatility and lack of confidence.

Both scenarios benefit gold and commodities.

Governments and central banks have behaving recklessly since 2008 in order to recover their economies, of course this was artificial and printing money always has consequences. These consequences soon will come to show.

househero

DarkDusk wrote: »

Looking forward, everything is down to the Fed. Most people know by now that the "recovery" was artificial and influenced by the astronomical amounts of QE programs, which are now coming to an end. If the Fed continue with the taper you will soon see a huge correction in the stock market which could cause an economic catastrophe worse than 2008. If they decide to "save" the economy by increasing QE (to levels probably higher than ever before) then the "sheeple" are going to know that there was no recovery at all... This will lead to volatility and lack of confidence.

Both scenarios benefit gold and commodities.

Governments and central banks have behaving recklessly since 2008 in order to recover their economies, of course this was artificial and printing money always has consequences. These consequences soon will come to show.

I agree. But I'm not sure sheeple are aware of the link between the stock market and economic fundamentals at all.

I think at BEST we can expect to hover around current levels, (10% less over the short term) nothing supports any upward movement above 2% if we see a resistance break there will be some significant profit taking from large funds.

Personally, I think we are 3 / 4 years from the next recession. But in the near term the EU/USA/Japan will continue with low inflation and stagnation. Or less likely due to the serious lack of private growth, a hugely painful increase in base rates in a collaborated effort from the FED and ECB to controversially reduce still unsustainable gov debt with inflation (this is the EU/US long term plan... Remember double digit rates in the 80s/90s) But growth is dangerously anemic in most markets.

Some very large fundamentals are in play here that have been historically absent.. The rise and fall of two great nations.

One more thing fundamentals point to...
Everybody with high street managed portfolios will be stripped of any gains they have seen... And they won't have a clue why. (They think stocks have 'risen' hahahahaha)

Mr.David

Househero, your arrogance as an investor is astounding. You may have made some money but with your attitude as it is you can put it down to good luck.

You talk about there currently being huge downside and minimal upside to US equities. I suggest you start thinking in a statistical sense and consider the distribution of stock returns. What you are implying is that the market has mispriced equities to a huge extent, and somehow you know better.

US equities are highly efficient and so you can assume that the current price of any large cap US stock is 'fair' given the information available in the public domain. It will be determined based on the aggregate opinion of many millions of investors and will incorporate all risks/downside/upside as a function of their probability of occurrence as well as the magnitude of the change in price should they occur.

I said it previously, if you are so confident why not short the US market? You mention leverage, again you are displaying a poor knowledge of the options available. Buy some OTM put options, they can never be worth less than $0 so put in whatever you feel you are 'willing' to risk. The upside to you if/when the market collapses surely enormous given your vastly superior knowledge.

Forecasting a downturn in the markets is easy, given a long enough time period the probability of a large downturn is 100%. Equally, the probability of a very bullish market is 100%. The tricky part is forecasting when this will happen. Personally I would not choose to invest in US equities at the moment so I don't disagree with you there, but I do question your unfounded confidence in your own opinion.

valderrama1

househero wrote: »

Holy cow. Your advice is to Google compound interest? A 12 year old can tell you about compound interest. Fundamentals are not basic arithmetic, they are key performance indicators.

A 12 year old can tell you how it works but you will not see any compounding by actively trading stocks. Instead you will see the gains you make by selling and buying in again at a better point, outsmarting the rest of the market. You will have to outsmart the market more times than not in order to make money. The OP has said he doesn't have time to actively manage it himself.

We sir, are two very different people. Do you see the different way we invest?

I do not have a high street bank managed ETF. I manage my own account according to macro economic news as KPIs and I guarantee that my interests have significantly outperformed your own.

A bold statement? No, not rrally, as I know exactly how badly your high street investment has done. I am in possession of information you choose to ignore on a weekly basis.

You are advising somebody poorly.

Who said anything about a bank managed ETF? The point of them is that they are not managed by anyone, only weighted according to market share. They succeed because fund managers don't try to outperform them. 75% of fund managers don't.
And actively day trading is good advice, selling every time they're uncomfortable? I would be surprised if the OP managed to turn a profit on that.

Allow me to pass on some potentially valuable advice... Pay VERY close attention to the performance of your investment over the next few months. At least once a day. If you get nervous, dont worry, liquidate your position and move it back when the market corrects.

You must be a very good trader (or a troll). The OP however is not.

Your opinion regarding the market 'pricing in' tapering is as hilarious as your idea about 'if you pay in regularly you will be winning'.

Sorry you might have a difference of opinion about how to manage money but that does give you the right to come on and talk shít about any post that disagrees with your own.

Also this is factually incorrect about averaging in. This is what all pension funds do in effect. But sure they're just "sheeple".

If the market totally crashes that will be in the OPs favour. He/She will then be buying in at a lower cost. Obviously if you are investing a lump sum you have to think about the valuation of the constituents of the index.

mickman

househero wrote: »

Another weekend warrior. STOP TELLING THIS GUY TO INVEST NOW ITS THE WORST POINT IN THE LAST 14 YEARS TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT.

OP don't listen to anybody who has a bank managed portfolio. Its like a football fan telling a premier league team why a 442 would work better.

must be great to know the future like you do :-)

Recondite49

Blacktie. wrote: »

First time investor here. I currently have about 10k euro to invest with the chance to invest another 15k over the next year.

I'm 26 years old with no mortgage, no debt and no dependants. I don't really want to leave this money in the bank earning a tiny interest rate that in itself gets taxed so I've been looking into investing.

I don't mind a bit of a risk and don't mind tieing the money up for a good few years.

I may be moving to Canada in the next year or so but I'll have money set aside for this separately.

My plan is to invest about 10k of my savings in an ETF. I'm going to put it through a broker into SPY for S&P500.

Over the next year I'll have another 15k to invest. I was going to put another 5k into SPY and 10k into EM for a bit of diversity. I'll basically be putting the money in and leaving it there for a good long while. I'll possibly buy some other funds in future if the opportunity presents itself. Does this sound like a decent start to investing long term or is there something else I need to consider?

I will be keeping a few thousand behind as an emergency fund.

Hello my friend,

I think your idea is an excellent one. I've just been reading "A random walk down Wall Street" which points out that no managed fund or individual investor has been to consistently outperform the market so investing in this ETF is a good idea in my opinion.

I also think it's worth considering that mutual funds such as those run by banks have much higher commissions due to the fact you have to pay someone to sit there and supposedly choose winning stocks on your behalf (which in reality is about as accurate as throwing darts at a copy of the Wall Street Journal).

I have just invested my savings in the very same fund you mentioned, although I don't have nearly as much as you do. My family and friends have started an 'investment club' which allows us to buy shares together and thus save on brokers' fees, it's an excellent idea if you haven't considered it already, why not start your own?

Also another really useful mine of information is the Investopedia website. If you can ignore the spam e-mails there are some really useful articles plus my favourite, a stock market simulator which allows you to play with $100,000 of imaginary money to see how you do. It's a lot of fun - I'm making a killing in rare earth metals at present.

Recondite49

Blacktie. wrote: »

First time investor here. I currently have about 10k euro to invest with the chance to invest another 15k over the next year.

I'm 26 years old with no mortgage, no debt and no dependants. I don't really want to leave this money in the bank earning a tiny interest rate that in itself gets taxed so I've been looking into investing.

I don't mind a bit of a risk and don't mind tieing the money up for a good few years.

I may be moving to Canada in the next year or so but I'll have money set aside for this separately.

My plan is to invest about 10k of my savings in an ETF. I'm going to put it through a broker into SPY for S&P500.

Over the next year I'll have another 15k to invest. I was going to put another 5k into SPY and 10k into EM for a bit of diversity. I'll basically be putting the money in and leaving it there for a good long while. I'll possibly buy some other funds in future if the opportunity presents itself. Does this sound like a decent start to investing long term or is there something else I need to consider?

I will be keeping a few thousand behind as an emergency fund.

..p.s I don't know if it's been mentioned before but there are ETF's which deal in government bonds. These are a great saving as naturally they might make hundreds of trades a day but there's less exposure to risk. Long term I'm hoping to divide my savings between this, the S&P 500 and gold.

betonit

betonit wrote: »

any views on a large cap corp bond etf. If the market head south these bonds will still pay the coupon and would be unlikely to default so the price of the bond shouldnt fall. Safe in a downturn with income unlike a dividend paying etf where the share price would fall??

a one liner view maybe

odd1

betonit wrote: »

a one liner view maybe

Hi betonit
You could set up a thread about bonds. I'd be interested

Mr.David

betonit wrote: »

a one liner view maybe

Assuming that the risk of default is negligible (perhaps it is, perhaps it is not that depends on the particular bond), your primary risk lies with interest rates. Bond values and interest rates have an inverse relationship. So if interest rates rise, the effective value of your bond falls.