That's the SSGA one. Very briefly the list is described as high yield counters that has increasing dividend payouts for the past 25 years.

For one you'll be missing out on:
i. counters that might not give returns in dividend but in capital gains
ii. or counters with relatively good yield but not consistently increasing
ii. young companies

Perhaps consider the fact that there are some regions e.g. Malaysia, Singapore, HK that you should be chasing dividends while for others it's better to go for cap gains? After all, we aren't subject to US cap gains

Looking up UDVD on Yahoo! Finance also suggests VHYD by Vanguard, it's a wider net All World High Yield instead of just US focused. Both UDVD and VHYD have volume, though the spread is subjective to one's acceptance.

Good evening guys, this is my first time here 

1. I’m interested to invest in US ETF. am wondering if there is any website that provides service to track a specific etf, something like ‘my watchlist’ in FSM that will notify me when my tracKed UT’s price reaches a certain price.

2. which platform do you guys normally use to buy etf ya? how about IB or etoro?

I have an account with SAMY, and planning to go a step further.

Thanks guys! 

ETF though gaining interest but it is not really as good as it is advertised

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-h...scam-2018-06-27

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2016...h/#7e43df011e05

Nothing is safe, common sense high risk high return
is your so-called common ETF low risk high return?

I've tried it, not cost effective IMO. Their bank charges USD25 on receiving each wire transfer, and they charge ~USD8.80 for every stock trade. Going to try Tradestation next to see if it's cheaper.

You mean they charge usd25 if you put money into fundsupermart account? What about withdrawal? Another usd25???

Oh u mean deposit using SGD and convert vice versa into USD as and when needed will not incur charges right? But is the forex exchange internally favourable??

I salute people like kimjiwon who are willing to take risks investing into ETFs. At least he is not the type of investor who will wait till the prices reach near zero before investing. NO need for hard words.... look t the other side of things always. Why say uncommon ETFs ???

I don't invest into ETFs, but I have knowledge of Inverse ETFs and Leverage ETFs,... what is so uncommon abt them ?

It is exactly words like the above in bold that make brokerages start to charge Platform Fees. 

Sure, then you say, if they charge, then I change to another brokerage,... so, how many times do you want to run away ??? Wait till all brokerages blacklist your name, and all don't allow you to open accounts anymore.

I would rather let my brokerage earn something,... you have never experienced what the clients of SCB SG experienced  few years go when SCB were toying abt closing down their equity trading business.

Let people earn something-lar,... especially if the service is good and the people have quality and attitude for work. Otherwise,... don't invest in that country if you have negative thinking abt the brokerages earning something.

Edited by adding this : you see,... now the SG brokerages are starting to toy with charging dividend-handling fees,...the pattern is there,...becuse if investors like you,.... 

An International Financial Centre that welcomes most worldwide investors. Facility is there, currency keeps strengthening, continuously-improving regulation for the investing public to protect their interest,... what more do you want ? You don't pay tax on your investment returns, you know ???

Let people earn a bit-lar,.... It's worth it,....

I use FSM SG but I transfer in via CIMB SG so I don't got any transfer charges. I buy HK ETFs and some occasional US stocks.

No complaints, I am aware of witholding tax but happy with it so far. I don't trade often anyways, mostly buy and hold

Then I will ask you a simple question : why did you not close ALL your SG bank and brokerage accts and go with IB only ? Why stay and complain ?

In your world, best broker is IB, right ?

IB is like Amazon among all the brokers. It's difficult for the smaller brokers to match the price or offering of IB.

Good. Don't forget to close all SG accts,.. Don't comment abt them anymore. 

One more thing : close the DBS bank acct too. Don't talk abt brokers only.

Don't deviate from the main theme by using words like touchy. Shows your immaturity towards a strong debate. Grow up.

So, you still think this SG bank is GOOD. Then talk abt the good side more, don't insult the bad side only. Remember to close all the SG broker accts. Do not hesitate, YOU carry the conscience if you leave any SG brokerage acct open.

And don't comment abt the SG brokerages anymore. Your whinings are uncalled for, if you don't like it, then leave. Why whine and bark everyday and night ? 

Grow up.

By the way, you call it an ugly interface because you do not know how to use it, and your mind is not accustomed to it.

Actually I am also thankful there are ppl like you around..u keep the brokers in check.. ur biz might not be much but brokers do not like to lose market share both in terms of volume and client base ...i , for one , is not so price sensitive ...if everyone is like me or even Hansel , I think brokerage rates around the world will still be sky high.. actually the main reason was also the competitiveness of IB... but u also don’t see IB getting all the share ... in fact they are not even Top 5 biggest in US.. see? Not everyone is so price sensitive ... there are other factors to consider

Looks like you are still not confident abt closing your brokerage accts in SG. You keep saying this and that, trying to create reasons to yourself, and to readers here in order to maintain your SG brokerage accts.

Look at me - I have full confidence in my SG accts. I don't apply IB or White Labels though I know and have read abt them. What are you afraid of ? Scared that one day IB or the White Labels will dissapoint you in some way ?

You're WRONG abt DBS being a bank only. YOU enter through the DBS site for the cheaper cash upfront acct. NOT through DBSV. Pls get your facts straight before commenting.

You are also wrong abt the SG address thing. But since you are talking so much here abt how bad the SG brokerages are, and need to close your accts soon, I won't teach you further.

I'll stop whining here, otherwise, I'll turn out to be like you... 

Bro,... his comments are giving reasons and ideas to the SG brokers to create more fees and costs for us ! MKE did the acid test and tried to impose those charges, and would have been successful if not for some investors who raised concerns to the regulators,...

Secondly, IB is not very cheap for buying US shares. My brokerage is even cheaper.

Don't listen wholly to him.

...added : If ever one day, the fees become too high in SG,... then it's thanks to him.....

Frankly,... I did my best to introduse a good jurisdiction for us in Msia and elsewhere to invest into,... I have nothing personal to gain from it. He bought my idea too and invested there. He opened accts there. He was lucky, he moved fast.

Today,... he is trying to damage this effort.

Hi,

May I know the differences between tradestation & tradestation global?
I received the info from tradestation ask me to transfer fund to their bank account in US, and the minimum to start is USD 500.

Lately I sign up Sg Stashaway and put some here so that I may invest in US etf. any comments ?

Regarding boglehead 3-funds, are you investing in these 3 or other equivalent ETFs?
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX)
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VTIAX)
Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund (VBTLX)

Hi all, newbie here.
May I know how to open account and start to invest?

Hi all.

I have a question regarding the first post, on the withholding tax "refund":
Is it still true, as of now, that 50% of the withholding tax can be claimed back from the US IRS by filling out the 1040NR form? Has anyone succeeded in doing so?

@rjb123 (Experimenting with forum feature. Others can help answer as well. )

As a reference, another link (https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/21779/buy-us-etf-as-foreigner-a-bad-idea) also claims that partial refund of the withholding tax is possible, although the source didn't mention that it's 50% of that amount.

Thanks for the kind help.

Hi Ramjade. So, by filling income tax I can have partial "refund" from the 30% dividend paid? How much of refund can it be? Is it 50% of the withholding tax as claimed in the first post?

Why would my life be more difficult?

I have heard about FATCA but not quite sure about its impact to us NRAs. Can you elaborate more on this?

If you are a Non-Resident, your file will begin with the letters - 'NRA' followed by a line of digits. Having an NRA file is okay, for this clearly states that you are not a resident, nor a PR nor a citizen of The United States of America.

Having a 'NRA' type of tax file is equivalent to filling-in the W8-BEN form. In North America - Non-Resident Tax Files are of NRF or NRA types,...

There is NO problem here, and when you fill-in your FATCA and your CRS forms in future, there is no difference compared to what you are doing now.

If not too sure, don't simply comment-lar, bro... I know you are trying to be a know-all,... that's up to you,..

Anyway,... I chose to counter-comment here because WHTs are starting to bite me here and there,...

Hi all.

I have some questions with the concerns of messing up with the US government. I understand about the concern especially with the CRS (common reporting standards) being adopted in many countries these days.

As for tax no., I believe the US tax no. id officially called TIN or Tax Identification No. As far as I know, even a TIN is required when you fill up the W-8BEN form, which concerns with the 30% WHT. So, every NRA like us who invest directly in the NYSE (dividend-paying stocks or ETFs) will be required to fill up the W-8BEN form even if we don't ask for the "50% WHT refund".

So, is Ramjade trying to say that one should not even invest in the NYSE directly? (since you already need to file a tax form with a TIN on your W-8BEN)
Referring to the bolded part, pay the tax and try to claim it back? Isn't that what I am asking here and you are against it? Now you are advocating it here? Or a typo?

As for those who suggest to buy funds try UCITS, I am aware of the benefits.

Just one concern, most USD-denominated UCITS are traded on LSE and SIX. And their markets are less liquid than NYSE. Can anyone recommend brokers in Singapore or Malaysia who deal with the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS on LSE or the iShares S&P 500 UCITS (Accumulating class, USD-denominated) on either LSE/SIX?

I am a long-term investor, so Interactive Broker is not suitable for me as I don't have 100k USD anytime soon, nor do I want to pay 10 USD per month for commission. I am looking for something similar to TD Ameritrade, one-off commission, and can last forever. It's kind of unfortunate that TD Ameritrade only offers trading in US markets.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

Ok, please check the facts below:

1. TIN is NOT the same as US Income Tax No.

2. You need a TIN when filling up the W-8BENN form, which is used to avoid paying CGT to the US since we are NRAs. (This is the form required for all of us to fill up when we decide to trade directly on the US market.)

3. You need a US Income Tax no. when filling up the 1040NR form to claim back the 30% WHT which is NOT possible for Malaysians since there is no tax treaty with the US. (So, basically the first post of the thread is wrong, for Malaysian investors, that is. It is not possible to claim back ANY portion of the 30% WHT for us NRAs without tax treaty of any kind with the US, correct?)

Please check the above 3 facts.

And so there is NO issue trading directly on NYSE, the TIN is NOT an issue at all. I just keep paying the 30% WHT to the US government while trading with my broker on TD Ameritrade. There is no worries about FATCA even though I trade with TD, as long as I don't mess up with the US gov by claiming ANY portion of the 30% WHT back.

The only concern here is claiming back ANY portion of the 30% WHT. If I do so, I mess up with the US gov because I will have a US income tax no by then and have to deal with FATCA.

If however, I choose to keep paying the 30% WHT (which means I only fill up the W-8BEN form), I will have no issues messing up with FATC/US gov etc., even though I will be required to have a TIN.

In short, no worries about trading NYSE on TD Ameritrade TOS platform, as long as I don't claim back ANY portion of the 30% WHT.

Correct?

As for brokers' choice (if I choose not to trade with US brokers):

I am a long-term trader who wants to save on commission and looking for platforms without ongoing charges of any kind, including custody fees, inactivity fees etc.

One single trade would be 7000-10000 USD for me (of course if the commission is low enough to account for less than 1% of the trade amt, then I will go for a lower trade amount, maybe 3-5k USD)

I know IB is a stupid choice for me, and I am aware of the whitelabels. But I don't know which is good?

I am looking for investing in USD-denominated accumulating class (so no dividend handling charges) UK/Swiss ETF (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS or iShares S&P 500 UCITS)

I know about Captrader and TradeStation. But Captrader only trades in Euro (I prefer USD shares, so that currency is my own liability) and I can't tell if Tradestation trades in LSE/SIX (can't find the market info on their official page. I only know they trade in the "US and worldwide" https://www.tradestation.com/about/)

I also looked up eToro, but they don't have accumulating class UCITS, only a distributing one. Moreoever, it is traded in GBP, not USD https://www.etoro.com/markets/iusa.l

Any good suggestion? Or I have to relax my requirement?

Thanks for the help everyone.

As for ETF requirement,

If an accumulating class is not possible, please suggest brokers with dividend reinvestment plans but NO dividend handling charges or any kind of charges. TQ