Hi,

1. On this Tax issue I'm not even 100% sure what the deal is - if we can really get the 15% back or not on US domiciled ETFs? Even if we can, it's a bit of a hassle so I've opted to go with Ireland domiciled. I've just received TDAM statement for the year and have paid approx $250 in WT so going to see if I can get half of this back without too much hassle, will update.

2. Actually, Ireland / Luxembourg I'm referring to as the domicile of the ETF, not the exchange it's traded on. Eg S+P 500 Vanguard Ireland domiciled is traded on LSE as VUSA / VUSD (GBP / USD) , because of the tax agreement between Ireland and US, the rate is only 15% rather than 30%

My personal view on the ETFs :

1. ISHARES VII PLC ISHARES CORE EU/  iShares Core EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF (CSX5) - Not that broad,covers only approximately 50 of the largest caps across Europe. Something like Vanguard VEUR (Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe) holds in comparison holds in excess of 500 different stocks.
2. Looks good to me, Vanguard VWRL is similar, more holdings but also a TER which is 0.05% higher.
3. Russia ... I haven't really looked into many Russia ETFs. I've bought and sold some RSX but not holding for the long term so didn't bother doing much research and don't care about dividends much on this.  (US trading costs are cheaper, that's why I went with US listed..). Very volatile especially with the exchange rate fluctuations :

Thank U for the pointers on EU & correction on PoV for domicile vs listes, RJB123
Yeah - was thinking of buggering all and just doing RSX only since it's opportunistic, not like 10 years+ value averaging into it 
KISS 

OK similar to me, also long term and not very active trader.

Have a look at Vanguard UK ETFs, you can buy those through IB on LSE (London stock exchange)  and you'll have only 15% Withholding on dividends rather than 30%.

thanks on the tips 

im looking at Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF too. 

by the way, when we make payment do you do a tt from your bank direct to their account everytime you want to top up? or can put additional funds inside for future purchase?

TT from Maybank for example will cost you around 50 USD all in -  not that cheap! That's including receiving bank fees and intermediary bank fees.

You could also deposit in SGD for example free of charge if you  have an account in SG (IB uses Citibank in SG). I also deposit from my UK account (again, no fees)  to GBP. Inside IB you can transfer between currencies at very competitive rates -  better than you'd ever get elsewhere anyway.

I deposited quite a lot at once and just leave it there until I want to top up...  Won't earn any interest if it's sitting in Maybank FCA anyway.

Oh so it's 10usd. I'm looking to invest quarterly or monthly if it's convenient to make payment.

I'm building a long term nest, so I guess I'm going to buy and hold. Looking at 10 yrs horizon:)

Min is USD 10k to open account only
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=4969

Very affordable if u compare to TD amerit

TD amerit charge $9.99/trade
https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page#ETFs

IB charge USD0.01/share or USD1 min, whichever higher.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/in...ssion&p=stocks1

Somemore the livefeed is free, not compulsory to subscribe to the paid service feed.

Min is USD 10k to open account only
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=4969

Very affordable if u compare to TD amerit

TD amerit charge $9.99/trade
https://www.tdameritrade.com/pricing.page#ETFs

IB charge USD0.01/share or USD1 min, whichever higher.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/in...ssion&p=stocks1

Somemore the livefeed is free, not compulsory to subscribe to the paid service feed.

10 USD monthly is referring to inactivity fee, if you're not doing any trades during a month and have less than 100,000 USD balance.

TD Ameritrade has many commission free ETFs and supports DRIPS, so if you're only buying US ETFs infrequently and want dividends reinvested TD is a better option.

Yes would like to invest the dividends back to the fund. 

so to summarize:

TD : 9.99/trade (irregardless to amount? trade 1000usd also 9.99, trade 10,000usd also 9.99?)
IB : 0.01%/share or USD 1, whichever higher. inactivity 10USD/month.

so if plan to trade 1500USD every quarter (March, June, Sept, Dec) :

my trade on IB will be USD10 (january), USD10 (February) + USD1 = USD21
my trade on TD will be net 9.99USD

anymore hidden charges? fund transfer fees?

IB : minimum 10k USD to open account?
TD : no minimum

and also, wires out of account from TD is USD25.

IB allows one free withdrawal request every 30 days?

TD only USA exchanges AFAIK, but most common ETFs that you'd likely to be investing in are available commission free (there's a list on their website)  so the trade is free, and DRIPS means your dividends are automatically reinvested. With IB they just get deposited into your account. But with IB you can be buying non us listed etfs, which means you don't have to pay the Withholding tax of 30%, only 15%.

There's a minimum on TD of 2000 usd I believe. Transfer charges will be the same for both, overall Tt from Malaysia will cost you 40-50 USD in total. IB cheaper if you have SG account for example and deposit in SGD.

Does the 30% withholding tax applies if i trade US ETFs on TD? so it applies on all US-etfs regardless IB/TD?

How the TD dividend reinvest plan work?

Let say the 1 unit of ETF is $90, so I buy 1 unit.

ETF dividend payout $1/unit.

So how many total unit I have in ETF after dividend is re-invest?

Any discount broker recommendation for an occasional (quarterly), buy and hold investor with access to Irish ETFs?

Any discount broker recommendation for an occasional (quarterly), buy and hold investor with access to Irish ETFs?

@pisces88 for your calculations, note the following:
IB charges the difference up to $10 for inactivity. So, even if you paid $1 for commissions for that 1 trade, they will still charge you the remaining $9 for that month, unless you have $100,000 account value with them.

Upon further investigation, the 15% saved by going LSE vs NYSE amounts to an ER of about 0.3%, if investing $1250 per quarter, totalling $5000 a year:

IB: $10x12 = $120 (In fact, I believe the 1st 3 months is waived so about RM90)
TD: 0.3 ER on $5000 = $150 (The trade itself is commission free for certain ETFs, i.e. Vanguard)

It get's worse for TD because from the 2nd year onwards as that ER compounds on top of your continued quarterly investment, so it'll be $300 for TD and $120 for IB. Seems like it's still better to start off with IB and build up until you reach $100k (although it will take a long time at this rate)

Have anyone also looked at iShares and similar ETFs (vs. Vanguard)?

I think $1250 per quarter may be a bit cost prohibitive in both instances considering the roughly $50 transfer fees.

I don't follow your logic of additional ER of 0.3% though? I'll do a spreadsheet and report back shortly 

ur spread sheet ready?