By the way I do believe index investing might be one of the most effective method of investing for general individual investor compare to many other method i.e. stock picking, market timing, trend trading etc unless we have enough tools to compete with big market player.

These two are my favorite books (sure most of you had already read) but it could be useful for newcomer:

Little Book of Common Sense Investing
Book by John C. Bogle

A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Book by Burton Malkiel

For what it's worth, I hold as little cash as possible so my safe-to-invest money is in the market as soon as possible. I don't hold any cash outside of my emergency fund and a little bit of spare spending money.

For my 6 month emergency fund, I currently hold them in KDI Save (3%), previously in Versa (~2.4%), both of which are MMFs with quick deposit and withdraw time. Some may strongly disagree that emergency fund should be accessible within minutes, FD is better suited for it, but I personally think 3 days max (weekend) is acceptable for me.

Personally, I agree with your line of thought and have also come to the conclusion that I want nothing to do with the local Malaysian market, so no Malaysian UTs, no Malaysia-listed stock for me. EPF is a big enough permanent MYR risk for me to handle.

So my stock allocation are 0% Malaysia, 60% US, 40% International ex-US... which is basically holding nothing but VWRA really. I do have a small amount of small-cap value tilt via AVDV and AVUV but they are 60:40 US:ex-US too.

I see zero reason to invest anything in Malaysia unless I somehow receive a significant sum of money to hold multiple properties in Malaysia at once (hah, keep dreaming), and I believe that REITs are mostly correlated to the stock market up and downs, dividend investing is just a misunderstood path that hurts your long term gain, and that I'm too young in my investing life to consider any bonds yet.

So, no REITs (local, SG or otherwise - I hold some through VWRA i guess? ), no fixed income ETF or dividend stocks, no bonds (yet - I will slowly pick up VAGU later on in my life)

I do however, dedicated 5% of my portfolio as play money. I just generally mess around and have fun with this money to scratch and satisfy whatever itch or FOMO I could possibly have. It's done it's job well and kept me on the course so far, so I do recommend this for those who are itchy handed.

This post has been edited by Hoshiyuu: Mar 27 2022, 07:40 PM

Broad-based index, yes, others, not so much. Many have been tempted with flavor of the month sector index recently...

Invest in the entire market, ride through its up and downs, grabbing onto the tailcoat of big players who can actually swing the market to their favor, and pickup the free breadcrumbs on the way. Might never be a billionaire, but I am more likely to have more than enough if I stay the course.

Great books and very commonly shared, but I believe ultimately too long to keep most Malaysian's attention, compared to a bad tiktok video promising 3000% gains or "conservatively, 20% APR interest yield" that no one can seem to properly explain where the money is coming from other than a zero sum game of passing bags.

I think JLCollin's stock series as well as it's book version, The Simple Path to Wealth is much shorter, much more laymen friendly, and if you drop the clearly labelled US-specific chapters, is a rather quick and short read to get everything you'll ever need. I personally found the Boglehead's path through this book.

This post has been edited by Hoshiyuu: Mar 27 2022, 07:38 PM

Thanks, going to have a look in the KDI save.

I share similar view that REIT correlates just too much to the stock market, not worthy to be considered as different asset - a small amount in capital weighted index fund already done a good diversification.

Well said. Index investing are actually picking up the free breadcrumbs - almost like parasite - reaping small return without paying any effort to set the market price right.

myself I will put some money into good stocks too. Good stocks has higher growth/returns than ETFs.

But mainly still focus ETFs such as VWRA, CSPX/VUAA to minimize my risk and ensure steady growth.

Also as I'm heading to late 30s now will put more money into lower risk income and inflation hedge investments such as bonds, reits, FD, etc. Some say ratio would be your age = low risk investment or -10 for low risk.

Am I a Boglehead?

the financial philosophy of LBYM (live below your mean), - Yes

broad diversification (through index funds), - Not really. Mine's a mix of unit trust + stocks + stashaway + EPF + drop of crypto

asset allocation (balanced portion between equity and fixed income) - I think so?

with the ultimate aim of achieving financial independence. - not really my ultimate aim aha

I think that LBYM belongs in the general financial advice category and is heavily emphasized in the FI/RE community, and isn't part of Bogleism. However most FI/RE folks are also Bogleheads as it's the most predictable and most likely way to have a successful retirement/FI portfolio.

I believe that the core tenets of Bogleism lies in 1. Not timing the market 2. Invest via low-cost, broad-based index funds (i.e. buying the whole market, or as much of it as possible).

So by investing in unit trust (mostly high cost speculative sector/flavor/region tilting) or owning individual stocks, to me, it's really is a far cry from Bogleism.

Why so much allocation to ex-US by the way? I know the usual answer is diversification but reading some of the Boglehead forums out there, there's a school of thought for 100% US allocation as companies in those baskets would have global exposure anyway. And also US index has been outperforming international for the last 10-15 years, I believe.

My index portion of my portfolio right now is 100% VTI. My only non-US exposure is through Stashaway ETFs.

Winners rotate after all. US index outperformance through this massive long rally is the primary reason some of us including myself to go for VT/VWRA instead.
While some US investor including the famed Buffett has been repeatedly quoted "Never bet against the US" - a significant amount of Bogleheads do see the US concentration as uncompensated risk and opt for market weight instead. (Reddit's Boglehead community default advice is quite often not to buy pure SP500 or VTI)

Is 60:40 a lot? Considering 60% of VT/VWRA holding is US and only 40% is "all other eligible countries" - most would consider they are significantly US overweight instead. Some investor I know from this board alone adds VXUS to keep their US allocation even lower than market weight.

Of course, given a long enough investing period, any of SP500, VTI, VT and a good amount of bonds will all work just fine, as long they stay the course.

This post has been edited by Hoshiyuu: Mar 29 2022, 12:35 PM

I am in another school - why avoid international?
US index has been outperforming -- thats is the past. Nobody can predict the future, how certain we are the US can continue to exceed the expectation(not perform as expected as it is already price in, to earn extra profit it should exceed investor expectation), or the center of global economy would be shifting to somewhere else in coming 10-15 years? I guess for now keeping 60 US : 40 international is fair enough just as market capitalization weighted, no matter how the winner rotates it wont affect us too much.

coz US so far performing well. It's your money so up to you. If don't believe in US then choose VWRA for all world ETF.

Fund manager will help you rebalance and more options for them if VWRA.

If we got crystal ball can see future, then we can safely choose what to invest in.. in reality we don't have that power. So all of us taking some risks here and there too when it involves the stock market.

This post has been edited by Davidtcf: Mar 31 2022, 10:41 AM

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask.

Any comments regarding cspx vs vuaa?

Just curious what are the sifus here feedback.

Same underlying product, same expense ratio, one by iShares, one by Vanguard. iShares will have better spread and liquidity, as well as a bigger fund size, but it doesn't matter much if you are a buy once a month and hold person.

VUAA share size is much smaller, so much more easier for us to own, personally, I'll go for VUAA just for the granularity. But if you are saving up and buying quarterly, then it's completely preference.

Of course, both are subjected to SP500 usual pro and cons.

I see. Thanks.

With USD and MYR forex rate. It will be half a year kind a thing. Haha

Yeap, CSPX hits a pain point for your average Malaysian, so VUAA is such a massive help when it debuted for those who want to focus on SP500. There's plenty of old discussion for more details on CSPX if you are curious on Alex's other thread, [DIY] S&P 500 Index w/ 0.07% Annual Fee, Buy the best companies in the world .

Well, I am leaning towards VUAA as lower priced which I am able to buy more shares. Since all things considered constant. Seems like the logical thing to do. However it seems like I am missing something. 👀

Not much really. Both Vanguards and iShares are long running, reputable organizations - you are buying the ETF, so you wouldn't need to worry too much about customer support concern of either company, both are Irish domiciled, so you only pay 15% withholding tax and the small details will be handled by the underlying ETF manager, they both share the same fees, and market maker will ensure liquidity even if the volume is low. Spread will be slightly worse, but hardly a concern if you are buy and hold.

Is there anything particular in mind?

Why not crypto staking? Higher % and can be accessed within 15 minutes.

Not actually sure. Just something bugging me like I am missing something. But so far. Seems fine for both.

Probably just want to be sure before buying via international broker. 😆

VUAA is for poorer ppl like me to buy.. since cost wise cheaper. CSPX cost of entry is high.. if got some spare change after converting also hard to buy.

VUAA one day will catch up to CSPX liquidity trust me. Vanguard is more popular than iShares.

The difference now is liquidity.. which CSPX is more liquid since longer time in market. If you don’t sell often don’t have to worry. As for buy wise don’t rush when buying.. set at reasonable price and willing to wait. If see current price too high (high spike) then wait a few more hours come back.. likely it will drop down to cheaper price for VUAA.

If true boglehead don’t wanna time then set it to market price and just get in. TradingView is a good free tool to see current market price for ETF or stock.

This post has been edited by Davidtcf: Apr 1 2022, 08:09 PM