If Malaysian and willing to invest in MYR + don't care about "government ponzi scheme", EPF and (if you're bumiputera) ASB are damn good substitutes for bond allocation by nature of being "stable", "no loss" schemes.

In a planned portfolio with not too much margin for error (would be the case for an average earner), having your portfolio rollback by 6 years would severely delay your early retirement, or easily reduce your yearly withdrawal amount in your retirement - at a 50% equity drop, its entirely possible to go from "just comfortable enough" to having to move into a shared apartment and live on maggi for a few years until the market bounces back.

does one need to sell the balance of the 50% and to having to move into a shared apartment and to survive the on maggi....to tight over the 2~3 BAD years...
then he sure does not have enough for retirements...

for if the markets did not drops....it will just be enough to last him for another few years

Thanks will consider either bond etf once I research further.

Yea tried to search for individual bonds to buy some US gov bond could cost usd3k just for one bond. Also need to have willing buyer if wanna sell a bond. Some like SG bond need to wait gov to issue a bond after a few mths. Everything so complicated about them. I think to simplify things just leave it to a bond ETF.

Found some good videos today as this topic now pique my interest:

The first video more reliable. Second video Kelvin feels he don’t need bonds due to SG retirement fund, but shows an important part which is suggested bond ratio in one’s portfolio.. in Reddit someone else mention is your age -10 = how much percent of bonds one should have.

This couple instead forgo bonds completely due to some research they quote. The comments below the video are interesting to read. Many disagree and say bonds have a role to play.
So in the end depends what you’re comfortable with, and stick with the plan.

I’m thinking locally to substitute bond we could buy fixed deposit since those are guaranteed returns? If a FD is offering good rate would be wise to go ahead? But yea downside is we’re using MYR which any day might plunge lower.

Will look into SG to see if got any good dividend distributing type bond etf.. since SG don’t charge taxes on dividends.
Edit: best SG bond etf is - ABF SG bond etf. Performance is similar to AGGU etf so depends which u prefer or can just get both.

Found an article that mentioned that it is better to invest in short term bonds when interest rates are expected to rise:
https://www.im.natixis.com/us/portfolio-con...-term-bond-etfs

Found a good short term bond etf which is IBTU or IB01. One is accumulating another distributing. Reason for price difference of USD 5 vs USD 100 per etf: https://www.reddit.com/r/eupersonalfinance/...utm_name=iossmf

Other list of good short term bonds here (need to ownself search for UCITS Irish domiciled counterpart): https://seekingalpha.com/article/4379128-be...1hoCproQAvD_BwE

AGGG pays monthly dividends but if like pure bond why not BND or BNDX name sake ETF

If u r the type who is not limited to US market, I can suggest Abfmy Singapore bond ETF listed on SGX for a safe heaven play.

It invests in SG government bonds, which is AAA rated country (higher than US). You get interests which is a bit higher than SG FD and, depending on market, can even be higher than US Treasuries. And, more importantly, there is no witholding tax.

As of yesterday, SGS 10 year yield 1.93% and US 10 year Treasuries yield 1.95%. Pretty close.

For SGX, HKEX I think you can try Tiger, Moomoo as I don't think IBKR is offering so good rates for non-US exchange traded ETF.

Stay away from ABF Malaysia being dragged down thanks to 1MDB 

Great thread! Thanks for starting one.

I have a question.

I know IBKR is probably the preferred broker for most for its low fees, can buy Irish Domiciled ETF like VWRA and if you are buying US ones you get to DCA by buying fractional shares.

Personally, I don't feel comfortable putting all my money in a single broker (not to mention outside of Malaysia).

So I'm curious, do you guys diversify / split to different broker accounts? If yes, what do you use and what are you favourite funds? VWRA, VTI+VXUS, VT?

Thanks for sharing, I didn't realize Syfe and Futu Moomoo have access to VWRA... I'll check that out. Yea, want to avoid estate tax + reduce the 30% withholding tax if possible, IBKR is the best so far.

What about TDAmeritrade? Doesn't seem very popular around here for some reason.

I support the formation of this Bogleheads Local Chapter. I've mostly relied on "investing from singapore" guide on the bogleheads wiki, since there aren't any malaysian guides written so far. Thanks to the good forumers on LYN forum, I have been enlightened to the ways of Bogle investing.

BTW, are there advantages of choosing VWRA (USD) over VWRP (GBP)? They are just different currencies, but the underlying assets are still the same. I have read an article on the bogleheads wiki regarding Non-US investors and ETF currencies.
Based on the above statement, are there any significant advantages of VWRA over VWRP? I am currently using IBKR. Does IBKR offer better conversion rates from USD/SGD vs GBP/SGD?

Bro you moving to USA?

quite normal. i know of someone who's FIRE... living in KL but his monies are all in SGD. he retired decades ago

But..but..local MMF is in that hated currency..MYR 😁

/S

But seriously l, if u want to compare MYR MMF then it should be with MYR Bonds. Malaysia 10 year MGS is 3.75% now.

U should trust MGS more than any local MMF and even  FD tho..MGS issued in MYR, govt can always print MYR.

Btw u can also consider USD money market ETF as a defensive option.eg SHV.

Hi everyone, I am quite a boglehead too. 60/40 VWRA+WSML+small amount of local mutual fund/AGGU+cash with 5% gold.

Normally where you guys park your cash? FD or money market? what are the good options to park cash?

My take on local vs international is incline to international as much as possible depending on size of money... since our EPF maybe already have around 35% in local market if not mistaken (and 15% international)

Been thinking about any accessible alternative asset in Malaysia can't find any good options. REITs, crypto, Rolex are not my type of game, hedge fund too high to climb...

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

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