investment stragegy – Simple with Money

mei 26, 2021mei 25, 2021Investing, Money

Invest the money from the #simplechallenge in ETFs.

Well I was super active with the #simplechallenge myself. Not! The past week I was mostly sick in bed in between work. The idea was to go to the market instead of the supermarket, to do a peeling at home instead of the salon and to have a game night instead of going out. Things like that. Read more inspiration for free things to do here. Hopefully you did a better job! I will of course show you how you can buy an ETF from your saved money and which ETFs to buy.

By doing little besides sleeping and working, I haven’t spent much and I’m going to put the money saved in an investor account. Before starting the #simplechallenge, the plan was to open a new investor account. However, I have done some research and comparisons of different brokers. Every time I end up on DeGiro as the cheapest broker. That’s why I decided to show how to buy an ETF from DeGiro. This is not a sponsored post, DeGiro is simply the cheapest. I’ll take you through the proces of buying an ETF step by step.

Do you want to know more about starting to invest? First read step 1 and step 2.

Create an account.

Go to the website of the broker where you want to invest. Create an account. You can do this yourself, the websites always take you step by step through the process.

put money on your account — Transfer money

Transfer money to our account.

Now I log on to DeGiro website. At the top right, I click on money entry and exit. This screen appears. I choose 50 euros and then I just get the same screen from the bank via iDeal as when I buy something on a webshop or when I order food. When I have finished paying, the money is in my free space.

Choose which ETFs to buy

In the post about the degiro free selection I will discuss a number of options. I choose the VWCE (Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Acc, ISIN: IE00BK5BQT80) from the free selection. Once per calendar month you can invest in ETFs from the free selection without transaction costs. The advantage over the VWRL (Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Dis, ISIN: IE00B3RBWM25) which I always bought before, is that with the VWCE the dividend that the underlying companies pay out is immediately, automatically reinvested. At VWRL you have to do that yourself.

At the time of writing, the exchange rate of VWCE stands at just over 90 euros. There is still 47 euros in my free space. That’s because you buy per entire ETF, so if I transfer 100 euros to my investor account, for example, and an ETF costs 90, then 10 is left in the free space. A share dividend was recently added. That is why I now deposit 50 euros. Then I can buy a whole ETF from VWCE.

Buying an ETF

Now I search VWCE and choose where it says XET. This is the Xtera fair. Here this ETF is in the core selection and not via the other exchange (Milan).

At the limit I enter 90.35 (current bid price) and at amount 1. The total amount is entered automatically. I finalize the order and click confirm. Now the order has been placed and if someone offers the ETF at this price, the purchase will be made.

It’s that simple. Now I have invested in an ETF with no fewer than 3,550 different companies. Talk about a solid spread!

How much have you saved this week (or month)? Where did you put your saved money into? Let me know! I like to hear from you!

Until next time!

Elske

Elske 0

mei 14, 2021mei 13, 2021Investing

Rising inflation, time to panic sell!

This week, I lost 15% of my investment gains in a week due to the news on rising inflation. HELP ME! SLEEPLESS NIGHTS!

Heyday

Last March, during the corona dip, the stock exchange fell by at least 25%. After that, investors have been celebrating heydays since last summer. Almost all sectors are on the rise and the economy seems to be gaining momentum. This week that all changed. Due to the expected inflation of 2.1% in America, the stock markets have dipped considerably this week. This is because higher inflation often results in higher interest rates. Fewer people and companies take out loans because you pay more interest on them. That slows down economic growth.

So much has happened in the past months that this dip that the newspapers are now full of is actually not that important at all. If there is news that has an impact on investments, you will always see it enlarged in the figures. When the news is good, the figures shoot into the green and when the news is bad, the figures fall sharply.

I just lost 15%

Since March 2019 I have been investing in index funds with degiro. In the more than two years that I have invested there, I have been able to achieve good results. Of the profit I have made in the past two years, at least 15% has evaporated in a few days. I’m not worried about it. Since the beginning of this year I in fact gained on 60% profit.

I do not worry about this because I know that the balance will be restored and that I am not at a loss. AlsoI invest for the long term and well diversified. So I don’t have sleepless nights and sweaty bouts with this kind of dip. If a company, sector or country goes down, the other investments in the index will absorb the dip. In the long term of about 20 years, such a dip is faded easily.

don't panic sell over rising inflation! — Just fly high over the dip

Don’t lose a night of sleep

Do you want to achieve a good return but no sleepless nights? Then I can wholeheartedly recommend that you invest a fixed amount in an index fund every month. By investing every month you sometimes buy your shares expensive, other times cheaply. Ultimately, you buy at the average price. This principle is called dollar cost averaging. Do this every month, preferably automatically. After a few years you have a considerable return and after 20 years there is a good chance that you have built up a lot of capital. Make sure you only do this with money that you really don’t need in the first years, otherwise you will still have sleepless nights. Do not panic sell!

If you invest 100 euros every month and on average you have a return of about 8% (which is historically average) then that could be worth about 65,000 euros after 20 years. Your deposit 24,000 of your earned euros, and for the remaining 41,000 you don’t have to do anything other then set and forget. Just 100 euros every month. So get rich while sleeping, instead of sleepless nights. Ha!

Do you want to know what my portfolio looks like? Then read the post about my investment strategy.

Are you nervous about a dip in the market? How do you deal with this? Let me know!

Until next time!

Elske

I am not a Financial advisor nor am I your financial advisor. I am not a trained financial professional. This blog is for entertainment purposes only.

Elske 0

maart 29, 2021maart 28, 2021Money

Don’t overthink it.

What is the fine line between Analysis Paralysis and Extinct by Instinct?

Analysis paralysis is when the fear of either making an error or forgoing a superior solution, outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success in a decision made in a timely manner. This imbalance results in suppressed decision-making in an unconscious effort to preserve existing options. Also known as overthinking.

This happens all the time with regards to investing. In the stock market it’s never the perfect time to step in or to get out. You will never be at the lowest to step in and never at the highest to get out. But as warren buffet says, time in the market beats timing the market. It is better to just begin before it is 100% right then to wait and miss out. Don’t be paralyzed by analysis.

On the other hand though… on the contrary is extinct by instinct. It means to make an incorrect decision in haste without detailed or with little analysis. Such decisions can be detrimental as much as the analysis paralysis. So, here’s a little advise. Only invest money you can afford to lose. Invest in stuff you know something about and are appropriate for your level of risk. If you have money left to invest, read up on what you want to invest in and go for it. Don’t overdo the research but don’t make rushed decisions. Never listen to a random guy on the internet. It’s weird how people blindly follow advice from an unprofessional internet stranger when it comes to investing but are not willing to listen to a financial advisor or make own decisions. (Hi, I’m an internet stranger as well, don’t take my advice too serious, make your own decisions 😉 )

Don’t fall for overcomplicated explanations. You don’t look dumb if you don’t invest in stuff you have little understanding of. If you understand what you are doing, the risk is so much lower and the chances of a high return of investment are increasing. So your best bet is to stay there. Expand your knowledge before expanding your investments into unknown territory.

Best of luck!

Elske

Elske 0

maart 12, 2021maart 13, 2021Money

Predicting the future in a crystal ball

The stock market is shaking. Big players like Tesla and Apple have seen a big dip this past week. The stock exchange is a rollercoaster. Like always, a lot of people are making predictions. ‘A big crash is coming!’, ‘The whole monetary system is collapsing!’, ‘Interest rates can’t get lower, what will happen next?’. All these panic headlines. I tried to find out what the buzz is about. Here is what I found.

The stock exchange is a rollercoaster. You’ll get hurt if you step out early.

Corona.

The world economy took a big hit because of the pandemic. A lot of stimuli have entered the economy. The money presses have been pressing new money like crazy to keep ahead of the economic disasters created by lockdowns. With the extra money pumped into the economy, a higher inflation arises. That is undesirable. The aim is to keep inflation under 2% annually.

Super debt cycle.

Some economists say we are ending a super debt cycle. Once every 50-75 years there is the end of a super debt cycle. This occurs when central banks keep the interest rates low. It is done to make it easy to take out loans and make it less desirable to save. It is artificial growth of the economy based on loans. Interest rates are historically low both on your savings account as on a mortgage and on government bonds. Stocks in general are going up without any sort of big crashes for a while.

Tight monetary policy is coming. Defying inflation with low interest rates is not working. What is happening then is the central banks will increase interest rates. The artificial growth will slow down. It will get harder to take on a loan and that will decrease spending. The interest rates on bonds and savings accounts will go up so saving and investing in bonds will become more interesting. Saving and investing in bonds is less risky than investing in the stock market. Therefore money will be taken out of the stock market and put into savings and bond. By decreasing the demand on stocks, the prices will go down.

When will saving become more interesting than investing?

What if you have 100 dollars. You can exchange them to a 50/50% change that it will become 0 or 1000 dollars. What do you do? Changes are you are going to say I will take my change and hope to make it 1000 dollars. Now do the same thing but with 500 dollars. There is a 50/50% change of it becoming 0 or 1000 dollars. What do you do? My best guess is that you will keep the 500. The guaranteed 500 is better than the 50/50 change of 1000. This is how investing in the stock market is. The return on investments was so low on savings and bonds that a lot of people took a shot on the stock market. The risk of losing your stakes is bigger, but the changes of a high return are also greater. The near zero interest rates and growing inflation you lose money if you keep it at your savings account. The upcoming higher interest rates will also create a higher interest rate on your savings. Expectations are that a large group of people will redeem their stocks and put them back on the savings account. The stock market will go down. I think this will only happen as the interest rates will be as high as 3-4%. The average return of investments on stocks is around 7-8%. Where do you think the tipping point will be?

Gold standard and cryptocurrency.

Then there is this point. Our complete monetary system is based on the dollar. The value of the dollar was directly linked to gold. Other currencies were linked to the dollar. In 1971 the dollar was detached from gold but it is still linked to the other currencies. Since a couple of years there is a new player on the market that’s winning terrain. Cryptocurrency. Nowadays it is possible to use your cryptocurrency as collateral for loans. You no longer have to go to the bank if you need money. You can also grant your cryptocurrency to someone who needs money on websites such as blockfi. Someone who needs money pays interest, you receive interest. If your crypto increases in value and you exchange it for dollars again, that also adds up. That way you can create a whole new monetary system in which government and banks are completely sidelined. No one can see into the future, so I am not going to say in advance whether this is the new monetary system. It is interesting though.

Buy the dip.

Conclusion

There are infinitely more factors that determine the economy. No one is able to predict this time and time again. Despite the uncertain times we find ourselves in and the crisis that will sooner or later come anyway, I will stick to my investment strategy. By always keeping savings and bonds in my portfolio, my portfolio remains slightly more stable than the volatile stock market. Because of my share in investments, my portfolio grows faster than inflation. The risk is that I will get (much) less return for a while during the inevitable coming crisis. Research has shown time and again that if you have a widespread portfolio, it is better to stay invested than try to time the market. The chance that you will achieve more returns is almost 100%. Time in the market beats the timing of the market, Warren Buffet said.

Would you adapt your strategy to a crisis?

Till next time,

Elske

I am not a Financial advisor nor am I YOUR financial advisor. I am not a trained financial professional. This blog is for entertainment purposes only.

Elske 0