How to invest when you are all over the place

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frodo1983
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 4:36 am

How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by frodo1983 »

Hi guys,

My first post here and I feel incredibly empowered to have found this forum and the overall ERE mindset.

A little bit of myself. I am 32 male, spent 2/3 of my life in Eastern Europe and 1/3 in Canada. Dual citizen. Have been living/working in Asia for the past 3 years. My goal is to retire within the next 10 years. Unsure where to live. though I consider both Canada and East Europe my home. It is going to be a tough call. Perhaps, I will remain in Asia where I am fully content at the moment. I have done quite bit of travelling over the past 10 years in Asia, Europe and North America and the wanderlust is dying, which is good! I can now focus on the bigger goal.

Here is further about me financially.

Current monthly savings: 4,500 to 4,700 USD plus 1,000 USD in a retirement account including employer contributions. Expect to pay 8,000 to 9,000 USD in taxes at the end of the year. Taxes don't get deducted in every pay check. Entitled to retirement benefits right away when I leave service. This all adds up to annual savings of roughly USD50,000.

Current accumulated savings: CAD 22,000, SGD 125,000, USD 75,000, HKD 100,000 (adding roughly up to USD 200,000). I also have jointly owned properties in Europe with my mom generating some rental income. I do not know how much. lol.

My goal is to retire with CAD 1,000,000 (USD 700,000).

The only problem I have is the lack of investment knowledge. I have never invested in anything other than term deposits (that is if you call it an investment) and I would like to change that.

Few questions:

1. As highlighted, my funds are lying around in many different currencies currently getting 1-2%. Currently earning in HK Dollar. Should I convert them all in a single or 2 currencies despite not being sure where I will live in my retirement?
2. In Europe, I can open a retirement account where the government will contribute 25% of my contributions capped at (USD 1,700 gov contribution, matching my USD 6,800). Money in this account can be invested in various funds. There will be 2% management fees plus some annual fees which I believe 1.9% of the balance? I need to research further on this. There is an age limit on this which is 56 and 10 year min contribution requirement. If I contribute 10 years but withdraw funds before 56, I will only get 60% of the 25% gov contribution (60 times 25 = 15% gov contribution overall) plus 100% of my own. I can also use this scheme on my mom's behalf and as she is already 56, in 10 years, I can get it all.

USD 6,800 x 2 (me and mom) = USD 13,600 annual towards this scheme.

I also need to educate myself on the fund selection of course.

Any opinions?

3. My employer's share match scheme. It is a blue chip , matching 1 shares for every 3 purchased with 3 years vesting period. Dividends has been 7% last year. Every month maximum I am allowed to move to this scheme is around 400 USD. Shares will be purchased at the end of every quarter.
Is this something I should sign up for or do I need to analyze my company's performance?

4. Rest of my savings. How do I allocate? What funds do I invest in as an amateur? Index funds perhaps?

I will be trying to borrow "The intelligence investor" from the library as starters and work on how to increase my savings even further.

Any insight to this newbie is highly appreciated pros!

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by FBeyer »

You might need to read The Four Pillars of Investing, the Bogleheads guide, and All About Asset Allocation, in that order to get a very smooth introduction to investing, the pitfalls, the psychology, the history, the theory, the possibilites and how to invest without too much worry.
Indexing is very popular due to low costs, asset allocation is popular because it works without too much hassle :)

Welcome, and have fun.

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by FBeyer »

Just remembered, that's not to say you understand investing when you've read those books, but you will have found some former unknown unknowns and turned them into known knowns as well as known unknowns, which is the ONLY way to learn anything new. It's all about being exposed to the literature that will put the most RELEVANT unknown unknowns into light as possible. :D

thrifty++
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sat May 23, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by thrifty++ »

Welcome to the forum

Wow thats a meaty monthly saving. What sort of industry are you in?

frodo1983
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 4:36 am

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by frodo1983 »

FBeyer ~ thank you. Looking into those books.

Thrifty++ ~ I am in banking, not the business side though, in risk management

thrifty++
Posts: 1171
Joined: Sat May 23, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by thrifty++ »

Ah great. From what I have seen banking seems to pay good $$ in general. Closest to the money I guess. :)

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Sclass
Posts: 2791
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:15 pm
Location: Orange County, CA

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by Sclass »

I'd read Investment Biker by Jim Rogers. Being all over the place can be a good thing.

He had a second book about his drive around the world in his lifted Mercedes SLK but I forgot what that one was called. Adventure Capitalist I think.

Good books for people who like to travel around and observe realtime geopolitics.

BRUTE
Posts: 3797
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by BRUTE »

HK brokerage account because no capital gains tax + amazing banking in all kinds of currencies + access to vanguard index funds.

Hankaroundtheworld
Posts: 470
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 4:50 am

Re: How to invest when you are all over the place

Post by Hankaroundtheworld »

I also agree, "being all over the place" can be an advantage, as you have access to information and bank accounts in different places, which allows you to play on a world-wide level. For instance, if you decide to buy more rental-properties, you can choose the best locations around the world, etc...

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