Dear Qiners,

I need to tap into your collective wisdom. My parents recently sold their business and now have about €1 million sitting in their accounts (in addition to the €100,000 each covered by deposit insurance). They know nothing about investing (they’ve been scammed a few times by bank advisors and insurance agents). Now they’re asking me for advice on investment options for the coming decades.

Their very first requirement is: Maximum security! (no capital market fluctuations, no currency risk, no loss due to inflation, no risk of theft, no risk of bank insolvency) Second requirement: Maximum liquidity! (Liquidation and transfer to a checking account possible at any time) Third condition: Minimal costs! (no custody fees, no transaction costs, max. 0.1% TER) Nothing else matters. As you can imagine, this aspect of investing isn’t my specialty. That’s why I’m asking you: How would you invest the money?

My initial idea is to allocate 25% each to the following ETFs, spread across three brokers (IngDiba, Zero Finanzen, SNeo):

1. Amundi Smart Overnight Return UCITS ETF C-EUR (money market ETF; the riskiest due to unfunded swaps, but offers the highest yield, approx. 2.48% per annum) $CSH2 (+0,04 %)

2. Shares € Ultrashort Bond UCITS ETF (Acc) (short-term EU corporate bonds, physically replicated, second-highest yield, approx. 2.23% per annum) $ERNX (+0,05 %)

3. Xtrackers II Germany Government Bond 0-1 UCITS ETF (Acc) (short-term German government bonds, physically replicated, likely the gold standard for safety in Germany, 1.96% per annum) $XG01 (+0,02 %)

4. Amundi Prime Euro Government Bond 0-1Y UCITS ETF Acc (short-term EU government bonds, physically replicated; in terms of interest rates, these are currently even safer than German short-term bonds, 1.95% per annum) $PRAB (+0 %)

The total return on this portfolio would be approximately 2.16%. That’s more than enough for my parents—they don’t need the money, but they don’t want to spend it either. It’s simply meant to sit there safely, protected from inflation, until the end of their lives, so they can sleep soundly.

Mind you, we’re in a realm here where a money market ETF is pure gambling. But what else is even safer for the next 10–30 years—that is, protected against currency crises, sovereign crises, bank failures, money market collapses, pandemics, nuclear strikes, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

And no: cash won’t work—it loses value to inflation and can be stolen. Gold isn’t the answer either—its value fluctuates too much and it can also be stolen. Real estate isn’t either—its value fluctuates and it can be expropriated. The well-known “3xGTAA” safety net is somehow out of the question too—though I can’t quite recall the reasons right now.

Of course, I could tell them: “Dear parents, the only certainties in life are death and taxes.” ” But they’re not up for that kind of joke. Besides, that saying doesn’t solve their problem.

So: Do you have any ideas for maximum security? Then please share them! I’m feeling a bit incompetent in this area right now.

Yours, Epi

Hello everyone,

I'm about to receive a gift, and I'd like to park the money for the time being because I might want to use it as equity for property in the next 3-4 years. If that doesn't happen, ownership will no longer be an issue after that. I have considered parking the money in a euro money market ETF without USD currency risk. I now had the $ERNX (+0,05 %)

on the screen.

Do you have any experience with money market ETFs of this size? Yield vs. overnight money, stability, liquidity in times of stress?

I look forward to your opinions and recommendations!

My path to financial freedom. My investment horizon is around 15 years.

• Monthly savings rate 2600 Euro
• 1000 Euro ETF savings plan
• 1150 Euro individual shares
• 400 Euro BTC savings plan + 20000 Euro cash still invested to reach 20 % of the portfolio
• 50 Euro P2P Go&Grow

Target weighting

30 % ETF $SP20 (-1,01 %)

30 % shares

$AMD (-4,93 %)
$ASML (-3,28 %)
$SHOP (-3,28 %)
$NOW (+1,76 %)
$NU (+0 %)
$META (-10,43 %)
$FTNT (+1,96 %)
$ANET (-3,87 %)
$NFLX (+2,1 %)
$APP (-0,41 %)
$CRWD (+2,28 %)

20% Bitcoin $BTC (-3,34 %)

10% gold $EWG2 (-1,04 %)

5% P2P Bondora Go&Grow

5% Cash cushion $ERNX (+0,05 %)

the strategy is always individually adapted.

Today I dug deep into my savings box and put €10,000 aside. Not for vacations, not for the car - but for additional purchases.

Since I joined the company in April, shares such as $NVDA (-1,8 %) and $AVGO (-1,91 %) have already performed strongly - in some cases up over 70 %. Brilliant, but that's exactly why I'm not touching them at the moment. Buying at all-time highs? Not my style.

Nobody is currently expecting a major stock market earthquake, but anyone who knows history knows that September has often been the month of panic selling - and of the best entries.

The €10,000 is currently parked in the iShares € Ultrashort Bond ETF (ISIN: IE000RHY0R04) - delivers a return of around 3.3% p.a., is available daily and currently yields more than any overnight money.

Spoiler: slight bragging rights.

After a few months of investing (I started as a beginner just before the Trump chaos, when the market was still overvalued), I reached my first milestone: over €10,000 invested.

Since the beginning, I have changed my strategy. I now take a long-term approach with a 70:30 split between ETFs and individual stocks. Within the ETFs, I hold 7% of my portfolio in $ERNX (+0,05 %) for more stability. The percentage split is not quite optimal yet, but I will probably rebalance towards the end of the year.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I prefer $FWRG (-0,6 %) over Vanguard because of the lower TER.

I'm the first person in my family who not only has enough money to invest, but has also become financially literate and uses the stock market at all. I'm quite proud of that.

If I continue to invest €1,000-1,500 every month (sometimes more), I could reach €20,000 by the end of the year. There are still a few larger expenses to come, but they shouldn't affect the amount set aside for investments too much.

If necessary, you are welcome to roast me.