Hi everyone!

I've been investing for almost a year now with a small amount of capital, mostly to get familiar with the world of markets and personal finance. I’m 26, conservative investor, and I’ve always kept my distance from trading, YouTube “gurus” and get-rich-quick schemes.

After some time learning and experimenting, I wanted to share my strategy and hear what more experienced investors think.

🧠 The idea: build a modular portfolio with global exposure. Instead of the usual split between developed and emerging markets, I prefer dividing by region — using two ETFs per region: one accumulating and one distributing.

Why both? Honestly, I’m still figuring it out — but I like the idea of having some exposure to dividends while reinvesting long-term. My goal is to reach €50,000 in savings as a milestone, partly because that’s the cap for earning interest on Trade Republic’s savings account (which I’m also using).

⚙️ I invest monthly (~€700) and aim to rebalance the weights annually. I selected ETFs with low TERs and (when possible) EUR-based to avoid currency conversion. It’s not always easy to find the perfect match, but here’s the setup:

• Europe (40%)

ETF (Acc) --> $SMEA (+0,24%) | ETF(Dist) --> $EQDS (+0,06%)

• USA (30%)

ETF (Acc) --> $SPPW (-0,02%) | ETF(Dist) --> $SPY5 (+0,2%)

• Emergin Markets (20%)

ETF (Acc) --> $EIMI (-0,38%) | ETF (Dist) --> $IEEM (-0,32%)

• Gold + BTC (10%)

ETF --> $SGLD (-1,68%)

The idea is to split each region’s weight equally between the two ETFs — that is, 50% of the region's allocation to each ETF. This results in a total TER of 0.289%.

Would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or suggestions! Still very new to all this, so any insight from more experienced investors would be super helpful 🙌

Thanks for reading! 🚀

#etfs
#stockanalysis
#dividends
#crypto

Hello, GQ community!

I'm 50 years old and I'm very new to this interesting world of investments.

I believe it's never too late to learn something and start a new journey.

I plan to travel for about 15 years 🤞🏼🙂

I watched a lot of YouTube videos before deciding to switch to ETFs from simple deposit accounts. Actually I don't have knowledge yet to invest in individual stocks, so I'll go all-in on a few ETFs, trying to diversify a little bit. They say is good not to be entirely exposed to the US market, even though it should be every portfolio's core.

I started with a 5k allocation and I chose $IWDA (+0,08%) as my core, $SMEA (+0,24%) for the European market and $AASI (-0,51%) for a share of emerging markets ( 👉🏼 I wanted them to be Asian only, but then I realized $AASI (-0,51%) overweight US 🙄 Why its name is so deceiving?)

In short guys, by next week I plan to allocate another 20k to boost my portfolio and then saving every month.

I'd make $IWDA (+0,08%) at least 50% of my position, I'm considering the purchase of some $EIMI (-0,38%) shares (more focused on EM) and maybe soon a crypto ETN/ETC (I still have to understand which is the best offered solution from my broker).

I wouldn't exceed 10% for $WGLD (-1,52%) and 5% for the crypto.

- Do you have any tips?

- Do I already have overlaps?

- Does make sense to save on some $IS3R (-0,04%) shares just to get a tiny boost to my returns?

- Which would be the ideal % for every allocation?

[👉🏼 If I get a negative feedback about $IS3R (-0,04%) and $AASI (-0,51%) I won't sell them, but just let run as it is]

Thanks in advance for any precious opinion!

• The U.S. has been the dominant global equity market as the top returning region for 10 years out of the past 15, when including 2024 year-to-date performance.

• In the period before that, emerging markets were the best-returning region, providing the best returns 12 years in the two decades spanning 1991 to 2010.

• Between 2001 to 2010, the MSCI Emerging Market Index , composed of equities from countries like China, Taiwan, India, Brazil, and South Korea, posted robust returns of 15.9%, significantly outperforming developed market stocks over the same period. However, since 2011, emerging market equities have seen just 0.9% in annualized returns.

• The biggest period of underperformance for U.S. equities was after the dot-com bubble crash.

• From 2002 to 2005, the U.S. was the worst-returning region in terms of equities, with 2002 seeing the worst return ever for U.S. equities at -23%.

• Europe’s returns have been less volatile than emerging markets, with fewer extreme highs and lows. However, the region has often underperformed U.S. equities, particularly in recent years. European markets have experienced a strong rebound so far in 2024, driven by easing energy concerns and  resiliente consumer spending.

$CSPX (+0,17%)
$VUSA (+0,23%)
$EIMI (-0,38%)
$XMME (-0,5%)
$SMEA (+0,24%)

I love Europe 🇪🇺