People often ask on our forum how to build up a retirement portfolio—usually as a one-time investment for their parents or, for those over 50, for their own retirement planning. Since I myself plan to retire early in four years and would like to relocate to the Philippines, I’ve given this question a lot of thought: What do I really need to ensure my financial planning for retirement is secure and sustainable?

Here, I’d like to present my “retirement foundation.” It doesn’t represent my entire investment portfolio, but it will form the solid core of my stock portfolio. I’ve deliberately left out other asset classes such as gold, bond ETFs, or individual stocks from this breakdown—this represents purely my ETF foundation.

I’ve gradually built this portfolio over the last four to five

years—both theoretically and, to some extent, in practice—and it has consistently met my standards in backtesting since 2020.

This anchor portfolio presented here remains untouched; it is not actively traded but, at most, topped up at irregular intervals. And eventually passed on to heirs.

My strategy in 6 pillars:

1. Quality: Focus on companies with robust balance sheets.

2. Low Volatility: A portfolio that remains stable during market fluctuations (2022 test: -4%

vs. -13% market).

3. Growth: The goal is a total return performance significantly above the broader market.

4. Cash Flow Focus: Target dividend yield of >4% as a supplemental pension.

5. Allocation: The U.S. is capped at 40%; Europe has a higher weighting. I’ve also weighted the financial sector (where I worked for a long time) similarly to tech.

6. Keep it simple: A portfolio must not become so complex that it becomes unmanageable.

My core holdings consist of:

● VanEck Morningstar DM Dividend Leaders $TDIV (+0,74%)

● iShares MSCI World Quality Factor $WQDS (+0,52%)

● iShares S&P 500 Information Tech $IUIT (-0,81%)

● iShares World Equity High Income $WINC (-0,9%)

● Invesco EURO STOXX High Dividend Low Volatility $EUHD (+0,75%)

In four years, I’ll be taking the plunge out of the workforce and into early retirement. With this portfolio, I’ve built a foundation that provides me with reliable distributions and serves as a solid anchor for my life in Asia. With this portfolio alone, I can lead a very good life there. Now I still have four years to do some speculating so that this portfolio can be built up accordingly. The higher, the better.

These may not be the absolute best ETFs in their respective sectors, nor is this a portfolio that will appeal to 100% of everyone, but taken together, it’s perfect for me and my needs.

Thanks to @gloinvest for the hint. @lawinvest brings a second calculation for US shares:

Example for US shares:

• You receive 100 $ dividend.
• 15 € will be withheld in the USA. (Provided form W-8BEN has been filed)
• In Germany you pay another $ 25 tax on the $ 100 + $ 1.375 solidarity tax
• But: 15 € are credited → you pay only an additional $11.375.

For the ETF in Ireland:

• You receive $100 dividend.
• 15 € will be withheld in the USA. (at font level)
• In Germany you pay another $14.875 tax on 70% of $85 + $0.8181 solidarity tax
• No crediting of withholding tax

So there is a 4.31% advantage here with direct investment in US shares via an Irish ETF

For countries with higher withholding tax (e.g. Switzerland 35%, France 25%, Italy 26%) it is much more complicated, because the credit is often capped and you have to get the rest via refund procedures.

ETFs often have better withholding tax efficiency because large fund companies can sometimes carry out refunds/reclaims that you would not be able to do as a private investor.

📊 Taxing dividends cleverly - ETF vs. individual share?

( Does this apply to D, other countries too? in AT, funds are taxed at a flat rate ( KEst) in CH there is wealth tax ..... )

You have Colgate in your portfolio and wonder why the dividend of 26,36 % while the same dividend via a dividend ETF is only taxed at 18,46 % is charged? Here is the explanation - and a smart tip for all dividend fans!

💡 The difference: partial exemption for ETFs

Benefit in Germany equity ETFs benefit from the so-called partial exemption:

• 30% of the income is tax-freeif the ETF invests at least 51% in shares.
• This reduces the effective tax burden on dividends from 26.375 % to approx. 18.46 %..

Individual shares such as Colgate, on the other hand, are subject to full withholding tax - despite partial crediting of the US withholding tax.

🧾 Conclusion

🔹 Individual shares = full tax but deduction of withholding tax

Dividend ETFs = tax-optimized, particularly interesting for non-US equities with higher withholding tax. Important for broad diversification!

🔹 Partial exemption = compensation must be calculated to determine whether it is worthwhile.

Can it be an ADVANTAGE in the long term? According to the above calculation, the advantage lies in direct investment for pure US equities, otherwise ETF is simpler and more profitable.

Here are a few examples:

🌍 Global dividend ETFs

• Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF $VHYL (+0,33%)
  ISINIE00B8GKDB10
• Distributing, quarterly
• TER: 0,29 %
• Partial exemption: 30 %
• Invests worldwide in high-dividend companies
• iShares MSCI World Quality Dividend UCITS ETF $WQDS (+0,52%)
  ISIN : IE00BYYHSQ67: IE00BYYHSQ67
• Focus on high quality dividend payers
• TER: 0,38 %
• Distributing, with global diversification
• SPDR S&P Global Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF $ZPRG (+0,56%)
  ISIN : IE00B9CQXS: IE00B9CQXS71
• Contains companies with long-term dividend history
• TER: 0,45 %
• Distributing

🇩🇪 Dividend ETFs on German equities

• Deka DAXplus Maximum Dividend UCITS ETF $EL4X (+1,15%)
  ISINDE000ETFL235
• Focus on highest dividend yields in the HDAX
• TER: 0,30 %
• Distributing
• Amundi DivDAX UCITS ETF Dist $E903 (+1,6%)
  ISIN: DE000A0F5UH1
• TER: 0,25 %
• Distributing, based on DivDAX Index

🇺🇸 US dividend ETFs with good withholding tax structure

• Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) $VIG (+0,43%)
  ISIN: US9219088443
• Focus on high-growth dividend payers
• Attention: US domicile → note withholding tax
• SPDR S&P US Dividend Aristocrats ETF (SDY) $SPYD (+0,87%)
  ISINUS78464A7634
• Contains US companies with at least 25 years of dividend growth

Which ETF do you have in your portfolio? Or why individual shares?

P.S. Before everyone says, it's common knowledge. You can never give out information like this too often. Maybe I heard it 5 years ago, but I haven't thought about it now. Surely others will feel the same way, right?

I would like to reduce the size of my portfolio and thought I would take a look at my ETFs. $SUSW (+0,32%)
$SPYD (+0,87%)
$WQDS (+0,52%)
$OG70 (-0,47%) and invest in $VWRL (-0,09%) or $IWDA (+0%) and reallocate. Is this the right move in the long term?

Hello!

I have been actively working on my portfolio since the beginning of this year, my strategy is to go towards dividends and a safe investment in ETF's with ETF's I want to achieve a balanced weighting that is not too American-heavy but also focuses on Europe.

I have a monthly savings plan of €300 which is divided as follows:

50 € $IWDA (+0%)

50 € $EXSA (+0,89%)

40 € $ZPRG (+0,56%)

40 € $WQDS (+0,52%)

20 € $O (+0,22%)

15 € $VZ (-0,11%)

15 € $ULVR (+1,29%)

10 € $JPM (-0,45%)

10 € $JNJ (-0,62%)

10 € $PG (-0,14%)

10 € $ENB (-1,58%)

10 € $ALV (+1,53%)

10 € $KO (-0,46%)

10 € $MCD (+1,29%)

Please do not pay too much attention to the crypto positions, I will liquidate the Shitcoins in the near future when prices are good and switch to ETFs/shares.

Now to my simple question, what do you think of the portfolio? Is it good for my strategy or do you have any tips?

VanEck NL0011683594 ; EUR ; 100 companies, 0.38 % TER, vola 9.3 % $TDIV (+0,74%)

Vanguard IE00B8GKDB10; $, 2,123 companies, 0.29 % TER, Vola 10.7 % % $VHYL (+0,33%)

iShares IE00BYYHSQ67, $, 199 companies, 0.38 % TER, Vola 11 % $WQDS (+0,52%)

Another one - I comment...

Dear Community,

Yesterday you were able to help me quickly and effectively. I sold the tiny positions $MATIC (-0,27%) with a considerable loss and $ETH (+0,89%) with a small profit and set up a weekly savings plan on $BTC (+0,18%) set up a weekly savings plan.

In order to simplify and streamline the portfolio even further, I now have the following question for you...

To help you understand my portfolio better, here is a brief explanation:

The main portfolio (currently approx. 150k) is a core-satellite portfolio with 56% $IWDA (+0%) , 20% $GGRP (+0,52%) , 12% $WSML (+0,53%) and 12% $XMME (-0,99%) .

With just under 20k is still the $CSPX (-0,13%) in the portfolio.

I have also been holding a separate div growth portfolio (currently approx. 34k) with these stocks for some time:

$MMM (+0,37%) approx. 1500€

$MSFT (+0,76%) approx. 1400€

$ABT (+1,2%) approx. 3300€

$JNJ (-0,62%) approx. 2800€

$PEP (-1,16%) approx. 2700€

$PG (-0,14%) approx. 3300€

$TDIV (+0,74%) approx. 3900€

$WQDS (+0,52%) approx. 3850€

$FGEQ (+0,52%) approx. 3800€

$VWRL (-0,09%) approx. 3750€

$FUSD (+0,33%) approx. 3750€

I save the ETF fraction constantly, nothing should or will change.

I'm just wondering how I should structure the ratio of individual stocks from now on. Should I increase all individual stocks to 5000€ per position or all stocks except Microsoft to 6k? Any other suggestions or ideas? If I simply leave the individual stocks untouched, the money would go into the div ETFs in tranches.

Total TER at 0.22 (which is quite acceptable for me) - and the overlaps are known and also okay for me 😄

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart and have a nice rest of Sunday 😎

Best regards

EvD

Let's see if it was a good decision...but I can live with having sold 50 percent, I saw it as a good time.

130 % plus, and clearly too high an asset share of 5.5 %.

Now I basically only have the profit in Bitcoin and can let it run with peace of mind.

In anticipation of a possible year-end rally, the portfolio was reallocated to $WQDS (+0,52%)

Your swarm intelligence desired 😉

I started my ETF investments at the end of 2021.

So far, I have invested my money in the MSCI World without a concept (only $ISAC (-0,1%) then $IWDA (+0%) ), $IUIT (-0,81%) and $IUHC (+1,47%) . Dips were bought later and when prices were good.

I am a bit suspicious of the Chinese stock market because the government there can manipulate the market considerably - hence the move to the $IWDA (+0%)

I also have the DWS funds that were set up for me as a child.

The shares are more for "playing".

As I haven't yet found a method for evaluating shares that gives me a good feeling, I'm still a bit cautious here.

$WQDS (+0,52%) , $ESIT (-0,05%) and $INGR I would describe these as missteps and will probably sell them soon.

Now I would like to go for a clean concept and invest in savings plans.

The aim is to secure my pension and build up my assets.

Now I'm just faced with the question:

What is the best way to weight my portfolio?

Core-Sattelite? - Are $IUIT (-0,81%) and $IUHC (+1,47%) Sattelites or already core?

50% MSCI World Core, 20% EM and 30% $IUIT (-0,81%) / $IUHC (+1,47%) ?

How would you proceed or what would your weighting look like in my portfolio?

I would be very happy to receive tips, suggestions and advice.

I'm a bit at a loss 😁

Thank you very much for your help