Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out for some help and guidance, especially since this community is full of people willing to share their experience and knowledge.

About 5 years ago, I got to know that my father had most of his life savings sitting in a regular bank account earning just 1.25% interest per year. It honestly hurt to see all his hard work being slowly eaten up because of it. At the time, I tried to convince him to invest at least a portion in something like an ETF, but with no success. I eventually let it go, after all, it’s his money, and I could understand why he chose to be so conservative with it, even if it's not what I would've done.

Now, five years later, he seems to have changed his mind. We’ve started discussing how to allocate the money more effectively. For context he plans to retire in about 9 years.

The idea is to focus a bit more on growth over the next 9 years, and then gradually shift the allocation toward a more fully dividend-focused portfolio. That way, he can generate passive income and won’t have to rely solely on his pension in retirement.

I’m still learning and would really appreciate some feedback from more experienced investors.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

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Here’s the current allocation we are working on:

🟦 Growth ETFs – 40%

• MSCI World ($IWDA (+0,36%) )
• iShares MSCI EM ETF ($IEMA (-0,18%) )

🟥 Dividend ETFs – 20%

• FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield ($VHYL (+0,5%) )
• VanEck Developed Markets Dividend Leaders ($TDIV) (+0,33%)

🟩 Bonds – 15%

• Xtrackers II Eurozone Gov Bond 25+ ($DBXG) (-1,13%)
• 
  Amundi Euro Inflt Expectations 2-10Y ($INFL) (+0,15%)

🟪 Individual Stocks – 7.5%

• Google ($GOOG) (+1,8%)
• 
  Unilever ($ULVR) (-0,31%)
• 
  ASML ($ASML) (+0,86%)
• 
  Allianz ($ALV) (-0,53%)
• 
  Visa ($V) (-0,32%)

🟧 Cash Reserve – 2.5%

Emergency Fund – 15%

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I would really appreciate feedback on the following:

• Is this allocation appropriate for someone with 9 years to go?
• Any ETFs or stocks you’d swap in or out?
• Anything you’d do differently in general and why?

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