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 (+0,56%)

● iShares MSCI World Quality Factor $WQDS (+0,78%)

● iShares S&P 500 Information Tech $IUIT (+0,66%)

● iShares World Equity High Income $WINC (+0,23%)

● Invesco EURO STOXX High Dividend Low Volatility $EUHD (+0,78%)

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.

Still, it surprises me to see comments “frequently” suggesting that the TDIV isn’t performing well, is too expensive, or that the dividend is disappointing after the latest payment.

Once again, this ETF is on an upward trend, and it remains the go-to retirement ETF for many investors looking ahead.

$TDIV (+0,56%)

What do you think of the new breakdown of the $TDIV (+0,56%) ? The share of American stocks has been significantly reduced, and England is now even ahead of the U.S. I actually like the lower oil allocation at the moment, though the financial sector’s share is back up to >40%.

Have a great start to the week.

$WEBN (+0,81%)

$TDIV (+0,56%)

$DE000LS9U6W1 (+0,25%)

$KLAC (+0,6%)

$ANET (+2%)

$GOOGL (-0,18%)

$DCTH (-4,12%)

$965515 (+0,05%)

The $VWRL (+0,63%) dividend was largely invested in the $TDIV (+0,56%) . Overall, I ended June with a savings rate of 3,700€.

A total of 3,700€ can be invested this month, of which 2,700€ will go toward the $VWRL (+0,63%) including its dividend in July. Another €1,000 will go into the $TDIV (+0,56%) next week.

I made another purchase today$VHYL (+0,51%) to keep boosting it. The goal is to maintain a good balance with the other ETFs, especially the $TDIV (+0,56%) , so that both positions can grow naturally. The savings plan is in place, and I’ll be adding more next month as well.

Do you also have this ETF in your portfolio? If not, which dividend ETF do you rely on instead?

~ Rendite Rudin

#ETF
#VGHY
#TDIV
#Dividenden
#AssetAllocation
#Langzeitinvestor
#RenditeRudin