1How much should I save each month to invest well?
The rule of thumb is to save at least 20% of your net income each month. If that's not possible today, start with a lower percentage, even 5%, and increase it gradually every time your spending falls or your income rises. Consistency over time matters more than the starting amount.
Read the full answer →2With a large lump sum, is it better to invest it all at once or gradually?
It depends on your tolerance for entry-timing risk: investing it all at once has historically produced a higher average return over long horizons, but it carries the risk of entering at the worst possible moments. A more cautious approach spreads the entry over 12 to 24 months, or starts with a lower equity share and increases it gradually.
Read the full answer →3How much cash should I hold and what role does it play in the portfolio?
Before investing, you need an emergency fund separate from the portfolio: a reserve of 6 to 12 months of expenses, never invested in equities. Inside the invested portfolio, however, the Cash component plays a different role: it acts as a buffer for rebalancing and for any withdrawals, not as an emergency reserve.
Read the full answer →4How do I choose an ETF: what should I look at first?
Four factors matter more than anything: the total annual cost (TER), the size of the fund (AUM, for liquidity), the type of replication (physical is generally preferable for its simplicity) and the dividend policy (accumulating or distributing depending on your stage). UCITS domicile (Ireland or Luxembourg) is almost always preferable for tax reasons.
Read the full answer →5How do I choose a broker: what really matters?
Three main criteria guide the choice: availability of the ETFs you want to buy in the currency you want, low fees for lump-sum purchases or regular investing, and solid regulation (FCA, AMF, BaFin or equivalent).
Read the full answer →6When and how should I rebalance my ETF portfolio?
Every 3 or 6 months, compare your portfolio's actual allocation with your target: if the equity share has risen above a threshold, sell some of it; if it has fallen below another threshold, buy more with the available cash. There's no need to predict the market — you just need to keep risk under control over time.
Read the full answer →7Should I aim for capital growth or income?
It depends on your stage of life: during accumulation, the priority is capital growth, with a higher equity allocation; as you approach retirement or move into drawdown, the goal shifts toward sustainable income, typically a withdrawal of 3 to 4% a year of the total portfolio.
Read the full answer →8Accumulating or distributing ETFs for my goal?
During the accumulation phase, accumulating (Acc) ETFs are generally preferable: dividends are automatically reinvested and no tax is due until you sell. Distributing (Dist) ETFs make sense if you want a regular cash flow without selling units, typical of the income or drawdown phase.
Read the full answer →9How do I know if my portfolio is too complicated or too simple?
A good test: if you can't explain in one sentence why you hold each instrument, it's probably too complicated. If a single global ETF like MSCI World, combined with a cash component, already covers your growth, protection and time-horizon goals, adding more instruments often doesn't improve the outcome — it just adds management complexity.
Read the full answer →10How do I build an ETF strategy that matches my risk profile and horizon?
Start from your stage of life to estimate a starting equity allocation — higher if you're young and accumulating, more cautious if you're approaching retirement or living off income — then check with the Monte Carlo Simulator over 50 years of real historical data whether that allocation meets your expectations, adjusting the parameters until the result reflects your true risk tolerance.
Read the full answer →11MSCI World Hedged or Unhedged ETFs: which should I choose?
Unhedged (EUR) ETFs include the USD/EUR exchange-rate effect in the return, while EUR Hedged ETFs hedge that currency risk at the cost of an implicit hedging fee (roughly 2 to 3% a year). For most European investors starting out, the unhedged version is the simpler, cheaper choice; the hedged version is only worth considering if you want to isolate the pure equity performance from the currency effect.
Read the full answer →Put your strategy to the test
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