140K to invest in marquets: which ETFs?

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1

Hi,
I am 47 and single. Annual income: 84K a year before taxes.

After taxes and all basic expenses (food, health insurance, mobile, internet (no Netflix, no tv package whatsoever), electricity, rent, 3 pillier, and 150 CHF to a all Caps Swiss fund) I am left with about 2600 K a month.

Back home I did the worst mistake about 5 years ago. I sold one apartment in the hope of buying two smaller ones for renting. I never got to buy back and real estate prices have exploded since. I was thinking of getting into real estate once again in the last year but I just can’t deal with the prices and I feel like I should just go all in in markets.
The idea is to be able to buy an appartament later when the real estatemarket cools off and let this money grown on equities in the meantime.

So this is what I have right now:
18’000 CHF in a third pillier ( I only started 3 pillier in the last 3 years or so)
17’000 CHF on a all caps Swiss fund
12K in some stocks
7K on a Vanguard Developed world ETF
30K in crypto, mostly in Bitcoin, Etherium and ADA (yes I know , too much)
30K in my bank account knowing that about 10K will go for taxes in a few weeks.
20K sitting already in a broker waiting to be invested
120K in a bank account back home waiting to be invested - result from the sale of my apartment. This is actually siting in one of my parents account because the apartment was in their name. So this cash I have never declared it because It’s still not mine. I wonder how much of an impact this is going to have on my taxes when I take this in and invest it.
6K invested in a small online business I have launched.

To sum it up, do you think I should put the entire 120K (from the sale) + 20k (waiting on broker) on an ETF like VTI? Would you agree that I should buy over several months than just a lump sum now, considering current markets?

Thank you for your help.

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Thank you for sharing.

My advice will be to compare your wealth and salary over the years.
Comparing yourself over the year should bring back self esteem but avoid to compare yourself with others (especially in tous community). You will always be poorer than someone else or richer than someone less fortunate than you do.
You have a job and you can still save every month so your frugal system is working.
You should focus on what bringing you joy and find a hobby or association in this domain.

You are in a confortable position on what to do with 120k ! First world problem.

I am the same and do not manage to buy a flat back home as price inflated. So instead you could invest it.

If the money is in a bank account in your name it should be yours. You should declare it to tax authorities with all bank statements of the past years justifying you did not earn it with your salary. Otherwise you will pay revenue tax on it.
tax authority will make you pay fortune tax on it and worst case interest rate.

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Thank you for your answer. You are right, I edited the text.

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Lump sum investment should statistically be better but feel confident on your choice.
You could spread it over 6 -12months and invest 10-20 kchf monthly.
The idea is to keep your investment and not sale even if there is a -50% krash coming next month.

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Rule of thumb:

If you’re asking the question, it’s (probably) a yes.

There’s a thread and enough posts about how, statistically, lump-sum investing would have yielded a better result over the long term with >50% probability. But it may not conform to your personal risk tolerance.

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I wonder if you are being too hard on yourself. Was that really a mistake or just the benefit of hindsight?

From the comments you deleted you analysed the numbers and couldn’t make them stack up which means you made a rational investment decision.

Propoerty prices go up even if they are not supported by rental yields. But in my opinion purchasing a rental property in such a market is speculation not investment.

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I’ve read your original post and I’d say take those 120k and fulfil some dream of yours, go on an adventure, ask yourself what you want w/o pleasing others or thinking about money.

And when you’re back from the journey of healing you should stop that 150 CHF fund and take the free money and invest it in VT every month (make it 2k per month and leave some room for pleasure, e.g. one trip to some city you’ve wanted to see like Zermatt)

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At my best I am quite confortable with losses. That’s where I am with crypto and I am not selling. Thank you.

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Thank you. I have to decide but I think I will probably divide in around 6 months. I’ll try to find more info on those statistics.

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Thank you for your comment. Yes I did quite a lot of calculations, and yes, the apartments and their rent can pay themselves but not much more. Than I could never decide if I wanted to put in the minimum required or all I could. On one side, I disliked the idea of having huge debts with banks and on the other I was thinking, why should I put all my savings on something that is not making me any income. Obviously there is the appreciation of the apartment but still… The only scenario that it sort of made sense was a 3 bedroom (no less) apartment near university rented out to students and paying taxes for only one of the rooms…. Not great.

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Thank you for your comment. I hope to do something like that soon. I really do. I know there is the danger of continuous postponing but I’ll try to make it out there soon. I would like to experience bike touring. That is something I am not sure I will like but I have been dreaming about for years. Yesterday night I launched my e_commerce projet. I hope that it can bring me some income apart from my work. That would make me feel happier I think, and from them I hope I will enjoy life more. Thank you again.

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Thanks for sharing your story.

All others already what is recommended on the investment side:

  • invest in VT
  • spread it over 6 / 12 / 18 months whatever makes you comfortable (as others said, statically it’s better to lump in but ehi you need balls, so ok to spread it over time)

On the emotional side.

  • the journey is as important (if not higher) as the destination
  • live below your means but don’t neglect yourself, your mental and general health worth more than your money

I have a friend. Started from zero and built 20m portfolio among various businesses. Worked as dog, never went to a hotel for holiday, just his holiday home in summer, 1 cigarette and a shot of liquor a day, only after dinner. 1 year left to retirement and to pay all outstanding debt. few days later got diagnosed with cancer, died 6 months before he could enjoyed life (in his terms).

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My strategy:

-50% VT to capture the market
-30% XDEM (to overweight shares wirh momentum, historically best performing strategy)
-20% EMXC by Lyxor (to increase emerging markets share to 30%)

But for s lump sum would go in in 4 parts over 1 year - better for your nerves - and then stay invested forever

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Nice portfolio with about 75% DM and 25% EM.
But why exclude China with EMXC?

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It‘s a subjective thing, but I on purpose want to underweight China in the EM part of my portfolio for several reasons:

  • huge demographic challenges on the horizon
  • limited trust in the political structures of China
  • small risk that foreign investors might be subject to further investment limitations in China in the future

I just dont want China to be over 10% of my asset allocation - therefore this slight nudge to a pure capital weighted allocation.

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With a normal EM IMI ETF instead of the Luxor, you would only have a total of 7.75% China in your portfolio. :wink:
50% VT x 3.5% China = 1.75%
20% EM IMI x 30% China = 6%

It’s obviously up to you to decide, I’m just always curious for what reason people tilt towards a certain allocation. :slight_smile: :+1:

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Yeah, I know (+ Hongkong 0.79%), so it would be around 8.15% — too much China for my taste :wink:

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Thank you for you comment. I am sorry to hear about your friend. Yes stories like that seem to be frequent unfortunately. I will rethink a lot of stuff in the next couple of months.
I guess you would agree that going all in VTI is too risky?

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Thank you. I will check the two last ones. Not familiar with those. I appreciate it.

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I’d love to hear more about that, feel free to share here or in a PM.