Investing for parents

Uncategorized
1

Hi everyone,

I’d really appreciate some feedback on an investment strategy I’m considering for my parents.

Their situation:

My parents retired last year and are both 66 years old. They live in Switzerland and are in a financially comfortable position:

  • They own their home outright.

  • They receive steady pensions that cover their living expenses.

  • They own an almost fully paid-off apartment in Switzerland, which they rent out.

  • They also own a fully paid-off house in our home country.

They currently have around CHF 100k sitting in a bank account and have asked me to help them invest some of it.

Neither has any investment experience, and they don’t expect to need the money in the short or medium term.

The main goal isn’t to maximise returns or leave a large inheritance. My brother and I are financially ok and regularly encourage our parents to enjoy their money rather than save everything for us.

My proposed strategy:

I suggested keeping CHF 50k in their bank account as an emergency buffer and investing the remaining CHF 50k in a 60/40 stock-bond portfolio.

I realise that, mathematically, investing the CHF 50k entirely in equities could make sense given their overall financial situation. However, since they have no investment experience, I don’t want to expose them to unnecessary volatility or emotional stress during a market downturn. I also don’t want to put myself in a situation where they regret following my advice after a major crash.

After comparing a few options, VIAC Invest Global 60 seems like a good fit.

I also looked at finpension Invest 60, but from what I’ve seen, its global equity allocation is heavily focused on the S&P 500.

The fees are approximately 0.48% for VIAC versus 0.39% for finpension. I don’t mind paying slightly more for a globally diversified portfolio that automatically rebalances and requires very little maintenance.

My idea would be to start with CHF 10k and then invest CHF 5k each month until the full CHF 50k is invested. I know lump-sum investing tends to perform better statistically, but gradually investing might make the process more comfortable for them.

Although CHF 50k is a relatively small portion of their total net worth, it would represent 50% of their liquid assets. Their regular living expenses are covered by their pensions, though.

What do you think?

Am I overlooking anything important? Would you approach this differently, especially considering their age, lack of investment experience and the fact that capital preservation and simplicity matter more than maximising returns?

I’d really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. sry i had to use AI to write it since my english writing is not very good.

Thanks in advance! I’ve learned a lot from this community.

1 Like
2

Sounds very solid. I don’t see a need to change anything in it.

Two things to consider that you may already have:

  1. That money seems to be aimed at giving them enjoyment for the rest of their life, so the planning should consider it to be spent during their life (it may not, they might also consider very important to leave a chunk of it to you (their children) as inheritance). Money should be available for their spending. It can be holidays or other life experience, it might be some expensive good, it might be some repair for the home but it might also be giving. Especially if they have grandchildren, they might enjoy being able to provide meaningful experiences to them.
    .
    Hence, being conservative, as you have planned to be, seems to be the right call to me.

  2. I would want to schedule a yearly meeting to keep them aprised of the value of their assets. The frequency might differ (they or you might want it to be more or less frequent). They might not want it, in which case, I’d give up on it. I would keep in mind that at this opportunity, they might realize they’re having some losses in a market downturn. The allocation and preparation talks shoud allow for that, which you seem to have accounted for.
    .
    That meeting could be coupled with filling their tax declaration. They probably don’t need help at this point in time and they seem to be savy concerning their finances but it may come a time when they will. Being involved in it early would make getting more involved in the future easier.

2 Likes
3

Honestly at their networth and them owning so much real estate, having their expenses covered etc.

50K invested or not simply does not matter.

We‘re idk looking at 3-4 million in networth total? Their pension cashflows also have a huge bond like present value.

Their cash reserves aren‘t even 5% of that.

Do whatever you want essentially, it doesn‘t matter much, they just need to be ok with it. Viac or Finpension invest is super fine for that. Don‘t overcomplicate it. Imo doesn‘t matter also in the details of these strategies, like concentration level of S&P etc.

4 Likes
4

Thinking out of the box here: if performance is not an issue, why not consider an investment that they can identify with? Something like sustainability, old age, or whatever your parents see as a cause worth supporting. Then choose an ETF or fund that matches such criteria.

Note that I am generally not a fan of such products (ESR or alike). I think the cost - benefit is not right (too high fees, too little performance). But in such a special case, it might make sense.

1 Like
5

Confirming my predecessors, I do not see the point at all of investing it in the classical way.

They are set, they are happy, on top of that their offspring is set. Either spend it over the years so just keep it in a low risk low return vehicle or invest in something fun/they identify with.

I say here invest, but more in the broader sense: could be anyhting they always wanted to have (oldtimer car or whatever that could be).

1 Like
6

Agree. I’d keep it all as emergency fund.

2 Likes
7

Exactly my thoughts.

I would keep it as cash and spend it over the years, keep it as EF, or gift it (incl to you).

3 Likes