Posts for tag #Basic
Dry powder: handle with care
June 12, 2026
Dry powder is the cash inside your portfolio that you hold back for rebalancing and withdrawals - not the same as an emergency fund, which exists purely for survival. Holding too much cash drags on returns, so I cap mine at 10% and only deploy it using fixed rules. That takes the emotion out of my actions.
Part 1 - Portfolio objectives
June 6, 2026
My retirement portfolio objective: a 6% nominal return over 20 years, dropping to 3% income at a 5% or lower return. Built from 75% stocks, 10% bonds, and cash/gold, with three extra conditions: 40% EUR exposure, an underweight US position (45% vs ~63-71% benchmarks), and overweight Asia and emerging markets
Part 2 - Which products do I want?
June 6, 2026
Turning my target allocation into actual ETFs means screening for five things: fund size and liquidity, low cost and tracking difference, physical replication, leading asset managers with well-known indices, and how transparent the provider is. These criteria then get layered onto my currency and regional constraints from Part 1.
Part 3 - Stocks
June 6, 2026
The exact equity ETFs behind my 75% stock allocation: a 30% Market sleeve (US, ex-US developed, and EM) and a 45% Dividend & Value sleeve built around three funds. I chose to leave my US exposure unhedged - hedging protects in a strong-dollar year, but costs too much over time.