where can I start planning my financial future?

[geryd]

Hi everyone!

I am a 26y/o Swiss citizen in her last year of her masters. I have some savings on a "Sparkonto" as well as a "Säule 3A". My parents are moving away so in 1-2 years I could take over their house in a lovely agglo. I'd like to inform myself about saving and investing possibilities that are detached from a bank. Could you give me some tips, book or youtube channel recommendation or tell me your own experience? I'm completely lost when it comes to investing and need some input.. thank you!

 

[hesmyrock]

@geryd https://www.mustachianpost.com/de/
https://www.sparkojote.ch/

Those two are honest, specific and real

Sparkojote is also on youtube. Check for older videos because now he turned is channel more into a business and podcast channel

 

[hesmyrock]

Oh and DO NOT trust "independent advisors".

If you have a significant amount of money mabe talk to someone of VZ Vermögenszentrum, but be careful there too. They are better because you pay them for individual consulting. But honestly this usually only makes sense if you have no clue at all but already have a significant amount of money. (Like several 100k inherited or something)

 

[geryd]

@hesmyrock nope I won't! that's actually the reason why I turned to reddit: I was approached by such an advisor (gave me the creeps) and when I searched for info myself there was a huge flood of info I couldn't understand... thank you for the tip!

 

[branden]

@hesmyrock Just for the record: why shouldn’t you trust an independent advisor? Are dependent „advisors“ aka salespeople from banks/ insurances the better option?

And why do you mention VZ as an option? They claim to be independent - where you say just above „don’t trust them“?

 

[hesmyrock]

@branden I should have made other quotation marks like only "independent" advisors.

What I am meaning is those people that are claiming to be "independent" but in fact they only offer high cost products because they work on commission. They usually try to sell 3a from an insurance company and active managed funds. Those are the same sales people that work for an insurance, the only difference is they will offer you a broader spectrum of combined insurance solutions.

 

[geryd]

@hesmyrock awesome thank you!

 

[md15668]

@geryd

1. Switch your Pillar 3a to finpension or VIAC and select a predominantly stock-based strategy with as low expense ratio as possible. Max this out first over the year.
2. Immediately after a salary, put a comfortable amount directly into a broker account (IBKR is the cheapest one and will, over the long term, increase your savings without any other drawback. If you don't already have IBKR - interactive brokers - I can send you a referall code). I put 40% of my net salary in there for example.
3. Spend 80-100% of your balance in the broker on ETFs. Feel free to choose according to your risk tolerance. Least risky is probably something like MSCI World (biggest worldwide companies), S&P500 (500 biggest US companies).
4. Feel free after some point to buy something big like an apartment if you want to move elsewhere, a not-too-flashy car, whatever. It won't sink you at all if you already do #1-3.
5. Leave the rest in your Sparkonto. This should be MAX 6-9 months emergency fund in case you lose your job or something expensive happens to you. No need for more, #3 is liquid enough (easy and quick to sell at a fair price) that you can just sell some ETFs to cover anything bad that happens.

That's probably 80-90% of it. You should really focus on those first 5 before trying to optimise anything that comes at #6 and beyond. If it's boring after a while, you're doing great! Keep it up!

 

[geryd]

@md15668 thank you for those instructions, I'll look into it asap!

 

[followingjesusdaily1975]

@md15668 That's a hella interesting advice, choosing your investments as well as your username very wisely. I have some questions:

1) Is it better to diversify the portfolio and invest in both viac and finpension? If yes, then should you invest in the same scheme?

4) Is this about luxury and entertainment or about investing as well?

5) why do you think that MAX 6-9 months of emergency fund is enough? We live in an era where finding a job is pretty hard in the current state of the market, without any light in front. And investments are not returning that much, actually a lot of them have had bad years recently once the recession started. The swiss franc is getting stronger and stronger so actually holding it more doesn't look as that bad of an option.

 

[md15668]

@followingjesusdaily1975

1. They're basically identical so there's not much point in using both services. To optimise taxes however, you should open multiple accounts within the service and max them out 1 by 1, they can even be identical strategies.
2. Just for luxury. After all, the best approach is one that you can follow sustainably. Very few people are made for ignoring life's material pleasures entirely to save and invest wealth. And that's a good thing
3. The dominant theory remains that long-term growth of assets is to be expected, and short-term disruptions should not influence this. We still reasonably expect 5-10% every year and CHF won't ever beat that, made even worse with inflation being higher than historic levels. Long story short: unproductive money < productive money. And ETFs are liquid enough to easily allow more short-term funds in case of emergency.

 

[lizah]

@geryd "My parents are moving away so in 1-2 years I could take over their house in a lovely agglo."

Be careful about donation tax... Unless your parents keep ownership.

Regarding investments, keep money on a saving account in case of emergency... It's very important to have 2-3 salaries worth of cash available anytime.

With what's left, I'd suggest 3A funds for 7K per year and more importantly DCA in ETFs...

Don't trust any advisor... Not even your relationship manager in a commercial bank. They'll try to sell scammy structured products or other derivatives... You can listen but don't sign anything without having done your own research.

 

[keubadicon]

@lizah agree with everything you said, but donation tax depends on the canton see here (didn't find a source in english sadly)

 

[lizah]

@keubadicon Of course, that's why I said "Be careful"^^ Because depends the situation.

But it's something important to be considered when transferring ownership from parents to children... The best being to transfer it little by little (50K worth per year if you live in Vaud for example) to avoid taxation, if there is any.

 

[geryd]

@keubadicon thank you for the link!

 

[geryd]

@lizah oh thank you so much, I will have a look into it! and no I won't listen to them, they are even kinda creepy the way they act haha

 

[aaronreed1962]

@geryd IBKR and buy VT and chill

 

[geryd]

@aaronreed1962 thanks for your reply

 

[geryd]

@best249 idk how much I can trust them so I'd like to get as much info from different sources as I can!

 

[branden]

@geryd With this setup, I’d recommend to accept the complexity of the topic and the necessity of a good and true neutral financial advisor (which excludes bank and insurance salespeople).

How to find one?
1. Check finfinder.ch and choose some topics (building wealth, tax optimization, mortgage and insurances comparison etc.)
2. Make sure you advisor is at least qualified as Finanzplaner mit eidg. FA (with federal diploma) or even better a CFP.
3. Do get a quote for the service.
4. Enjoy life, bearing in mind that there is professional care for your money

Money is too important to leave it to amateurs. It’s as important as health.
Regarding health issues, would you trust any mediocre bloggers, or hints here in Reddit? No?
There you are