STI ETF

Diversify? NIKKO AM STI ETF’s exposure is Singapore. I would think it would be a good idea if you can set aside another sum to do StashAway since it has exposure to the US and Europe markets. Or money is an issue, maybe you can halve or set aside from the money you’re investing in STI ETF to go into StashAway? Maybe 50%? Or even 80% if you are able to take more risks.

Hi, in my view, investing requires the investor to be disciplined and committed to a time horizon. Else, you will become emotional and tend to "buy high, sell low". In all my years of experience of stockbroking and asset management, I have seen enough data points to convince me of the differences between investing and gambling. We should do less gambling and do more investing. People say they invest, but it is easily proven using science and maths to confirm we are mostly gambling. The key to investing is to decide our risk tolerance, which is a function of risk attitude and risk capacity. Go read my whitepaper at https://squirrelsave.com.sg/blog/risk-profiling-just-another-questionnaire.html to understand the subject better. The other experts in this thread have explained the difference between RSS and Robos. As for Robos, there are differences. Do check them out. SquirrelSave which I founded is new. My aim is to use machine learning to take the human emotion and betting tendency out of real investing. The system remembers the risk profile you set and does not need the investor to make any day-to-day decisions. I used to be an investment manager. But with the availability of live data, the evidence led me to decide that the machine will offer a better investment outcome over the long term compared to the average human investment manager. Check out my blog at https://squirrelsave.com.sg/blog/why-replace-human-investment-manager.html to learn more. Given my recommendation to get your risk profile right, I created a tool to help people assess their own risk profile. Try it out and have some fun doing it. https://app.squirrelsave.com.sg/Start/RegisterRiskProfiler#loaded Therefore, the answer to your question whether to start with high or low risk is that it is not the appropriate question if you want to invest, It should be a mix depending on your risk profile. All the best!

The short answer is to diversify globally. We are seeing increased global uncertainty. This is the worst time to invest narrowly unless you are a trader or speculator. ETFs are relatively low-cost investments compared to unit trusts. And I would choose a Robo which invests using ETFs and diversifies globally. StashAway has been around earlier. However, SquirrelSave is new but uses machine learning AI to manage each person's portfolio 24/7. I created this after years of managing clients' monies and insurance funds. It was the best I could do until live streaming data made AI come alive. So do check out SquirrelSave and the other auto-investing choices in the market. All the best!

“When stock tank, the value of bonds go up” doesn’t always happen in today’s market. For a starter, it is important for you to verify what you read or hear first before apply it.

If you want a hands-off approach towards investing, you may want to consider robo-advisor

If you are buying STI ETF for long term accumulation and you can only afford 300-500 per month, it would be more optimal to go with DBS Invest Saver (RSP) If you are considering buying foreign ETF, consider Interactive Broker. Extremely cheap and reputable.

To make it cheaper for you to invest?

No offence but investing using our currency should already be a decent appealing factor. We also have MAS being the watchdog of all licensed investment options and you can trust them to do a good job. We're also known for being an investment hub so there's opportunity to invest in the rest of the world as well. There are many more efficient markets and opportunities outside both of our countries.

There is never a perfect time to invest. The best time is now. No one will know exactly when the market will go down. So the best is to stay invested and stick to your investment strategy and rebalance your portfolio accordingly. You may also want to keep a “war chest” to put in more monies when you think the opportunity has arrive. Also good to seek professional advice when you are unsure too