I'll have my relocation expenses covered (not taking too much though, just personal belonging like clothes which are horribly expensive down under) and will also chip in for the downpayment, I guess. However, I still have that uneasy feeling reading about stocks, bonds and funds, interest nicely accumulating. I've spent most of my Xmas holidays financially educating myself, diving into MMM's blog, only surfacing for meals and eggnog :)
So far, I've worked my way to the following conclusions:
1. I need to set my mind on a long-term, low-fee investment option in Euros. Would it be smart to put about 15K in this? What is my best option? I understand I need an OnVista account, still I'm more or less tapping in the dark here.
2. I'd like to keep an EF of about 5K.
3. Downpayment participation.
Good thing you're educating yourself before investing again!
You're not in a rush. Get knowledgeable and confident before exposing your money to significant risk. Noting is more expensive than panicking in a crisis and selling low.
I would go about it in the following order:
- Research what a permanent re-location to Australia would do to your Riester. If I remember correctly (I might not, don't take my word for it) you need to repay those tax savings in the payout phase. If that's the case see if you can
beitragsfrei stellen lassen the insurance. Don't cancel it in a rush. If those contracts are worth being entered into are a different kind of question than if you should keep them once signed.
- Is 3k net or gross? If its net look at the expenses side of things (if it's gross I think you have better exercised fruagality muscles than me already and don't need a lot of advise in this area). What is your current savings rate? What could you aim for?
- Sell that amazonian forrest. That's speculating, not investing. Sell the indiviudal stocks you own as soon as possible. Same reason. You can do that with your "play money" with a 7 figure portfolio. Not with a 5 figure portfolio. Please make an honest assessment of what has drawn you to those investments. In particular the forrest is a bit crazy on the face of it (apologies for the face punch). Was it the promise of excessive profits? A "the next hot thing..." article in the paper or a "tip from a pro" on ntv? The claim of it being a "green" and therefore morally superior investment? Read up why those are not good reasons to make an investment.
- read the Bogleheads forum
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophyand the literature recommended there. Those guys are way less willing to take risk and recommend a lot lower withdrawal rates than this forum. I think the Bogleheads are best regarding how to invest while MMM is the best source re questions like how much you need to live on, to be happy and to stop working. You might reach a different conclusion.
- The most coherent "Boglehead" source in German is G. Kommer and - if you read only one of his books -
Souverän investieren- Pick a fixed income/equities asset allocation that you are comfortable with. "Comfortable" means "I could see a replay of the 2008 crash, go to sleep, have breakfast and not sell." No strategy will work if you panic and sell at the botom.
- Pick ETFs (e.g. i-shares or comstage) to build your own portfolio or - if comfortable with their allocation and not wanting to rebalance yourself - buy e.g. arero shares
http://www.arero.de/ or a similar product.
- First and most important criterion for any fund is that it constitutes a
Sondervermögen. This means that in case of an insolvency of the issuer, the assets are protected from the issuer's creditors.
- Low cost is the second most important feature of any fund. Never pay more than you have to. Research the effects of 0,5, 1,0, 1,5 and 2,0 % cost.
Never pay any front loads (
Ausgabeaufschlag).
- Always keep your securities deposit account with a big international bank. The
Sparkassen in my experience make you pay quite high fees for anything and don't provide good service, while a small private bank is a lot more likely to collaps and prevent you at least temproarily from accessing your funds. Once your portfolio is substantially in the 6 figure range consider opening a second account with a different international bank, unaffiliated with the first. Diversify between funds of different issuers in the same asset class in this stage too.
- Stay away from any product which can not be transferred into your securities deposit account. This does not safe you from incurring losses. But at least from ponzi schemers and funds stupid/corrupt enough to act as "feeders" for ponzi schemes.