ETF VDHG or VAS + VGS

I don't really see this as a con. 4 ETFs is pretty simple, and can be easily semi-"automated" with a Google Sheets template.
=GOOGLEFINANCE(ASX:VAS,"price") for example will spit out the current price. Multiply that by the number of units you have, and you'll get the total value. Then make a ratio of all your holdings versus total portfolio size, and you'll see which are underweighted compared to your benchmark of 20/60/10/10% splits.
Then just buy the one that is trailing the most. See my attachment. It's not perfect, but it's a start. Using some goal-seeks, I could probably tweak it to spit out exactly which one to buy with a given parcel size..



[Currently accepting job offers for my mad spreadsheeting skillz]

 

I simply use NabTrade Portfolio Report. I assume other brokers offer a similar facility.

 

Gday Team,

Question to all - am I missing something with VDHG in regards to performance? Since inception the total return is 3.68%? That seems poultry for what it’s advertising..

 

VTS is returning 15.02% alone over a similar period..

 

I use "Er, What's A Portfolio Report?" Report. It's always accurate.

 

Firstly, you're comparing one period (VDHG inception - Nov 2017) to a completely different time period (VTS inception - May 2009). One period starts at the beginning of a +10 year bull run, and relates to the best performer over that time period (the US). The other period starts towards the end of the same bull run.

Secondly, IVV (equivalent to VTS) has returned 4.79% since inception back in 2000.

Point is, you can't cherry pick time periods.

VDHG will never be the top performer, because it's not intended to be.

 

Too easy, cheers for that!

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback and tip. Really helpful.

 

You will fit right in in the LIC thread. Plenty of discussion on chicken fillets there...

 

You could use a re-balancing spreadsheet also (example only using your figures) to ensure you keep to your allocations

 

Very simply, not advice - you might consider ;

1. Set up a trust and stream capital and income to low income beneficiary (partner) or bucket company.

2. Use VHDG.

In my personal experience far better to lock down an asset allocation rather than leave the door open for constant fiddling. With a low income beneficiary any capital distributions will not bother you, even without the partner you can stream to company and create franking credits for future distributions to yourself (when not working, or lower income)

The investment vehicle decision is only part of the overall picture though, you need to start top down on overall structure / long term goals rather than bottom up focusing on the products. I have always focused too much on the products, as I find that interesting when in reality there is no perfect vehicle / allocation, and close enough is good enough.

 

Thanks for the feedback @The Falcon . It is really helpful. I have been mapping out my overall investment strategy and structure based on a 15 years investment goal. That's why I am trying to develop and implement a suitable equity investment portfolio to comprehend my existing IP portfolio which together can help me to achieve the 15 years goal.

 

Is it worth setting up the trust if the couple are in the same tax bracket with a year old dependent? The accounting fees for the trust can be $1000+ a year?

 

Like anything, it depends. Large portfolio and MTR, most definitely imo

 

@The Falcon , thank you! Yeah, don't have a huge fund to start the trust but continually DCA for 10 years then it could become a large portfolio I think. To start the trust to make it worthwhile, what amount do you think should start with? 200k?

 

I would think it’s really about how much you intend to accumulate and then modeling expected distributions and tax benefits of streaming based on expected MTRs of the beneficiaries vs. cost of admin.

You can do some simple back of envelope calculations to work this out, and you should to understand it yourself.

 

Say someone is going to retire in the next 1-2 years (very LEANFIRE) should they go with VDHG?

 

What are you trying to achieve with shares? Is it dividends to help achieve lean fire? Is it a growth safety net in case it all goes wrong?

A hammer is a great tool to have, but it's pretty useless if you need a screwdriver.

What sort of tool does your lean fire plan need?

 

A bit of both I’d say, probably more growth than dividends

 

After lot of reading, I thought of the below breakdown for my investment. I am using something similar to what @ShireBoy has mentioned in the previous post to maintain my percentage allocation of each ETF. Once I save >5k , I check my tracker , whichever is farther from target percentage I would dump money on that ETF/LIC.

Stock Code Target Percentage
VAS 33.6
VGS 20
A200 14.4
IVV 8
IIND 8
IJR 4
MLT 3
BKI 3
QVE 3
MIR 3