My investment strategy

The purpose of my money is to build wealth towards financial independence, achieving this will grant me freedom of my time and of choice.

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I will achieve this by using my money to build assets which over time will generate more income than I require to live.

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Saving

I aim to save between 35-45% of my gross income every month.

I will proportion my savings to various assets or towards the payment of debt based on my yearly asset value targets (set in my statement of financial position).

At all times I plan to hold an emergency fund equal to 4-6 months of living expenses. This provides me security should I lose my income or encounter a major setback.

As I do not want debt from a depreciating object I will contribute money towards a car fund to finance car buys and services.

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Earning

As a salary earning employee, my time and energy needs to first and foremost be focused on my full-time job. I can continue to make progress in my current field if I stay motivated.

I am committed to spend time working towards building additional streams of income.

In the next 1-3 years I would like to work overseas to earn a foreign currency.

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Investing

My priority for long-term investing is in shares through ETF's, this provides me with the best inflation beating return over this time horizon with the most appropriate risk level. This allows me to be a passive investor, giving me market related returns without having to work hard to analyse businesses.

Where possible, I will only buy products that will stand the test of time by buying products which track broad, well-diversified global indices which are cost-effective.

My first priority is to fulfil the R36000 maximum contribution to my Tax-Free Savings Account after which I will contribute to a general stockbrokerage account or offshore account.

My investment property is a side business and will be ring-fenced and managed as a separate entity.

I will reach my goal of financial independence when my investments reach a value of 300 times my living expenses, but I intend to go further than this to give me increased confidence and security.

My goal is to have 80% of my equity/shares exposure offshore and denominated in dollars, my investment contributions will reflect this goal.

I will not spend or invest money solely for the purpose of tax saving, the investment or expense needs to make sense on its own merit first and foremost.

Spending

I am happy to spend money on things that are important to me and things I enjoy: improvements to my living space, family, travelling, new experiences, coffee, and sport/exercise.

My goal is not to spend as little as possible but to find a good balance between spending (having experiences) and saving/investing.

I will set realistic and challenging budgets at the beginning of every year to challenge myself to meet my savings/investing targets.

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My Portfolio

Emergency Fund

Allan Gray Money Market Fund - to the value of 6 months of living expenses

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General Share Trading Account - Easy Equities

Currently only contributing to CoreShares Total World ETF.

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I also hold some single company shares, mostly based on shorter-term speculation.

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Easy Equities USD Account

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF

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Tax Free Savings Account - Easy Equities

Currently only contributing to CoreShares Total World ETF.

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Also holding:

Satrix & Sygnia MSCI World ETF

Satrix Top 40

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Employee Pension Fund

Alexander Forbes Performer Fund

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I also have one investment property in Cape Town which I took occupation of in 2016.

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