Closed

[OrangeCrush]

.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

Index fund(s), allows for a spread portfolio and you'll pay tax only on the profit when selling (i.e. dividends are directly added to the capital without paying taxes in the meanwhile as you would with directly owned stock), also the costs are negligible. Naturally the fund (stock market) value will follow the general economic situation. Banks' interest lies in selling their own products, e.g. funds which have high costs, instead try e.g. Seligson or Nordnet, the latter currently has index funds (they refer to them as "superrahasto") without any charges (purchase, sale or management).

[Beep_Boop]

For the last few years, I've had my investments managed by Vanguard. I have an account with their Irish "branch". I have 70% of the securities in an index fund that follows S&P 500, while the rest is in an actively managed one related to emerging markets.
I think I've had returns of roughly about 14% all over the portfolio over those years.

However, dealing with Vanguard Ireland is very annoying; lots of papers, tons verifications, everything must be faxed, etc. For that reason, I'm thinking about moving my investments to Evli. They broker for Fidelity funds, which are very cheap. They've also had very good performance on their own actively managed funds over the last 5 years. They also offer a very nice online service where you can see and do everything.

[ilmainen_siideri]

What do you guys think about S-fund? https://www.s-pankki.fi/fi/saastaminen- ... ittaminen/

It is very easy to invest there if you have online banking with S-pankki, no papers, no hassle. It would be great to hear some experience with those funds.

[Beep_Boop]

What do you guys think about S-fund? https://www.s-pankki.fi/fi/saastaminen- ... ittaminen/

To me, they look pretty good. Easily broken down into noob-friendly levels, they're very nicely diversified, and you can use auto-saving which makes things a lot easier. They also track some generally growing markets, so I'd say they're okay investments. The only thing to keep in mind is that you might wake up some day and see that your 20000€ portfolio is now half value at 10000€. So these options are for people who aren't scared of short-term loss in exchange for long-term savings growth.
However, the management fees are quite higher than what I'd want to go for, but given the ease of use, I'd say it's fine. The Kohtuullinen option is okay.

In very short terms: If you don't want to become investment-crazy and just want something to grow your savings, these noob-friendly funds are good.

[betelgeuse]

What do you guys think about S-fund? https://www.s-pankki.fi/fi/saastaminen- ... ittaminen/

It is very easy to invest there if you have online banking with S-pankki, no papers, no hassle. It would be great to hear some experience with those funds.

Excluding the real estate fund they are all various balances between bonds and equities. I wouldn't recommend bonds at the moment because of the following feature: generally bond market values go down when interest rates increase. Currently reference rates are at pretty much zero. I find it unlikely that they would go into negative territory, which means market values for bonds can only go down. This would not apply to bonds held to maturity.

The generally unbeatable option in terms of return for capital is saving 10% down payment for a studio, taking a mortgage for the rest and letting the tenant pay of the mortgage. The changes in market value don't matter if you never plan to sell it. The main risks then would be a drop on rents or a tenant destroying the place. The latter can be mitigated with insurance. This results in a nice monthly cashflow in 20 years when the mortgage has been paid off.

[ilmainen_siideri]

Thank you adnan, betelgeuse!

Excluding the real estate fund they are all various balances between bonds and equities. I wouldn't recommend bonds at the moment because of the following feature: generally bond market values go down when interest rates increase. Currently reference rates are at pretty much zero. I find it unlikely that they would go into negative territory, which means market values for bonds can only go down. This would not apply to bonds held to maturity.

The generally unbeatable option in terms of return for capital is saving 10% down payment for a studio, taking a mortgage for the rest and letting the tenant pay of the mortgage. The changes in market value don't matter if you never plan to sell it. The main risks then would be a drop on rents or a tenant destroying the place. The latter can be mitigated with insurance. This results in a nice monthly cashflow in 20 years when the mortgage has been paid off.

I've moved to Finland only few months ago, so now I wonder how do I get enough of positive credit history in order for a bank to trust me and give me a mortgage big enough to buy an apartment? I've heard you need to live here for at least 2 years for that, and, ideally, use your credit card a lot.

[betelgeuse]

I've moved to Finland only few months ago, so now I wonder how do I get enough of positive credit history in order for a bank to trust me and give me a mortgage big enough to buy an apartment? I've heard you need to live here for at least 2 years for that, and, ideally, use your credit card a lot.

Centralized positive credit history is illegal here so using your credit card doesn't matter much. Yes you need some history here for the bank to consider you for a mortgage. I don't know the specifics or if investment mortgages have different conditions. At the very least you need to be over the trial period and in a permanent job contract. For specifics you are best off asking your bank or orgs like Hypo.

[Oho]

I've moved to Finland only few months ago, so now I wonder how do I get enough of positive credit history in order for a bank to trust me and give me a mortgage big enough to buy an apartment? I've heard you need to live here for at least 2 years for that, and, ideally, use your credit card a lot.

Really, I thought they would be much more interested in your pay slip and nature of employment..... You gross 4k+ with reputable employer and I doubt they give a toss about your Finnish credit history....

[ilmainen_siideri]

Understood,
thank you, guys.