Please criticise my portfolio 40% UMAX, 40% VAS, 5% NDIA, 5% VEQ, 5% VAE, 5% IJP

Hey Jacob. Nice work having such a focused plan at such a young age!

Obviously anything I say here should only be considered as rambling thoughts for general discussion :) Here’s a couple of observations…

Having 5% of a fund in an investment portfolio is almost (mathematically) a waste of time. It has such little impact that it’s worth you considering should it really be there. If it’s important, should it be bigger, and if it’s only important enough to be 5%, then is it that important to you? So I would be wary having multiple slices of 5% here and there, since even though it feels more thorough it could make things more complicated without any real benefit (to my mind).

It would be good to also question UMAX versus using a traditional index fund. I get the attractiveness of yield, but remember some growth can be harvested for income too (something I used to not feel comfortable with either). I actually wrote an article about how I changed my mind about this here if you’re interested: https://strongmoneyaustralia.com/my-latest-th...

The UMAX option strategy for income vs a normal US index has been costly to returns since inception nearly 10 years ago, so is it really worth it?

Consider the pros and cons of having US, india, japan, asia and europe all separate… where you could just have VGS (developed markets) and VGE (emerging markets), which covers US, Europe and emerging markets with fewer holdings and lower fees. Sure, the percentages might not be exactly what you want, but it’ll be pretty close and remember (mathematically) those small % exposure differences aren’t really a big deal.

Anyway, just some things to think about. Either way, you’re setting yourself up for success with a well planned portfolio at 19, so kudos to you!

Dave

I don’t have any advice but I wish I had your mindset 10 years ago! Awesome to see. Good luck with your investing journey!