QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

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Topic Author
Qatar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:46 am

QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by Qatar »

Country of Residence: Qatar (Qatari nationality)

International Lifestyle: Nope, will stay local unless i decide to visit other countries

Currency: USD Works

Emergency funds: I still live with my family (seen as the normal in the middle east) so I'm not quite sure how much ill need.

Debt: Non thankfully

Age: 23

Desired Asset allocation: 77% stocks / 23% bonds
Desired allocation to stocks outside your of country of residence: Not Sure

I'm a new investor with no current investments. I've been reading the wiki for the last while and i get the general gist of not buying US ETF's due to taxation reasons. I wanted to get some advise before i committed anything.

In Qatar, retirement is at the age of 60, with a minimum monthly salary of 4k USD, based on my final basic salary at work.
An amount get deducted from my salary every month which feeds my retirement fund, and it is not something i can pay more to increase in any way. I could retire earlier at 50, but for every one year i retire earlier, i get deducted 2.5% of my salary.

In my country non of my income gets taxed, for now at least. My monthly income is in the range of 5k to 10k USD, of which i use less than half (Helping the house, food, and so on) while the rest stays in my account untouched.

Any and all help is appreciated. If i have forgotten to give a specific detail please do mention it.

Thanks
TedSwippet
Posts: 5181
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: UK

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by TedSwippet »

Welcome.
Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am I'm a new investor with no current investments. I've been reading the wiki for the last while and i get the general gist of not buying US ETF's due to taxation reasons.
Definitely sensible. For you, US domiciled ETFs come with a lot of unpleasant and unwanted US tax baggage that you can entirely avoid by using equivalent Ireland domiciled ETFs.
Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am I wanted to get some advise before i committed anything.
If you have not already found it, this wiki page offers a number of simple portfolios, any of which could be decent choices for you:

Simple non-US portfolios - Bogleheads

You might also be interested in this wiki article:

Sharia investing for non-US investors - Bogleheads

If these suggestions do not seem like something you could use, please post back with further information about why these are not suitable for you, and we can look at alternatives.
Last edited by TedSwippet on Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
michoco911
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 4:13 am

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by michoco911 »

You can simplify by going with a two fund diversified portfolio.
VWRD for stocks
AGGG for bonds
Based on your allocation of preference (77% and 23%).
60% VWRD 40% AGGG until further notice
Topic Author
Qatar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:46 am

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by Qatar »

TedSwippet wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:06 am If these suggestions do not seem like something you could use, please post back with further information about why these are not suitable for you, and we can look at alternatives.
Oh not at all i have no reason to not follow what's on that page, matter of fact it was my plan to invest with this month's salery the moment it hits me. I was double checking if there there are anyone with experience with investing while I'm qatar as a Qatari to see if they have any specific advise beyond what was on the wiki.

I'm using interactive brokers btw is that good?
Topic Author
Qatar
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:46 am

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by Qatar »

michoco911 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:12 am You can simplify by going with a two fund diversified portfolio.
VWRD for stocks
AGGG for bonds
Based on your allocation of preference (77% and 23%).
That's the plan, would Interactive Brokers work?
daviddem
Posts: 275
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 12:53 pm

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by daviddem »

Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:33 pm
michoco911 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:12 am You can simplify by going with a two fund diversified portfolio.
VWRD for stocks
AGGG for bonds
Based on your allocation of preference (77% and 23%).
That's the plan, would Interactive Brokers work?
Yes, likely the best choice you can make for a broker. Might also be the only one... It's extremely difficult to open an account with a decent European broker if you are not resident in the EU. It took me 6 months(!!) to open a Saxo account and the process was extremely painful. They basically assume from the get go that if you are not in the EU, you are probably a criminal or a money launderer. They kept asking me for the same documents over and over again, and I had to explain multiple times my work / financial situation / source of wealth in excruciating details. They finally accepted to open the account but now every time I try to move funds in or out of it from/to a bank outside my country of residence, it becomes a problemv:oops:

I certainly hope IB does not start dumping expats, because I would find myself without any other option. I just keep the Saxo account alive for now as a backup should things go south with IB.

European banks have also started forcefully closing the existing accounts of ex-EU expats. It's almost impossible to find a EU bank willing to open an account for you if you live outside the EU (even if you are a EU citizen).
Last edited by daviddem on Thu Mar 30, 2023 12:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Watty
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Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by Watty »

Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am If i have forgotten to give a specific detail please do mention it.
Welcome to the forums.

How to invest your money really depends on what it will most likely be used for. For example money that will likely be used to buy a house when you are 30 would be invested differently than money that will likely be used for retirement.

You will likely also have multiple goals so your will need to balance those goals when figuring out your asset allocation. Some people do their planning as if they have multiple portfolio, like for a home purchase, to buy a car, retirement, etc. You might have multiple accounts for each goal or you may need to keep track of this manually in a spreadsheet and then invest all the money in one combined account. Some brokerages will let you have virtual sub accounts within your account.
Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am Currency: USD Works
.....
Age: 23

Desired Asset allocation: 77% stocks / 23% bonds
For your bonds it would be good to own bonds that are in multiple currencies for diversification. This will help your total bond investments not be as volatile when exchange rates change.

For your stocks it does not really matter which currency your stock statement uses since a share of Apple stock that is priced in dollars when you look at your brokerage account is the same as a share of Apple stock which is priced in Euros or UK Pounds.
Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am Emergency funds: I still live with my family (seen as the normal in the middle east) so I'm not quite sure how much ill need.
Three months of your normal spending in a local bank would be a great start. One thing to keep in mind is that emergencies are not alway bad. There will be times in your life with you will have opportunities that come up but you quickly need access to the money. For example I have known people that were able to take a very inexpensive last minute trip on short notice because they could quickly pay for it.
michoco911
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2019 4:13 am

Re: QATARI Asking for Portfolio Advice

Post by michoco911 »

Qatar wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:33 pm
michoco911 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:12 am You can simplify by going with a two fund diversified portfolio.
VWRD for stocks
AGGG for bonds
Based on your allocation of preference (77% and 23%).
That's the plan, would Interactive Brokers work?
Yes Interactive Broker, Saxo Bank or any broker of preference where you get low fees.
60% VWRD 40% AGGG until further notice
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