€10.000/month in Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA / IE00B3XXRP09) - YouTube

If you have time to spare, are highly competitive, think like a sports fan, and relish a complicated

intellectual challenge, then the first option, the active approach, is up your alley.

If you feel rushed, crave simplicity, and don't relish thinking about money, then the

passive approach is for you.

Both approaches are equally intelligent, and you can be successful with either-but only

if you know yourself well enough to pick the right one and stick with it throughout your

investing lifetime and keep your costs and emotions under control.

So for me, as you already saw in the title of this video, I lean more towards the second

option-the passive investor.

To come straight to the point, I eventually chose the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF to invest in.

I now invest €10.000 every single month into this ETF. Until today, I have €50.000

invested. Around the 22 of every month, I buy another €10.000 worth of Vanguard S&P

500 ETF stocks to add to my portfolio.

I thought it would be fun to show the buying of new stocks while filming the video.

So let's go.

That's it. This

is basically my strategy. Buying into this index every single month.

To give a little introduction to this index; according to historical records, the average

annual return since its inception in 1926 through 2018 is approximately 10%–11%.

The average annual return since adopting 500 stocks into the index in 1957 through 2018

is roughly 8%.

And yes, I do understand that historical numbers are no guarantee for future results.

Anyway, let's say this index will perform similar results. 8% per year.

This means that if my starting amount is 60.000 euros like it is now and I would add 10.000

euros to it every single month for the next 10 years, I'm close to 2 million euros in

total.

If it performs worse than the historical date, like 5%, I will have 1.6 million euros in

total.

I aim for 10 years because I would like to become financially free as soon as possible.

Having around 2 million euros invested means I can call myself financially free.

Let's say I can invest 10.000 euros for the next decade, and after that, I stop contributing

to it every month.

If you would let 1.6 million euros sit there for the next 20 years, it will be worth 4.2

million euros if there's a 5% return year over year.

Suppose the market performs better, and there's an 8% return on average. In that case, the

total number after 20 years will be close to 7.5 million euros.

Circling back to the two types of investors where I started this video with, I would instead

go for the passive investor and put my money into this index fund than feeling the pressure

to beat the market, so to speak.

You must understand that buying individual stocks will take far more time than just buying

into an index fund you believe in.

The overall goal of buying individual stocks is that you believe you can generate higher

returns than buying into an index fund.

Suppose you won't reach your goal of generating higher returns than the overall market. What

is the point of spending so much time analyzing all those individual companies?

It's a very personal choice no one can make for you.

If you landed on this video to help you decide whether you should buy Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

stocks, then I'm here to disappoint you.

This so-called dollar-cost-averaging investment strategy I use, or in other words, investing

a set dollar amount in the same investment at fixed intervals, only works if you truly

believe in it yourself.

If someone else tells you should do it, you might invest a couple of months, and then

your motivation or interest disappears. You may even choose to sell your stocks when the

price of it goes down. Or you might stop buying when the price goes down.

If you think similar to me and think this investment strategy might work for you too,

you should start researching yourself.

After some proper research, you may convince yourself to follow a similar path or go with

a different route.

The thing is, you need to find your way and stick to it because you believe in it.

So how did I educate myself to choose this investment strategy? Well, I read dozens of

articles online around dollar-cost-averaging and around financial independence. I read

this book, of course, I highly recommend reading it.

I also took two courses back in 2017 and 2018 about value investing-meaning researching

individual stocks to eventually find buying opportunities or in other words, the active

investor. Remember from the beginning of this video?

I didn't go with this active investor route because I don't see myself researching stocks

and reading for hours on end every day. I have plenty of stuff on my plate already.

In conclusion, if you haven't found your investment strategy, yet. I would suggest start by reading

this book-The Intelligent Investor. This book basically discusses every single aspect of

investing. And I'm not saying this is the investor bible and that you should follow

every little thing you read in it, but it gives you a perfect overview of all the options.

From there, you will have questions and research more, and eventually, find your investment

path.

I would like to end this video by reading a paragraph from this book about index funds

like the S&P 500 that perfectly describes it.

There you have it.

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions. Also, I would like to

know where you are in your investment journey. Do you already have a strategy you're following,

or are you still exploring options? Let me know in the comments below.

If you like these videos, please consider subscribing. I'm sharing my journey to financial

indecency on this YouTube channel. Every Monday and Thursday, I publish a new video.

I added a video here where I share more about how I got started with my business selling

my self-published books. If you don't know so already. I self-published these 4 puppy

training books without being a dog expert. Last year, in 2020, I made close to $300,000

selling these books. Check out the video for more info.

Hopefully, I see you in the next video! Have a good one!