Investing for 'lazy' investors

 

 You have better things to do than investing or you do not have the time, the desire to learn and/or expertise in investing. You should be better off to buy ETFs.

 

I recommend the following 4 ETFs. If you have $100,000 to invest, buy $25,000 for each recommended ETF. Consult your financial advisor before taking any action. The recommended ETFs should have large market cap (the ETFs themselves and not the stocks they hold) and have a high volume.

 

Most returns are start on July 1 and end on July 1 a year or more later; this article is written in July 20, 2021. All are annualized returns for easy comparison. Fees, commissions and dividends have not been included; you can add the dividend yield and prorated it for YTD return.

 

Symbol	Name	YTD1 Return	1 Year2	5 Years3	Bear4
IWF	Russel 1000G	30%	34%	40%	-33%
QQQ	QQQ	30%	46%	42%	-31%
VTI	Vang. Viper Tot	34%	22%	42%	-35%
VUG	Vang. Growth	37%	33%	41%	-32%
Avg.		31%	34%	41%	-33%
SPY5		34%	21%	39%	-35%
Beat6		-9%	60%	6%	7%

 

¹ The start date is 1/4/2021 and the end date is 7/1/2021.

² The start date is 7/1/2020 and the end date is 7/1/2021.

³ The start date is 7/1/2016 and the end date is 7/1/2021.

⁴ The start date is 1/2/2008 and the end date is 4/1/2009. My estimates.

⁵ SPY is the ETF for the S&P 500 index. It is used as a yardstick.

⁶ = (Avg. – SPY) / SPY. Again it does not include fees, commissions and dividends.

 

 Comments:

 

·         The YTD is the only period that this portfolio does not beat SPY (the market to many). It could mean the market could be changing the favorite from growth stocks to value stocks. However, 31% return is far above the average of the market.

·         The one-year return beats the market by 60%.

·         The 5-year return beats SPY only by 6%, but the return of 41% is nothing to sneeze at.

·         All except Vanguard’s Viper Total are ETFs for growth stocks. Hence, I expect it would not beat the market, but it still did by 7%.

·         You can time the market using the techniques described in this book as often as you can. When the indicator tells you to exit, you can sell these ETFs and reenter the market when it recovers. Riskier investors can buy contra ETFs such as PSQ and SH instead of holding cash.

·         At least once in a year review the selection. Use ETFdb.com for information. If you do not have time, it is fine skipping the review. When you switch ETFs, taxes should be considered.

Most ETFs replace some stocks periodically to ensure better appreciation potential.

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My new book in this series titled “Best stocks to buy as of July, 2021” has been just released in Amazon.com on 07/15/2021. For more description, please click here, or type the following in your browser.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099KQ9DSV