With every passing day in the current economic conditions, the money you’ve slaved away to save is gradually losing its value.
So what’s an honest battler to do?
Well, you could always get your foot in the door with the property market.
Although considering what an absolute knife fight that whole chestnut of an asset is — low supply vs high demand, rising interest rates, inflexible nature (i.e. you can’t just break off a piece of your apartment to sell it off should you need the money) — it might be worth looking elsewhere.
Like the companies that inform our everyday lives.
If you’re not investing in the US, you’re not serious about investing
From Microsoft and Apple to Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook), these behemoths of tech innovation can all be found on the US stock market.
And if the US stock market isn’t even on your radar, you clearly haven’t been paying attention.
A few years ago, Amazon alone was worth more than the entire ASX300 combined — that’s Australia’s 300 biggest companies by value — and while the Jeff Bezos-founded giant has shrunk since then, the idea still stands.
Just to drive the point home, the US share markets currently account for over 40% of the world’s stock market capitalisation, whereas the Australian stock market accounts for approximately 2%. Meaning the US is where all the action is.
But, I get it: dipping your toe into the NASDAQ exchange or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) can be intimidating on the best of occasions; downright nerve-wracking on the worst.
Which is where ETFs come in.
What the hell is an ETF?
An ETF — or an Exchange-Traded Fund — is essentially a collection of investment securities not entirely unlike your traditional mutual fund.
A mutual fund is a company that pools money from several investors to invest in securities; while “securities” refers to everything from stocks and bonds to debentures and interests.
Usually, ETFs track the performance of either an index, sector, commodity, or underlying asset, and are closely managed by professionals.
Unlike your traditional mutual fund, however, you can buy into them or sell them like any share on the stock market instead of having to pony up a lump sum. Which also mitigates the hassle, cost, and — thanks to diversification — risk encountered when you opt to snap up these same shares on an individual basis.
A good ETF will deliver steady returns, making it a key cornerstone of a set-and-forget investment strategy.
An appetite for Big Tech is an appetite for Global X’s N100 ETF
The enterprising folks over at Global X have taken it upon themselves to create Australia’s lowest-cost ETF of its kind: the N100 ETF (otherwise known as the Global X US 100 ETF).
Featuring 100 of the biggest, US-listed non-financial companies with a healthy skew towards the major tech players — yet maintaining enough diversity so that market trends like the tech routs of the past two years won’t leave you in pain — whether you’re a rookie or seasoned vet, this is the perfect way to make an investment towards the future (in every sense of the phrase).
The top 10 holdings of this particular ETF are as follows:
- Microsoft Corp — 10.63%
- Apple Inc — 10.22%
- Amazon.com Inc — 7.06%
- NVIDIA Corp — 5.33%
- Tesla Inc — 4.09%
- Alphabet Inc-A — 3.86%
- Alphabet Inc-C — 3.85%
- Meta Platforms-A Inc — 3.21%
- Broadcom Inc — 2.69%
- Adobe — 1.91%
Other recognisable (though not strictly tech-related) large-cap holdings you’ll find in N100 include Netflix, PepsiCo, Airbnb, Electronic Arts, eBay, Marriott, and the Atlassian empire.
They say the best time to begin your investing journey was yesterday.
The second best?
You’ll just have to settle for hitting the link below right now, I suppose.
This article is sponsored by Global X ETFs. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Boss Hunting.
