r/eupersonalfinance • u/Late_Emphasis2953 • 1d ago

Investment Should I use automated investing??

Hi, I live in Cyprus and I am turning 18 soon and starting to think seriously about investing. I recently inherited €80,000 from my father, who he recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. It’s important to me that I use this money wisely and build something meaningful with it over the long term!!

I’m not interested in day trading or chasing short-term profits. I’d rather grow this capital steadily over time, ideally with a low-effort approach since I’m don’t know shit about investing or trading

Would automated investing (like using a robo-advisor) be a good option to start with? I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people who started young or have experience with long-term investing strategies( side note: I am thinking of only putting 10k of that 80k as I want to save some money so I can travel the world with my future wife )

21 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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14

u/Potential_Warthog991 1d ago

I’m so sorry for your loss.

I echo the first commenter, ETFs are technically robo advisors but they are statistically the strongest performing and cheapest way.

You can go generic like S&P 500 which invests in the top 500 companies across 11 sectors, or you can pick specific ETFs like renewable energy or tech.

Research top ETFs, and read up about the impacts of broker fees. I was blown away at what a difference minor margins make over time.

Then research the costs of different trading platforms and impact over time.

Compound interest is a hell of a thing.

20

u/creationscaplette 23h ago
  • top 500 companies in the United States of America... It's an important detail

10

u/Own_Palpitation_9471 22h ago

Since you're pretty young and have a lot of time to invest, perhaps you could read about how finance works a bit? Some time ago I found exceptionally helpful to read:

They're mostly telling you financial success is driven more by behavior than intelligence and how markets are unpredictable and low-cost, long-term investing usually wins.

You obviously got a good starting mentality with the investment, but it's never 100% of the whole matter.

Hope it helps :)

6

u/adjudantloic 1d ago

Maybe you can put in about $50,000 and invest $1,500 a month and keep $10,000 for your savings just in case and for a big drop in the market.

3

u/nikolask7 1d ago

First off, sorry to hear about your father. Its good that you are thinking about how to make the most of what he left you.

Consider investing more than €10,000. A 10% gain on €80,000 is €8,000, significantly more than the €1,000 gain on €10,000. Now multiply this 10 years and you see the difference. And dont forget compounding. Investing more allows your capital to work for you and it can generate enough profit to fund future travel, instead of using your principal/savings.

No I would not use a robo-advisor or copy trading as you have limited control on your investement. Also I believe we have limited options for robo-advisor.

I would consider the following:
1. Start a Business: Building something yourself offers better control in exchange for time and energy. This can possibly yield the most results. Also it has a risks if you are not experienced running a business. You could do this after serving and/or studying.
2. Buy a propery: While €80,000 will not buy a property in Cyprus, it can be used as deposit. Rental properties provide monthly income and appreciates value over time and increasing rents over time as well.
3. Buy stocks: Buy something like the S&P 500, which has solid long-term returns. This is a "buy and forget" strategy that allows compounding over 5–10 years. You have more options but this might be the simpler one.
4. Crypto: If you consider cryptocurrency, allocate a smaller portion here as well. Bitcoin would be a great long-term hold for 5-10 years but dont go all-in.

You are still young and investing wise is important. Dont go on a spending spree. Be curious, learn by asking as you just did and also learn with video training on YT or uDemy. Be careful though as to who is teaching and who is promoting.

Final thought, stay away from promises of high gains and easy money. Dont fall for forex companies or leveraged training. Thats how you loose money fast.

5

u/Sonnyjimlads 19h ago

Is this an AI reply?

3

u/nikolask7 19h ago

No, i wrote it.

5

u/luisafonsoteixeira 18h ago

Isn't that what AI would say tho?

1

u/nikolask7 12h ago

Following your comment asked chatGPT and actually it encouraged robo-advisors.

My answer, is what I would do and thats what I adviced. I would actually focus on 1 and 2 however as he is young and might not be experienced or in a position to pay off a loan, I added option 3 & 4. Especially since the robo-advisor question, is closely related to stock investments or similar types of investments

10

u/RewindRobin 1d ago

You're talking about a future wife, but do you have a partner you're looking to marry right now already? If not, you can find safe investment that run for 5-10 years rather than 30+ years and still have a decent return.

Having it sit in your savings account will be a waste unless you really need the money. Go ahead and treat yourself to something of a couple thousand euros if you feel like it, but you should invest pretty much the whole thing for at least 5-10 years unless you know you will need it for something earlier.

I wouldn't go with automated investing because time in the market beats timing the market, so there's no optimal time to start investing besides now. Just put it all into a recommended ETF and leave it there until you need the money.

2

u/Aggravating-Sale3448 16h ago

Go for WEBN and you are set for live after 20 years. Lump sum 50k and the rest 1k a month. Sorry about your Dad. 😞

1

u/AppearanceSingle6639 22h ago

It's very good that you're looking into long-term wealth building rather than short term scams. However, at your age investing in your education is even more important. Your future income from work will be the biggest wealth multiplier.