Should I continue buying ETFs?

I have been half-watching the recent discussions about ETFs and whether we should be buying them. I buy a few every month; – should I continue and am I buying the right ones?

At first I panicked, I buy ETFs monthly as a ‘tertiary education savings plan’ for my kids, but what if I’m investing poorly? My kids will never get a tertiary education! (As you can see, the “ETFs panic” escalated quite quickly.) So I read a few articles, not too many I must confess, it’s been a busy few weeks, and I was still confused. So I went to my handy know-it-all team, the Just One Lap team (I know… I am very loyal).

They have just produced a great video on this very dilemma: If I had R300, what ETF would I buy? (Also see what Nerina Visser and Keith McLachlan would be buying here). I was very pleased to see Simon advocating DBXWD ETFs (which is what I buy monthly) and Dineo suggested Satrix Top40 (which I have a few of). I don’t know the Resi Index that Petri mentioned so I just ignored that piece – sorry Petri.

The bottom line is that it seems my small monthly invest of R630 into DBXWD ETFs will be OK – my kids may still see a tertiary education after all.

Phew! That’s a relief! This means I don’t need to change anything there and I can focus on sorting out the faulty wiring in the granny cottage instead of changing my ETF investments.

In my next column I want to reflect on my children and money; how much pocket money should young children get?

Donna