Where to invest now LTF's are finished ?

[Bangkokhatter]

I had invested in a couple of LTF'S for the last 8 years, they were ideal for me not being financially literate and were a simple way for me to save some money every month and also get some tax relief.

 

Now they have ended i am looking at where to invest between 10-20,000 THB every month. I had a little look at the replacement product and noticed it was trapped in for 10 years and did not see any tax relief benefits.

 

I do not qualify yet for the RMF so does any one have any suggestions for a suitable product ?

 

I would just like a product where i can save some money every month that will,  over the long term, earn me some interest and does not need much participation from me.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[YT3k72Em]

How do you mean you don't qualify for RMF?  Anyone is able to buy them.

[JulesMad]

Why not invest in some LBFM's? They are so much more fun than RMF's or LTF's ????

[jojothai]

SSFs were announced as replacement at the  end of last year. Extract from an online article as follows.
Are they what you say are locked in for 10 years? It didnt say that on articles that I read.

But dont the SSFs have tax benefits as stated?

From 2020 to 2024, super savings funds (SSFs) will substitute LTFs. Investments in SSF units are tax-deductible up to 30% of a buyer’s taxable income, but not more than 200,000 baht.

When combined with investments in other retirement funds such as RMFs, provident funds, Government Pension Fund, National Savings Fund or premiums for pension life insurance policies, the total must not exceed 500,000 baht a year.

Unlike LTFs, which are required to invest only in Thai stocks, SSFs may invest in all types of securities. No minimum purchase is set and investors are not required to buy units every year.

Edited November 12, 2020 by jojothai
clarification

[Bangkokhatter]

8 hours ago, YT3k72Em said:

How do you mean you don't qualify for RMF?  Anyone is able to buy them.

I was told you had to be over 55 to invest in RMF, this was a few years back mind.

[Surelynot]

2 hours ago, JulesMad said:

Why not invest in some LBFM's? They are so much more fun than RMF's or LTF's ????

Lot of money goes that way.....get quite a return...5555

[Bangkokhatter]

2 hours ago, jojothai said:

SSFs were announced as replacement at the  end of last year. Extract from an online article as follows.
Are they what you say are locked in for 10 years? It didnt say that on articles that I read.

But dont the SSFs have tax benefits as stated?

From 2020 to 2024, super savings funds (SSFs) will substitute LTFs. Investments in SSF units are tax-deductible up to 30% of a buyer’s taxable income, but not more than 200,000 baht.

When combined with investments in other retirement funds such as RMFs, provident funds, Government Pension Fund, National Savings Fund or premiums for pension life insurance policies, the total must not exceed 500,000 baht a year.

Unlike LTFs, which are required to invest only in Thai stocks, SSFs may invest in all types of securities. No minimum purchase is set and investors are not required to buy units every year.

Thanks for your reply, i did ask at my local BBK branch who told me about the 10 year lock in and did not see any details of tax relief on the little brochure they gave me.

I will have to take a trip into the main branch in BKK they always seem to have a better understanding.

 

Thanks again for your advice.

[Titan1962]

If I had that sort of money to invest every month I would be putting about 50% of it into Bitcoin or ETH.

Not sure what returns you got on your last investments,but if your into holding for a long period of time it might be worth a look. Bitcoin was about $9 back then,it’s currently sitting at just over $16,000. So that’s not a bad return on your initial investment in anyone’s terms. 
Crypto currency’s are becoming more and more accepted as an investment or a opportunity to make money. Companies like Fidelity,grayscale,PayPal ,JP Morgan are now all involved in the space. 
Eventually you will be able to spend crypto like you do cash at most shops,using your mobile or tap and go card. It’s not for everyone as you need to do some research on how to buy and store your crypto in a hardware wallet like a ledger nano s. It’s a very volatile market and can have huge price swings. 
But in your case these price movements would not affect you if your in it for the long haul. Most people lose money day trading and trying to make a few dollars on the swings. A lot of people I assume buy in and then see a crash,thinking it’s going to zero the bail out. Lose money,then the price rebounds and buy back in at a higher price than they initially bought in at. 
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok,some prefer precious metals and stocks etc. 

But it might be worth a look.

Happy investing.

[Bangkokhatter]

1 hour ago, Titan1962 said:

If I had that sort of money to invest every month I would be putting about 50% of it into Bitcoin or ETH.

Not sure what returns you got on your last investments,but if your into holding for a long period of time it might be worth a look. Bitcoin was about $9 back then,it’s currently sitting at just over $16,000. So that’s not a bad return on your initial investment in anyone’s terms. 
Crypto currency’s are becoming more and more accepted as an investment or a opportunity to make money. Companies like Fidelity,grayscale,PayPal ,JP Morgan are now all involved in the space. 
Eventually you will be able to spend crypto like you do cash at most shops,using your mobile or tap and go card. It’s not for everyone as you need to do some research on how to buy and store your crypto in a hardware wallet like a ledger nano s. It’s a very volatile market and can have huge price swings. 
But in your case these price movements would not affect you if your in it for the long haul. Most people lose money day trading and trying to make a few dollars on the swings. A lot of people I assume buy in and then see a crash,thinking it’s going to zero the bail out. Lose money,then the price rebounds and buy back in at a higher price than they initially bought in at. 
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok,some prefer precious metals and stocks etc. 

But it might be worth a look.

Happy investing.

Thanks for your reply.

 

A friend of mine told me about Bitcoin a few years back but i just did not understand it and a few years later am still in the same boat.

 

To be honest i have a very basic knowledge of investing which is why i tend to go for safe products with modest returns, though one of my LTF's was around 9% pre-Covid which i thought was good. 

 

Another problem is boredom, i just don't have the inclination or time for that matter to actually do the research required to make a success of something like Bitcoin.

 

Probably why i will still be working in my sixties.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

2 hours ago, Titan1962 said:

Eventually you will be able to spend crypto like you do cash at most shops

Years ago on Soi Nana I remember several "Bitcoin accepted here" places. I went there for the pubs. I swear. One "crypto shop" was right next to Chequers Pub. They made it sound like you could walk in and buy some. I assumed it wasn't that easy. Years since, and haven't noticed any more of such places anywhere.

[YT3k72Em]

15 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

I was told you had to be over 55 to invest in RMF, this was a few years back mind.

No. You can't sell them until you are 55.

 

[wolf81]

16 hours ago, Bangkokhatter said:

Thanks for your reply.

 

A friend of mine told me about Bitcoin a few years back but i just did not understand it and a few years later am still in the same boat.

 

To be honest i have a very basic knowledge of investing which is why i tend to go for safe products with modest returns, though one of my LTF's was around 9% pre-Covid which i thought was good. 

 

Another problem is boredom, i just don't have the inclination or time for that matter to actually do the research required to make a success of something like Bitcoin.

 

Probably why i will still be working in my sixties.

That's a shame. I believe it's worthwhile to invest at least a little bit of your net worth in Bitcoin (BTC). I believe in the coming years BTC could grow at least to 100.000 USD value and probably much more. I personally believe 1 BTC might at some point, perhaps around 2030, to be worth 1.000.000 USD. Currently BTC is worth around 16.000 USD.

 

I suspect by the end of this year BTC will reach a new all time high, growing to 20.000 USD at the very least. 

 

Just in the past week a few companies have started investing part of their assets in Bitcoin (MicroStrategy, Square). Institutional investors (e.g. pension funds) are also following suit. In the US the government has allowed banks to become crypto custodians (this in part made it easier for institutional investors to enter the market). Also Iran is buying BTC to work around US sanctions. I believe more countries might consider this approach. Countries might store some BTC in central banks as an alternative / addition to gold. PayPal will support online payments using BTC, though they won't give users control over the BTC wallets, so it's not possible to transfer BTC out of your PayPal account. 

 

You should consider doing at least a little bit of research. If you have a little bit of time, I do suggest you look into the following 3 links:

- PlanB's stock-to-flow model: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/bitcoin-stock-to-flow-cross-asset-model-50d260feed12

- Understand how BTC halving impacts price (we had halving this year and historically prices increase a lot in the year after the halving): https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-the-bitcoin-halving-impacts-bitcoins-price-ac7ba87706f1

- The Bitcoin Life Raft: The End of Monetary & Fiscal Policy As We Know It (Raoul Pal is ex-Goldman Sachs banker ... I believe he understands financial systems very well): 

 

If you have some money to spare (not ALL your assets) it might be a smart idea to invest at least a small part of your network into BTC.

 

If you decide to buy Bitcoin in the future, make sure you understand how to store your coins safely (don't keep much on exchange, consider using hardware like a Ledger, etc...)

Edited November 13, 2020 by wolf81

[Titan1962]

On 11/13/2020 at 7:38 AM, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Years ago on Soi Nana I remember several "Bitcoin accepted here" places. I went there for the pubs. I swear. One "crypto shop" was right next to Chequers Pub. They made it sound like you could walk in and buy some. I assumed it wasn't that easy. Years since, and haven't noticed any more of such places anywhere.

I agree 100% that they are few and far between,I used a stable coin to purchase a subscription a few months ago. It was a straight forward process. I see that crypto debit cards seem to be the way people actually spend their crypto at the moment. Easy for the shop owner as they don’t actually have to handle crypto. 
Now PayPal are involved in crypto it will open up a lot of other options. Who knows what the future holds,but it seems that digital is the way we are heading. Lots of countries now looking at the digital dollar. It just means people will gradually get pushed towards using this type of money. I enjoy being a part of the crypto community,learning about new platforms and opportunities to make a few dollars. It’s not for everyone and can be a bit confusing,especially addresses and word phrases or keys. I had a lot of time on my hands and I am glad I got into it.