Any Australians/Outside US on here? Looking for advice with brokers, currency conversion etc

Investing
#1

Hi team,

I have completed Jeremys course and am comfy and understand the Index Fund side of things.

I’m concerned about currency conversion either eating profits or adding volatility over time?

Currently have individual stocks and ETF in an etoro account. This converts AUD to USD prior to investing. Over time i intend to scale back individual holdings and move that money to index funds.

I’ve looked at Vanguard for ETF which seems to only allow investment in Australian ETFs with an Australian account. The US options arent in the list.

I explored IG markets which has zero commission US ETF trading but a 0.7% currency conversion fee, which seems high.

Anyone from outside the US got any insight for me? or am I overthinking? I don’t wanna find out 20 years from now I’ll have lost gains because the market went up but the AUD went down.

#2

Where do you intend to live when you start withdrawing money? If you expect to be in Australia, investing in AUD should be fine. As value of the index go up, your AUD investment goes up – unless there’s something major in missing in the story here. If you intend to live in the US when you start withdrawing money, then you may want to consider investing in USD.

That’s speaking from the perspective of an immigrant living in the US.

1 Like
#3

Thanks Mindi.

I’m struggling to find an option that will allow me to invest in US stocks / ETFs in AUD without the conversion. I’m looking for a way if available to eliminate that further variable.