Oftentimes, beginners should start with passive index investing. I strongly agree with that. One of the most popular methods would be the Bogleheads’ three-fund portfolio. It indicates that an investor should purchase one bond fund, one international equity fund and one local equity fund. In the Singapore context, some use our CPF as our “bond fund” and the S&P 500 Index as the international fund. Logically, the local equity fund would be the Straits Times Index (STI). It has ticker symbols ES3 or G3B. Although there are merits to the Straits Times Index, I personally feel that it is not the best index a Singaporean investor can dip his money in. After all, it is your hard-earned money, we should be very picky about what we invest in. This is to ensure maximum returns. Instead of this index, I will provide an alternative at the end for Singaporean index investors looking to replicate the Bogleheads’ three-fund portfolio....