Gearing? Is the same as leverage?
I was thinking about a site that have good reviews about the trusts as there are sites about stocks, like Motley Fool. And after selecting the good apples, we could do quantitative analysis in Morningstar or similar sites.
I have given this consideration. Tax take on people in Ireland is a fccking joke.
The way I see it is, Iām am taxed at 52pc and then I take further risk with my own money after taxes.
So paying a other 33pc on capital gain, 41pc on dividends etcā¦is not something Iām gonna do.
I do think once I get into sizeable accounts, I will set up an investment vehicle for sure.
I had the same in my country, Portugal. Although Portugal isnāt so tax-friendly to companies as in Ireland.
Today news about Ireland corporate taxation, ZERO taxes on $315b profits:
An Irish subsidiary of Microsoft made a profit of $315bn (Ā£222bn) last year but paid no corporation tax as it is āresidentā for tax purposes in Bermuda.
The profit generated by Microsoft Round Island One is equal to nearly three-quarters of Irelandās gross domestic product ā even though the company has no employees.
I wonder why Irish people admit paying so much taxes and zero or few taxes for companies.
We donāt like to protest. What are we, French?!
I figured you looked at the āno employeesā and decided it just wasnāt worth the effort 
Honestly though it is a huge problem. Our capital gains allowance is a joke for a start at ā¬1270. With ETFs, they are also a no-go as youāre taxed 41% on dividends, 41% on gains, and every 8 years even if you donāt sell you are taxed 41% on the previous 8 years profit.
33% capital gains generally speaking on other instruments.
Throw into the mix the fact that our income tax is also sky high, as well as banking fees depositing into apps like T212.
All that combined and you are not having a good time financially.
Itās a bit ironic, as Ireland is a major financial center for domiciling ETFs (as is Luxembourg). (Tax-friendly for ETFs.)
ETFs created in Ireland have few or no taxes, but the Irish people that invest in them, must pay high taxes on them. I suppose it is a way to compensate the low taxes the ETFs pay. The Irish-domiciled ETFs are only good for other countries.
Ireland is also a major financial center for domiciling mutual funds, the taxation for Irish people that invest in mutual funds are similar to investing in ETFs?
I have no idea. Iāve never invested in mutual funds. I would assume it is not a good situation.
My income from paye is all the tax man will ever see. Iāve no issue paying a fair tax, but in Ireland it is not fair. Its oppressive actually. My after tax cash is mine to do what I want with. If I take risk and it works out, what right has the tax man got to that. If I lost my money will he bail me out. No. So I owe nothing.
With paye by contrast, if I lose my job I can claim benefitsā¦so I pay those taxes etc.
Tax is a transaction or an insurance as a resident in a state. But with share investing, no insurance = no tax.
Perhaps the minimum 15% corp tax rate will offset personal taxes.
The problem is, any additional funds you having incoming are classed as income. So as long as we live in a tax driven society, any profits you get from your investments are classed as additional income. This tax is not just insurance though, itās to pay for public services and a social system. I know what youāre saying in that youāre taking on all the risk without a government safety net in the form of a bail out. It really doesnāt seem fair. Unfortunately it doesnāt work like that though.
Also I wish it was only PAYE the tax man gets from me! There is also PRSI and USC.
@Dougal1984 There is no way in hell theyāll drop taxes. Theyāre too greedy. I remember a few years ago when I was living in Japan, the biggest news of the time was the income tax increase from 7% to 8%. I remember my colleagues were losing their minds. I just had to laugh.
Ireland is a country I would leave in a heartbeat if not for family etc. This 15% global tax is going to hit every smaller economy nationā¦I cannot see it being passed to be fair. It will widen the gap between rich and poor nations once again.
The countries that multinationals use to pay less tax are not generally poor.
Poor is most of Africa, not Luxembourg, Ireland, Guernsey, the Netherlands, etc.
My plan is to build a capital with 20% of my monthly income towards investing and re-invest dividends again and again.
maintain my Emergency Fund (3 months of expenses).
Until I get to semi-retirements. then I test my passive income before going fully in retirement and then live of that passive income.
What is your timeline? My confirmation bias likes this approach as this is also my approach.
That seems smart.
I also keep 3 months on the hip for emergencyās.
I must admit, I donāt really have any dividend companies at present due to the indexās. But it may be smart for me to build them up slowly for a bit of passive income for when I retire.
Iāve got about 6 months emergency fund split across 4 accounts, just incase I do need access and having IT issues with any one institution.
Other than that Iām still very much in the growth/total return phase rather than dividend income.
FIRE wise, Iām potentially 5-10 years away depending how frugal a life I want, but toying between the fact I enjoy my job/would like to start my own business. For the latter I would like more on the coffers first.
Itās also difficult - there are some good dividend payers that have yields above 6% - M&G, L&G, possibly National Grid(bit adventurous) and maybe Aberdeen.
This is a huge fallacy, dividend investing is not even remotely a āsomething you do when in retirementā thing. it does NOT necessarily mean ābuying a dying company that pays 7% dividends and spend the money outā
I recommend reading about it, do the math add the numbers on a continuous timeline rather than a lucky ādouble up on share xā or āthe future is obviously share Yā
Since SNPs inception: at any given consecutive 20 (or 25) years, dividend aristocrats outperformed SNP500. Even dividend kings and champions have more outperforming samples. There is a vicious cycle of dividend growth pushing share price up, share price feeding dividend growth
@Dougal1984 and @Jobloggs as well go checkout single best investment I promise it is not boring at all 
A very nice example from my portfolio is something I use quite often: CHD, go check itās yield (i donāt even know) because it is low, like any other money printing company like diageo etc.
My total growth in CHD is greater than 2000% and I continuously buy this stock. It is not about ātimingā or getting lucky etc. And it is a boring old consumer staple.
I hold a grand total of Ā£1000 in my āemergency fundā but I got some fairly liquid assets (like gold) that can be converted easily and would provide me maintenance for may be a year. More immediate liquidity can be solved with a 75K limit AMEX 
A Total Return calculation takes into account both income and capital gains.
Perhaps I could have been a little clearer in my meaning of a total return strategy rather than pure income strategy. At this stage to grow my wealth, I am looking for the best possible outcome. That could be capital gains, income gains, or combination of both.
Makes an interesting read. Apparently an updated 2020 study shows that 4% still remains the rough level for a safe withdrawal rate in retirement.