Vanguard LifeStrategy Review 2021 & Create Your Own Cheaper LifeStrategy Funds

Although I have reviewed Vanguard LifeStrategy funds before a lot has happened since then and many new products have come onto the market, so In Vanguard LifeStrategy Review 2021 I bring this review up to date and see if they are still as competitive in 2021.

In the UK LifeStrategy funds can be expensive and have not all performed well in recent years, so in this video, I also look at cheaper and better-performing alternatives for the LifeStrategy and show you how you can create your own version of the LifeStrategy 100, 80, 60, 40 & 20 funds for a fraction of the price.

This is what else PensionCraft Offers:

Recommended PensionCraft YouTube Playlists

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Lifestrategy Funds Explained
04:24 Performance of UK LifeStrategy
8:08 Problems with LifeStrategy UK Funds
10:22 Create your Own UK LifeStrategy For Less
15:10 Alternatives to LifeStrategy UK
18:01 Alternatives to LifeStrategy US
19:31 Conclusion

#Vanguard #LifeStrategy #PensionCraft

[pintradex]

"the financial term for wiggliness is volatility" i love it :)

[MrDrewy]

I would love to see an updated 2022 video review of life strategy given the ‘inversion of safety’ between high & low bond allocations. Seeing how the uk overweight has faired during the 2022 sell off would be interesting too. Thanks for the excellent content Ramin!

[The_Last_Post]

Seeing as Vanguard was a beacon of low fees, what do you think of the likelihood that they might reduce their fee of 0.22% to match or better their new competitors?

[matthewrobinson]

Nice video. If you’re replicating life strategy at lower cost wouldn’t you expect the returns over time to be higher? That didn’t seem to come through in your analysis and I wonder if there is anything to say on this?

[saratharavabhoomi]

Hello Ramin, Thank you so much. I learn a lot as always from your videos. In addition, I have been wanting to tell you, your voice is so calming, every time I listen to you, its just so meditative :) I will definitely look into rebalancing my portfolio based on today's learning.

[pw]

I keep hearing people say how cheap / good value UK equities are. I wonder if this over weighting may pay off if the UK markets come back to "fair value". Equally, the fact that US equities have performed so well in recent years may mean that they will underperform in the next few years.
Either way, I like Vanguard, and I like these simple cheap, "fire and forget" funds, they are ideal for new investors, or people that really have no interest in constantly monitoring their investments.

[stigz]

Awesome video Ramin as ever!! Did you do the comparison analysis between the MyMap and HSBC fund performance? Which won?

[talbotsunbeamer]

Thank you Ramin. Would you be willing at some time to review the Vanguard target date funds? I assume the bond to equity ratios increase over time but am curious if these products have any real benefit over Life Strategy, manual weightings etc aside from being automatically rebalanced.

[Elk]

Thank you Ramin. A splendid video that moved me on with my thinking. I'd love to know how you managed to derive those simple portfolios that exactly match the performance of the Lifestrategy funds.

[TynOng]

Thanks Ramin. Vanguard is now offering cheap Advisor service now. Do you think it's worth it compared to other independent advisors? It'd be grate if you could create a video about getting financial advice. Cheers.

[penguin]

Thanks for another great video! Two quick Qs if I may! (1) I'm confused by your VLS60 alternative portfolio because your equity/ bond split is 56.2%/43.9% and you have no EM equity allocation, whereas the underlying equity funds in the VLS60 portfolio data add up to 60% as you would expect, and include EMs. Can I ask what your thinking is here? And (2) To avoid UK home bias, could you simply use one cheap global equity tracker such as HSBC FTSE All-World Index Fund with an OCF 0.13% for your 60% equity and then use your three Vanguard bond funds to make up the other 40%? Thanks!

[johnmcewan]

Excellent content. Precise, objective and covered multiple options. Thank you very much and keep up the great work.

[amillsmcewan]

Thank you for a very clear and informative video. My objection to LifeStrategy is the home bias so, to eliminate, rather than duplicate, this I think it can be even simpler using iShares

60% SWDA. iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF.  MER 0.2%
40% AGBP iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF. MER 0.1% 
 total MER 0.16%

It's a shame the HSBC Global Strategy - Balanced  MER 0.17% is actively managed, otherwise I'd go for that.

[colinrobinson]

Great video, I went into life strategy after watching your video about a year and a half ago! 👍I must admit I didn’t realise they were so heavily weighted to the UK tho 🤔

[stupossibleify]

If investing in index funds should only be for the long term, then surely the only vehicle people should consider investing is via SIPPs as they 1. compel long-term investment, removing the emotional "cashing out" instincts, and 2. are more tax efficient, especially at 40% income tax bands - thus yielding an instant 20%+ return on investment

[neilbrandon]

Thanks Ramin. Is there an inherent risk within one fund and ETF? could the ETF sphere collapse?

[davidmetallinos]

Hello thanks for the amazing content.i am really close to commiting to the life strategy funds but two words were enough to put me MANAGED.
Could you please elaborate
Cheers

[mazensleiman]

Hey Ramin, thank you for the Video. Are you going to do a MyMap alternatives with Vanguard funds? that would be super useful, thanks

[laurencebrown]

Great video and very well explained. I hold Lifestrategy 80 and also VWRL on my platform. What’s your thoughts on this as they sort of cover the same thing. Does this make sense or should I be looking to have one or the other in my portfolio? Thanks in advance.

[johnykuttyzacharias]

Can you provide the link to open BlackRock My Map account?