Six-Month Check-In on My 500,000 KRW/Month ETF Accumulation Plan
Since late last year, I’ve had an automatic transfer set up to put 500,000 KRW a month into an S&P 500-tracking ETF. This is a six-month record and share.
My return is currently around +9%. When it dropped to -7% in April, I wondered what would have happened if I’d turned off automatic buying. In the end, not touching it was the right answer.
The variable is the exchange rate. I bought in dollars but evaluate it in won, so there were periods when I lost out due to the exchange rate even though the index went up. I’m considering whether I should look into currency-hedged products separately.
4 answers
You're looking into currency-hedged products, but for long-term dollar-cost averaging, hedging costs often eat into returns, so it may actually be better not to hedge. Exchange rates move in cycles, so it's too early to judge based on just a six-month window.
If it’s +9% over six months, you weathered it well. I couldn’t fight the fear in April and took profit on half, but it kept going up after that, so I’m just frustrated lol. In the end, not touching it is the hardest part.
I’ve been contributing 500,000 won a month for two years now, too. Early on, you’ll probably check your returns every month like I did, but that’s really pointless. Once you get past a year, you actually start not wanting to look at it lol. Just keep the automatic transfer going.
But isn’t it a bit early to judge 6 months and +9% as skill or strategy? That period just happened to be a bull market, and from the post alone it feels like the conclusion—“not touching it is the right answer”—is already decided. Whether holding through -7% was the right call is something you can only know after 3 years.