Taiwan Local Chapter

Post by **Mel Lindauer** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:14 pm

Hi Everyone:

The Bogleheads message and reach are expanding into Asia.

I'm happy to announce that we have a new Local Chapter in Taiwan. If you're interested in joining, or you know someone who is, here's the contact information:

Contact Name = Kelvin
Email address = service.taiwanbogleheads@gmail.com

You can contact Kelvin directly or you can express your interest here on this thread.

Good luck to Kelvin and our Taiwan Bogleheads.

(FWIW, Kelvin, an author, flew 8000 miles to attend our recent Bogleheads 11 Conference.)

stan1 · Post by **stan1** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:54 pm

你好 (Hello!)

Post by **Mel Lindauer** » Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:46 pm

stan1 wrote:你好 (Hello!)

And "Hello" to you, too!

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 1:24 am

Dear Mel,

Thanks for your help.
I hope we can have our first meeting in Taipei in 2013.

Any Bogleheads from Taiwan interested in this event?

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:53 am

That's pretty cool! I had no idea there would be an interest over there. Hopefully the local chapter is still around by the time I retire and move to Taiwan.

Faith20879 · Post by **Faith20879** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:35 am

Tim_in_GA wrote:That's pretty cool! I had no idea there would be an interest over there. Hopefully the local chapter is still around by the time I retire and move to Taiwan.

What a coincident! We (me and DH) also looked into that possibility. But eventually its high cost of living (compare to other SE countries) and extreme humidity voted it off our list.

Now about investing BH style in TW, would you be investing in the US or the TW market? From what I hear, their stock market is largely still like a roulette and index funds are non-existing. Is that a wrong impression?

Best,
Faith

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:25 am

Faith20879 wrote:What a coincident! We (me and DH) also looked into that possibility. But eventually its high cost of living (compare to other SE countries) and extreme humidity voted it off our list.

Now about investing BH style in TW, would you be investing in the US or the TW market? From what I hear, their stock market is largely still like a roulette and index funds are non-existing. Is that a wrong impression?

Best,
Faith

Yeah, the real estate prices are quite high but other than that things are very affordable. It's my wife's home country so it will be very easy for me to get permanent residency. Although I wouldn't rule out other areas in SE Asia. Who knows, in 15 years or so a lot can change.

I will merge all my retirement funds into Vanguard funds when I retire and just transfer cash around when I need it. I have no interest in the TW market. I think it is a lot like you said. Nobody in my wife's family except her older brother does any real investing. That's why I was surprised about a BH chapter there. I don't picture many Taiwanese investing the BH way.

-Tim

edge · Post by **edge** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 11:38 am

I have a home in Taiwan in Kaohsiung. It is my wife's home country and we spend a month or two there during 'Winter' every few years. I too am surprised there are enough Boglehead-like investors in TW to support a chapter.

Post by **Mel Lindauer** » Mon Nov 19, 2012 2:30 pm

edge wrote:I have a home in Taiwan in Kaohsiung. It is my wife's home country and we spend a month or two there during 'Winter' every few years. I too am surprised there are enough Boglehead-like investors in TW to support a chapter.

Actually, there's a Chinese version of our first book (The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing). Here's a link: http://product.dangdang.com/product.asp ... d=20735133

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:16 pm

In Taiwan, we have some index funds and ETFs tracking local stock and bond markets.
But for international markets, our choice is very limited.
One solution is to open U.S brokerage accounts.
Then we can use all the ETFs in the States.

Faith20879 wrote:
Tim_in_GA wrote:That's pretty cool! I had no idea there would be an interest over there. Hopefully the local chapter is still around by the time I retire and move to Taiwan.
What a coincident! We (me and DH) also looked into that possibility. But eventually its high cost of living (compare to other SE countries) and extreme humidity voted it off our list.

Now about investing BH style in TW, would you be investing in the US or the TW market? From what I hear, their stock market is largely still like a roulette and index funds are non-existing. Is that a wrong impression?

Best,
Faith

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:30 pm

I am a Boglehead from Taiwan and I have a financial Blog.
In my blog, I write lots of articles talking about the benefits of indexing and asset allocation, what Mr. Bogle did and the importance of cost.
Now my blog has 13,000 feedburder subscribers. And most of them are local investors.

The biggest ETF in Taiwan is Polaris Taiwan Top 50 Tracking Fund, which is the counterpart of SPY.
It has more assets than any active equity funds investing in Taiwan's stock market.
And the largest index fund in Taiwan ranks top ten in assets.

Although still a minority when compared with active investors, there are many indexers in our country.

Tim_in_GA wrote:
Faith20879 wrote:What a coincident! We (me and DH) also looked into that possibility. But eventually its high cost of living (compare to other SE countries) and extreme humidity voted it off our list.

Now about investing BH style in TW, would you be investing in the US or the TW market? From what I hear, their stock market is largely still like a roulette and index funds are non-existing. Is that a wrong impression?

Best,
Faith
Yeah, the real estate prices are quite high but other than that things are very affordable. It's my wife's home country so it will be very easy for me to get permanent residency. Although I wouldn't rule out other areas in SE Asia. Who knows, in 15 years or so a lot can change.

I will merge all my retirement funds into Vanguard funds when I retire and just transfer cash around when I need it. I have no interest in the TW market. I think it is a lot like you said. Nobody in my wife's family except her older brother does any real investing. That's why I was surprised about a BH chapter there. I don't picture many Taiwanese investing the BH way.

-Tim

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:39 pm

What a surprise. I don't expect my home town to be mentioned in this thread. Kaohsiung is the biggest harbor in Taiwan., It locates in southern part of Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait. With a population of 2.7 million, it is also the second largest city in Taiwan.

edge wrote:I have a home in Taiwan in Kaohsiung. It is my wife's home country and we spend a month or two there during 'Winter' every few years. I too am surprised there are enough Boglehead-like investors in TW to support a chapter.

stan1 · Post by **stan1** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:05 pm

verfasser wrote:What a surprise. I don't expect my home town to be mentioned in this thread. Kaohsiung is the biggest harbor in Taiwan., It locates in southern part of Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait. With a population of 2.7 million, it is also the second largest city in Taiwan.

edge wrote:I have a home in Taiwan in Kaohsiung. It is my wife's home country and we spend a month or two there during 'Winter' every few years. I too am surprised there are enough Boglehead-like investors in TW to support a chapter.

I have ridden the high speed rail to Kaohsiung, and even stopped to visit the 1000 Buddha Temple for an hour between business meetings (but I think there may have been closer to 1,000,000 Buddhas). But -- alas -- there is no Din Tai Fung in Kaohsiung.

I am not at all surprised to hear that there is a large following of index fund investors in Taiwan.

simplesimon · Post by **simplesimon** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:09 pm

Can you provide a link to your blog?

Edit: Nevermind, found it!

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:41 am

verfasser wrote:I am a Boglehead from Taiwan and I have a financial Blog.
In my blog, I write lots of articles talking about the benefits of indexing and asset allocation, what Mr. Bogle did and the importance of cost.
Now my blog has 13,000 feedburder subscribers. And most of them are local investors.

The biggest ETF in Taiwan is Polaris Taiwan Top 50 Tracking Fund, which is the counterpart of SPY.
It has more assets than any active equity funds investing in Taiwan's stock market.
And the largest index fund in Taiwan ranks top ten in assets.

Although still a minority when compared with active investors, there are many indexers in our country.

Very interesting - thanks!

stan1 wrote: But -- alas -- there is no Din Tai Fung in Kaohsiung.

That's a shame for such a big city. I miss them - there's only one place in Atlanta where you can get xiao-long-bao that comes close to DTF. They just opened one in Taichung and we'll be there next year visiting my wife's family.

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:19 am

Tim_in_GA wrote:
verfasser wrote:I am a Boglehead from Taiwan and I have a financial Blog.
In my blog, I write lots of articles talking about the benefits of indexing and asset allocation, what Mr. Bogle did and the importance of cost.
Now my blog has 13,000 feedburder subscribers. And most of them are local investors.

The biggest ETF in Taiwan is Polaris Taiwan Top 50 Tracking Fund, which is the counterpart of SPY.
It has more assets than any active equity funds investing in Taiwan's stock market.
And the largest index fund in Taiwan ranks top ten in assets.

Although still a minority when compared with active investors, there are many indexers in our country.
Very interesting - thanks!

stan1 wrote: But -- alas -- there is no Din Tai Fung in Kaohsiung.
That's a shame for such a big city. I miss them - there's only one place in Atlanta where you can get xiao-long-bao that comes close to DTF. They just opened one in Taichung and we'll be there next year visiting my wife's family.

Wow! I don't expect so many of you have some kind of connection with Taiwan.

Din Tai Fung serves tasty food with reasonable price. Last Saturday I had dinner at its Taichung branch.
This restaurant is expanding rapidly. You can find it in Seatle and LA.

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:19 am

verfasser wrote: Wow! I don't expect so many of you have some kind of connection with Taiwan.

Yeah, I really love it over there. My first visits to Taiwan were on business over 12 years ago. Initially it was a shock as that was my first time outside North America. Then I met my wife while on one of those business trips and all that changed. Unfortunately I don't get to go there on business any more but we do go back every other year to see family and travel around the island with all our camera gear. It's such a beautiful place with so many photo opportunities.

Glad to hear there are some Boglehead-minded investors there. It will be nice to have some people locally to talk to when I eventually move there. My wife has no interest in that stuff.

Faith20879 · Post by **Faith20879** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:56 am

verfasser wrote:Din Tai Fung serves tasty food with reasonable price.

Huh? I was in TW for a business trip in 2007. The University staff took us lunch there. The only thing I remembered from that meal was their jaw-dropping price.

In another thread that’s going on right now -“Vacation to Washington DC”, someone said “…Metro is cheap…”. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

Perhaps I am just a little dated.

Regards,
Faith

suming · Post by **suming** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:50 pm

Very happy to hear the good news!!
- I moved from windy city, Taiwan to another windy city, US about 20 some years ago -
Taiwan is such a friendly country. Can't wait to move back there in retirement.

sscritic · Post by **sscritic** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 2:57 pm

verfasser wrote: This restaurant is expanding rapidly. You can find it in Seatle and LA.

http://www.dintaifungusa.com/locations_us.html

What should I order?
http://www.dintaifungusa.com/menu_la.html

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:15 pm

sscritic wrote:
verfasser wrote: What should I order?
http://www.dintaifungusa.com/menu_la.html

You must get xiao-long-bao. It's what they are famous for. Look under "Steamed Dumplings" and get the "Juicy Pork Dumplings" and the "Juicy Pork & Crab Dumplings." Those are our standard go-to items. We tried some other stuff once at their oldest Taipei location but it wasn't outstanding. We just stick with the XLB there from now on.

sscritic · Post by **sscritic** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:21 pm

Tim_in_GA wrote:
sscritic wrote: What should I order?
http://www.dintaifungusa.com/menu_la.html
You must get xiao-long-bao. It's what they are famous for. Look under "Steamed Dumplings" and get the "Juicy Pork Dumplings" and the "Juicy Pork & Crab Dumplings." Those are our standard go-to items. We tried some other stuff once at their oldest Taipei location but it wasn't outstanding. We just stick with the XLB there from now on.

Thanks. I have had the dumplings that squirt all over the place when you bite into them (thus the required spoon and gentle teeth), and I thought they were the XLB, but I wasn't sure. The green melon and shrimp looked interesting as well.

P.S. I fixed your quote.

stan1 · Post by **stan1** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:02 am

My other favorite:
Sung Chu (for Roasted Duck), in an alley across from the main Taipei bus station/MRT station.

Faith20879 · Post by **Faith20879** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:12 am

Tim_in_GA wrote:...and get the "Juicy Pork Dumplings" and the "Juicy Pork & Crab Dumplings."...

sscritic wrote: ...I have had the dumplings that squirt all over the place...

Yes, Tim is right, #D2 it was. If I recall, the word "juicy" real meant "soupy" as it was explained to me. The secret is in the dough, it has to be strong enough to hold the extra juice so it doesn't collapse between the chopsticks and yet tender (or thin) enough so that you don't taste the “doughiness”.

I envy you west-coasters. The closest place to get something as good is 5 hours away in NYC.

Regards,
Faith

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:32 am

Faith20879 wrote: Yes, Tim is right, #D2 it was. If I recall, the word "juicy" real meant "soupy" as it was explained to me. The secret is in the dough, it has to be strong enough to hold the extra juice so it doesn't collapse between the chopsticks and yet tender (or thin) enough so that you don't taste the “doughiness”.

I envy you west-coasters. The closest place to get something as good is 5 hours away in NYC.

Regards,
Faith

Yep, Din Tai Fung does a great job with that thin, translucent skin. Our local place serves some good regular and crab XLB but it's thicker with much more of a "bite" to the skin.

Sometimes you'll hear it called xiao-long-tang-bao (小籠湯包) where "tang" mean soup.

Sorry this is turning into a food discussion but it's hard to mention Taiwan without talking about the food. My wife has me converted to Taiwanese when it comes to eating and I really miss the food as much as she does!

HueyLD · Post by **HueyLD** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:30 pm

...........

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:31 am

The first annual meeting of Taiwan Bogleheads will be held on May 11, 2013 in Taipei from 13:00-17:20.

The event will be held at Mr.Brown Coffee, Naking 1st Branch.(Address :No.218, Sec. 2, Nanjing E. Rd., Taipei City, Taiwan)

We invite three financial authors to give speeches.

The first is Mr.Chen. (That's me). He uses Greenhorn as his penname. He has published three investment books and translated "The Investor's Manifesto" into traditional chinese. He is a vocal proponent of indexing and asset allocation. His blog has more than 14,000 subscribers.

The second author is Mr. Xiao. His penname is 怪老子. He has 2 investment titles. His first book "The Investment Principles You Should Know When You Get Your First Paycheck." is a long-time best seller.

The third author is Mr. Liu. He works in the insurance business. He builds his career by selling term-life insurances. He deeply believes that the correct objective of an insurance policy is to provide adequate protection. His books about insurance have a profound impact on the general public in Taiwan.

If you would like to know more about this event and how to register, please see the annoucement at:
http://greenhornfinancefootnote.blogspo ... nnual.html

Post by **Mel Lindauer** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:31 pm

Hi Kelvin:

It's great to see that the Bogleheads Taiwan Local Chapter is up and running, thanks to your leadership. It was a pleasure meeting you at Bogleheads 11 last year. I want to wish you and the rest of the Taiwan Bogleheads all the very best. Good luck with your upcoming meeting!

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:25 pm

Mel Lindauer wrote:Hi Kelvin:

It's great to see that the Bogleheads Taiwan Local Chapter is up and running, thanks to your leadership. It was a pleasure meeting you at Bogleheads 11 last year. I want to wish you and the rest of the Taiwan Bogleheads all the very best. Good luck with your upcoming meeting!

Hello Mel,

Thank you. It's really great to be a Boglehead.

In less than 24 hr after the annoucemnt of this event, the 100 seats are completely sold out.
I have to ask the manager of the coffee house if they can accomodate more people.

This is a good start.

Post by **LadyGeek** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:41 pm

Hello Kelvin,

May I suggest you consider creating a wiki article to describe Bogleheads investing for Taiwan?

For example, we have investing articles for European Union, Japan, and United Kingdom. Investing in Canada is treated by our sister Canadian forum: finiki, the Canadian financial Wiki.

Considerations include market composition, taxations, regulations, and available funds. There could be many interesting discussions to achieve a consensus on these topics, the results will help new investors. It could also be a topic of your blog.

If there is an interest, just start a new thread.

It was also my pleasure to meet you at the Bogleheads 11 conference and I wish you good luck with your meeting!

Tim_in_GA · Post by **Tim_in_GA** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:27 am

LadyGeek wrote: May I suggest you consider creating a wiki article to describe Bogleheads investing for Taiwan?

I would love to see something like that since I will eventually be living there. My wife & I have talked about setting up an investment account over there when we visit next year and start building up some savings in local currency.

Barry Barnitz · Post by **Barry Barnitz** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 2:03 pm

Hi:
As an aid to getting started, I have created a template and category for any future Taiwan related pages in the wiki: Category:Taiwan - Bogleheads

Some quick search links:
Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) (english)
FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index (english)
FTSE Taiwan index series
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Government Securities Services (english)

Papers:
Andy Lin and Anthony Chou, The Tracking Error and Premium/ Discount of Taiwan’s First Exchange Traded Fund web journal of Chinese Management Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, November 2006.

regards,

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:58 pm

LadyGeek wrote:Hello Kelvin,

May I suggest you consider creating a wiki article to describe Bogleheads investing for Taiwan?

For example, we have investing articles for European Union, Japan, and United Kingdom. Investing in Canada is treated by our sister Canadian forum: finiki, the Canadian financial Wiki.

Considerations include market composition, taxations, regulations, and available funds. There could be many interesting discussions to achieve a consensus on these topics, the results will help new investors. It could also be a topic of your blog.

If there is an interest, just start a new thread.

It was also my pleasure to meet you at the Bogleheads 11 conference and I wish you good luck with your meeting!

Hello LadyGeek,

That'a an interesting proposal.
I would like to write an article and let more people know the investment environment in Taiwan.

It's great to meet you and all the Bogleheads at BH11. It's a very special experience.

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:16 pm

Barry Barnitz wrote:Hi:
As an aid to getting started, I have created a template and category for any future Taiwan related pages in the wiki: Category:Taiwan - Bogleheads

Some quick search links:
Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) (english)
FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index (english)
FTSE Taiwan index series
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Government Securities Services (english)

Papers:
Andy Lin and Anthony Chou, The Tracking Error and Premium/ Discount of Taiwan’s First Exchange Traded Fund web journal of Chinese Management Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, November 2006.

regards,

Hello Barry,

Thank you for creating a wiki category specific for Taiwan.

Terrance Odean has published some research articles based on data from investors in Taiwan.
For example,
Just How Much Do Individual Investors Lose by Trading

Is the Aggregate Investors Reluctant to Realize Losses

These articles are very persuasive.

Barry Barnitz · Post by **Barry Barnitz** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:32 pm

verfasser wrote:
Barry Barnitz wrote:Hi:
As an aid to getting started, I have created a template and category for any future Taiwan related pages in the wiki: Category:Taiwan - Bogleheads

Some quick search links:
Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) (english)
FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index (english)
FTSE Taiwan index series
Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Government Securities Services (english)

Papers:
Andy Lin and Anthony Chou, The Tracking Error and Premium/ Discount of Taiwan’s First Exchange Traded Fund web journal of Chinese Management Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, November 2006.

regards,
Hello Barry,

Thank you for creating a wiki category specific for Taiwan.

Terrance Odean has published some research articles based on data from investors in Taiwan.
For example,
Just How Much Do Individual Investors Lose by Trading

Is the Aggregate Investors Reluctant to Realize Losses

These articles are very persuasive.

Thanks Kelvin:

Very informative papers.

I have (with some trepidation) sought to create a data spreadsheet. The TWSE created a total return version of the TAIEX stock index (covering the total market) in 2003 and allows access to index values from 2003 onwards. Here is the google.docs. spreadsheet which is published and open to edit. (The TWSE site has factbooks which provide a longer returns history of the TAIEX price indexes, but these do not take dividends into account). The Yuanta Polaris/P-shares: Yuanta Polaris site indicates that the index is tracked by an index fund.

I have not found total return values for the FSTE TWSE Taiwan 50 Index, which makes up 70% of Taiwan stock market capitalization, nor for the FTSE Taiwan Mid Cap 100 index (covering the next one hundred Taiwanese stocks according to market capitalization) and comprising nearly 20% of the Taiwan stock market capitalization.

Spreadsheet data sources:
Consumer Price Indices National Statistics Government of China (Taiwan), available for download
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp., TAIEX Total Return calculator
regards,

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Wed May 22, 2013 11:30 pm

The first Bogleheads meeting in Taiwan was successfully held on May 11 2013.
There were 123 attendees and 3 speakers.

Photo fo the convention room. It is on the third floor of a coffeehouse in Taipei.

The registration desk:

The welcoming post on the first floor:

We prepared data and name tags for each attendee:

Mel wrote a letter for us. Everyone has a copy the English letter and a Chinese version.
Thank you, Mel~
We are excited to receive a letter from you.

Three financial authors gave speeches at the meeting.

The first speaker:

I talked about the development of the first index fund. In the 1970s, Mr. Bogle was inspired by Paul Samuelson's "Challenge to Judgment" and Charles Ellis' "Winning the Loser's Game". The idea of indexing was built upon the practical consideration of costs, not on the theory of efficient markets.

I also explained the development of Vanguard and the ETF industry, and why Mr. Bogle thought that, while index funds
make good long-term investments, frequent trading of index funds would be a losing strategy.

The second speaker:

Mr. Xiao's topic is about managing retirement portfolios. He instructed on how to calculate the required size of retirement portfolio and gave some model portfolios.

The third speaker:

Mr Liu is an insurance expert. He advised the audience to avoid high-cost policies like VUL, VA.

During the Coffee break, we enjoyed desserts and drinks.

At the discussion, the three speakers took questions from the audience.

We signed a big thank-you card and mailed it to Mr. Bogle.

We prepared a 40mm-diameter magnet for each attendee as a souvenir of this event.

Thanks to all the Bogleheads who attended the meeting, the speakers and the people who helped to organize this event.
This is the first Bogleheads meeting in our country. (And possibly the first in Asia)

It's great to be a Boglehead.

Post by **Mel Lindauer** » Wed May 22, 2013 11:53 pm

Thanks for the exciting news about what may well be the first-ever Asian Bogleheads Conference. The pics were great in helping us visualize things. And I'm sure Mr. Bogle will be thrilled to get the signed card.

Now please tell me how I get one of those magnets that you passed out to the attendees. I'd love to have one of those for my den/office.

Thanks again for your leadership of the Taiwan Bogleheads.

Best regards,

Mel

Barry Barnitz · Post by **Barry Barnitz** » Thu May 23, 2013 5:11 am

Hi Kelvin:

You may not be aware that we attempt to document Boglehead conventions in our site's wiki, primarily as a means of recording these events for the historical record . See Bogleheads® Convention Meetings - Bogleheads.

I have started a wiki page documenting the recently concluded Taiwan conference (based on your report). If you would like, we can fashion a gallery of your images from the conference, and preserve them in a more accessible form. That is, if you find this idea acceptable and grant permission to use the images. Here is the start of the page: Taiwan Bogleheads conference - Bogleheads.

regards,

verfasser · Post by **verfasser** » Fri May 24, 2013 8:24 am

Barry Barnitz wrote:Hi Kelvin:

You may not be aware that we attempt to document Boglehead conventions in our site's wiki, primarily as a means of recording these events for the historical record . See Bogleheads® Convention Meetings - Bogleheads.

I have started a wiki page documenting the recently concluded Taiwan conference (based on your report). If you would like, we can fashion a gallery of your images from the conference, and preserve them in a more accessible form. That is, if you find this idea acceptable and grant permission to use the images. Here is the start of the page: Taiwan Bogleheads conference - Bogleheads.

regards,

That's great~
Thank you, Barry, for creating a page specific for this event.

james99 · Post by **james99** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 2:58 am

Hello I would like to join thanks!

james99 · Post by **james99** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 3:06 am

Hello fellow Taiwan residents or people who know the answer,

As a Taiwan Residents, how much US withholding tax (currently 30%) can you claim back for Bond funds?

Especially

BND (Vanguard Total US Bonds)
BNDX (Vanguard International Bonds hedged)

And also, what about stocks ETFs?

VT (Vanguard Total World)
VTI (Vanguard Total US Market)

Post by **LadyGeek** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 3:06 pm

Hello,

I think you will get a better answer by asking your question in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum which is for tax questions.

Put "Taiwan" in the thread title to attract the attention of members who can help you the best.

YellowJoe · Post by **YellowJoe** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:45 pm

hi Faith,

question, where can a taiwanese local open a brokerage account with USA?
What are the USA / Taiwan tax treaty (ie. dividend tax, estate tax)

So far from my research, as an example, its is better for a Hong Kong national to trade ETF's invested in USA via London Stock Exchanage. NOT USA stock exchange because of tax uncertainties. FATCA is here and USA is imposing their imperialistic ways! haha

verfasser wrote:In Taiwan, we have some index funds and ETFs tracking local stock and bond markets.
But for international markets, our choice is very limited.
One solution is to open U.S brokerage accounts.
Then we can use all the ETFs in the States.

Faith20879 wrote:
Tim_in_GA wrote:That's pretty cool! I had no idea there would be an interest over there. Hopefully the local chapter is still around by the time I retire and move to Taiwan.
What a coincident! We (me and DH) also looked into that possibility. But eventually its high cost of living (compare to other SE countries) and extreme humidity voted it off our list.

Now about investing BH style in TW, would you be investing in the US or the TW market? From what I hear, their stock market is largely still like a roulette and index funds are non-existing. Is that a wrong impression?

Best,
Faith

Faith20879 · Post by **Faith20879** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:07 am

Hello YJ,

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the question. Unfortunately I know next to nothing about any treaties or the lack of between TW and the USA. Actually judging by the terms you use, you probably know more than I do. If you are interested in hearing what other BHs' have experienced, you can google "FATCA" using the search tool at the top right hand corner.

BTW, very interesting handle.

Regards,
Faith

HueyLD · Post by **HueyLD** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:40 am

.........

YellowJoe · Post by **YellowJoe** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:57 am

Thanks for the info thus far guys!

so for simplicity's sake, are Taiwan boglheads just indexing with the Polaris 50 fund and a local taiwan bond fund?

so far, I cant even find a taiwan total bond fund offered.

its seems from risk/tax perspective, a Taiwanese national can not invest in USA market at all....

And choices in Taiwan are limited....therefore, might i suggest opening a brokerage account in HK and trade HK and Europe based ETFs?

Post by **LadyGeek** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:26 pm

The wiki has several articles which might help:

- List of Taiwan exchange traded funds
- Taiwan bond indexes
- Taiwan treasury bill rates

May I suggest you start a new thread in the Investing - Help with Personal Investments forum using the Asking Portfolio Questions format (customised for Taiwan)? Put "Taiwan" in the thread title to draw the attention of the experts who can help you.

YellowJoe · Post by **YellowJoe** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:42 am

hello Taiwan bogleheads,

so far no responses from any of you.

but so far, my research...its nearly impossible to invest bogle-style in Taiwan.

YellowJoe · Post by **YellowJoe** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:15 am

I wish someone from Taiwan Boglehead group would response to my replies here.

I wish I attended your Taiwan Boglehead meeting.

I wonder what investment mix / strategy you discussed there for Taiwanese investors.

From my research, its IMPOSSIBLE for for Taiwanese to invest BOGLE-style.

Local Taiwan investment options do not give enough global diversification and the FEES are too high.

I am curious about what was proposed at this Taiwan Boglehead meeting....

Post by **LadyGeek** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:04 pm

I PM'd someone who can help.