This Is Exactly How I Manage My Parents’ Wealth (And Why It Works)
I Took Over My Parents’ Finances in 2019
I want to share something I’ve never shared before. It’s personal, simple, and maybe one of the best real-life examples of how asymmetric thinking can completely reshape a family’s financial future.
It’s about how I’ve managed my parents’ wealth.
Since around 2018 or 2019, I’ve been the one taking care of it. That’s not a full market cycle, but it’s long enough to see what really matters and what doesn’t. Missing those years would have made a ridiculous difference. So let me show you what I did, how I did it, and most importantly, what I didn’t do.
My parents couldn’t be more different when it comes to money.
My mother is a doctor. Brilliant at her work, but completely uninterested in investing. For decades, her savings sat quietly in fixed-income funds from one of the country’s largest banks. Expensive, underperforming, and full of hidden fees. She was paying roughly 1.5% a year in management costs for the privilege of standing still.
One day, out of curiosity, I compared her returns to what she could have earned by simply holding an index fund. It was painful to look at. The gap was huge, years of compounding lost for nothing.
My father, on the other hand, is the classic entrepreneur. He built his own business from scratch, took real risks, and worked hard. But when it came to investing, he never left the comfort of short-term deposits. He’d jump from one bank to another chasing a 2% or 3% yield, occasionally buying some bonds, but never straying far from cash.
Before doing anything, I had to understand who they were not financially, but psychologically. That’s where every portfolio should start.
My mother’s portfolio: simplicity and stillness
My mother doesn’t want to think about markets. She wants to travel, visit friends, and enjoy her time. She has zero emotional attachment to the portfolio. Ironically, that detachment is her biggest advantage.
For her, I built something extremely simple. A portfolio that never needs to be touched, never needs rebalancing, and can survive any storm.
Here’s how it looks: