Thanks to all for their help thus far, I learned a lot. I'm surer of my course now, but I still have some questions before I commit to any purchases (since these are large sums of money, I want to be certain)

I have endeavored to read all the links posted thus far and the pertinent sections on the wiki, but it's possible I missed something, so here we go.

a) It looks like Vanguard Lifestrategy is the go-to fund for investors outside the USA, since it is domiciled in Ireland and has all the fixings - good asset allocation, exposure and returns. I've seen it mentioned quite a few times in my search. I believe it also automatically rebalances?

This looks like what I am looking for as a non-USA citizen, I cannot buy the funds usually mentioned. I'm thinking of using Interactive Brokers. (there is another broker with even cheaper brokerage fees, moomoo, but I'm not certain they offer this fund)

b) After looking at target date retirement funds more, I'm not seeing how they outperform the above. Should I just go with Vanguard Lifestrategy?

c) I am using YTD as my main valuation of a fund's performance (though of course I do look at the other areas, performance against benchmark, historical performance etc) Is this sound?

d) I am assuming the reason why certain funds keep being recommended is because of their performance relative to locally performing funds...I took a look at some Singapore ETFs

and I was not impressed by their performance. Even after accounting for the fact that dividends will be taxed, the global/Vanguard funds seem to come out ahead?

e) I would also be looking to generate some dividends as a form of passive income while the bulk of my money is growing itself. AFAIK there is no way to take out a portion of the dividends as payout. So should I :

- buy another fund for my passive income needs or

- buy another fund, grow it and then sell it

I would rather leave as little money as possible in the bank at any given time because it's not generating income for me. As I earn less than 60k a year (including passive income) I also believe I will not be taxed on that?

I'm very appreciative of all of the help that the more experienced people here have rendered. Looking forwards to learning more on my investing journey.