Rules:

Hello (asking this for my dad who cannot figure out Reddit)! Can anyone help me with my math with regards to the Spanish tax system? Im thinking of retiring in the Andalusia region and will be living off an investment account.

My wife is an EU citizen and I plan on living off 40000 euros a year. So...there is a married couple exemption totalling 8950 which will bring my taxable income to 31050.

First 12500 taxes at 19 pc= 2375 Remaining 18550 @ 24 pc= 4452 Total: 6827

This doesn't seem bad to me. What am I missing?

Hi, my (36M) wife (35F) and I are in the fortunate position where we can start to think about a coast fire life. The sticking point seems to be about the location. First some background and current picture:

• Moved to east coast US 8 years ago
• From London and Dublin originally
• Want to move back to Europe by late 2025
• 1 kid
• London and Dublin both very expensive so we’re not sure if we can do either of them as easy while coast fire

Current assets:

• Cash in high yield savings (5%) - 750k USD (note this is mainly a future house fund)
• index Funds - 1.25M USD
• Crypto (BTC & ETH) - 400k USD
• 401k retirement - 400k USD
• Company RSUs - 1.2M USD
• Emergency fund - 150k USD

I currently make ~500k per year and my wife ~ 350k. We’ll obviously take a huge pay cut when we leave the US but we would probably want to do this anyways as we look to coast fire.

Unsure of whether it’s best to try and go back to Dublin or London where we have ties like friends and family or coast in locations like Spain or Italy etc.

What would you do in our situation?

I'm about 5 years away from my expected FIRE age (around 55). I will retire in Europe.

Today my assets are:

• €200k in euros
• €1.2M but invested in Canadian dollars
• my home in Europe

Both CAD and Euros are stable currencies. The max swing over 20 years has been 30%. What is €1.2M today was €1.45M in 2012 and €1.0M in 2020.

I'd like to be at a 60/40 split between equities and low-risk (bonds or money market). I don't see how I can hit that mix when 85% of my assets are subject to currency risk.

It all matters because I expect to be €100k short of my target to hit 55.

So what do I do? Some choices:

• convert everything today, it's at its mid-range for 5-, 10- and 20-years
• wait it out until I feel the rate is better in the next 5 years

And in what currencies do I do the 60/40 split?

They say to never speculate about currencies, but I need to make some decision over the next 5 years.

TL;DR: When do I convert currencies so I can retire early?

Hi all, I'm 35, me and my partner currently have NW of $556k. Please review our current asset allocation and suggest any changes.

1. Equity: 40% , around 80% of the equity is in form of RSUs, remaining is Blue chip stocks and VWCE. Fetching around 20-30% annual, mainly due to market bull run.

2. Liquid: 43% , this is in bank/revolut/trade republic, fetching a blended 2.5% ARP

3. Debt instruments: 15%, mostly outside of Europe, in my home country, fetching around 7.9% ARP

4. Others: 2%, some tax saving instruments

Income: Me and my partner earn around €10.5k post taxes per month and are able to save around €6.5k. (Annual expenses €48k, annual savings €78k)

Goals: I would like to "coastFIRE" in the next 2 years, since I hate my high paying job. Willing to take a pay cut for a less stressful job that I like, but need to have good passive income to compensate. Partner will continue to work. No plans to buy a home yet, but may invest 15% of NW in real estate in home country. May have a kid in next 2 years. I expect our total income to increase by around 10% in next 2 years, but will plateau after that.

I'm planning to bring equity allocation to 80% over the next year, reduce exposure to RSUs and invest more in VWCE (around 50% of NW). I will also start DCA of around €100 per month in crypto.

Question: 1. can you share your view on how healthy is my portfolio based on my goals? 2. Do you suggest any changes? 3. What's a NW number for me to hit to feel "comfortable" and quit my current job and make progress towards coastFIRE?

Thanks in advance!

Exactly as the title says. I have already seen a hundred posts about investing in ai, but right now i want to invest in something slow and steady. And i am definitly not saying ai related stocks are going to go down, but with all the hype, i just dont know. Any suggestions are welcome.

We will sell a property with which we could pay back the loan worth 240k - the installment is currently 2k for the next 10 years, interest 1.5%

Is it reasonable to pay off the loan, or rather invest this amount (or part of this amount) and pay further installments of the loan to the bank?

I have several 100k in ETFs, and now I’ve decided to save for a house deposit. I have 50k saved for it currently, but what now? Do I put it in a bond ETF like iShares iBond?

Where did/do you guys park the money for a house/apartment?

I know that accumulating ETFs reinvent income back to ETF, but how to check how much i gain so far? I am using Scalable Capital but the number of shares didn't increase...sorry if I asked stupid question... Thank you.

**Post:**

Hello r/EuropeFIRE ,

I just turned 21 and have begun my investing journey here in Spain. After reading "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing", I decided to invest in the S&P 500 through the Fidelity Fund (ISIN IE00BYX5MX67). You can check it out [here](https://www.morningstar.es/es/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F00001019G).

The fund has a very low cost of just 0.06%, and it's an accumulative fund, which fits well with the Boglehead philosophy. Plus, my bank allows me to invest without any additional charges. I'm considering sticking with this fund for a decade or more, but I'm also curious about potentially riskier investments with still low fees, as I'm really not a fan of high fees after diving into Bogleheads.

I'm exploring options like crowdfunding for real estate or P2P lending platforms like Esketit, and even staking crypto. Given that I'm young and can assume a bit more risk, what other types of investments should I consider? Any advice or suggestions on how to diversify or manage risk effectively in these more adventurous areas?

Thanks for your insights!

Hello, I am wondering after reading a bit, which option is better when buying your first home. Are Lombard loans always a better option if you have access to them over mortgages? Or a combination of these? Or mortgages is always safer best option?

Question for the bond ETF experts among us (which unfortunately, I am not…).

I allocate most of my portfolio to equity (SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI), but would like to add a solid bond ETF to reduce volatility and enjoy flight-to-quality effects during crises.

What is the most rational pick for someone with a very long investment horizon (29 years old): a Eurozone Government Bond ETF like XGLE/CB3 (no currency risk so more simple, though less diversified), or a Global Government Bond ETF Hedged to EUR like DBZB (more diversified, yet with a need to hedge to EUR to reduce volatility and thus both positive ánd negative hedge returns)?

Some experts advise to just stick with Eurozone Bond ETFs and don’t bother with currency risk, while other (Banker On Wheels, Vanguard study) state that going Global (and hedged) should yield the same return, all while being more diversified.

I’m torn up by this decision. Following financial theory, I should go Global Hedged, but the since 2009 (an exceptional period of low interest rates though) the nominal return of a Global Government Bond ETF has really been dragged down by negative hedge return. Can we however trust the Eurozone for the next 30-40 years, since Eurozone Bond ETFs are predominantly composed by just 4 countries (FR, GER, SPA, ITA)?

https://www.justetf.com/en/search.html?search=ETFS&tab=comparison&cmode=compare&groupField=none

What would/did you choose and why? I’m desperately in need of a decisive argument 😇

For anyone interested in this topic, I strongly advise reading these articles:

• https://www.justetf.com/en/academy/how-to-choose-a-bond-etf.html
• https://www.bankeronwheels.com/european-bond-etfs-international-bond-etfs/
• https://www.bankeronwheels.com/etf-currency-risk/
• https://intl.assets.vgdynamic.info/intl/australia/documents/research/understanding-the-hedge-return.pdf
• https://monevator.com/how-to-choose-a-bond-fund/
• https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/246269/how-to-choose-a-government-bond-etf.aspx
• https://curvo.eu/nl/artikel/beste-obligatie-etf-belgie (dutch though…)

Hi all,

I'm a US/Irish national and plan to retire in the next 10 years (around 50 years of age). I have a very generous Roth IRA account (which I plan to start accessing when I'm 59.5 years of age) and a private Irish pension. I'll also have a decent bank account and my house finally paid off.

I'd like to initially spend 6 months in either Italy or France, and when my daughter is old enough, I'll let her either keep my house (or rent it out, if she goes elsewhere) and I'll move full time to either one of the countries. From what I understand, Italy doesn't tax on foreign assets and income when I'm not a resident, but if I plan to stay long-term, how would that affect my Irish pension, US-based Roth IRA and my home, if I rent it out?

Which country would make more financial sense?

I have enough money to buy a home in either country in cash, so I could have no other payments except utility bills, tax and basic expenses. I can access the Italian healthcare system as an EU national. My Irish state pension will kick in at 66 years of age, so I'll have my private pension, public pension and Roth IRA to help with my retirement.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Quick update even if I invest 1500 ( which will be possible after three years)per month it would take me 20 years to reach FIRE 🔥 any advice to get it done within 12 years? Hey guys, I am 33 went back to education and working part time , hoping to reach financial freedom. Due to responsibilities and mental health issues I’m only able to do this amount for the next three years.(hopefully then I could invest more) Currently living in Austria. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I know it’s less, but if anyone successful feels charitable I would love to have a mentor!

I’ll finish my degree, debt free, this summer. been in the uk for five years getting my degree, and now want to start my path to FIRE, but not really sure of how or where.

I’ve got no problem with moving to any country within Europe. Any recommendations for lines of work or places to aim for?

Thank you!

Where should you consider living and doing work in EU, language preferred for work is English.

And also environment good to start a business and do the mandatory procedures.

Recommend me top and with reasons.

As the title says

I hold about 20k€ VAGF for about 1.5 years and so far it's exactly where it was when I bought it. I think I'm down like 0.20% overall

Compare to VWCE which is up about 23% over the same period

My understanding is that this ETF should go up when interest rates fall, as the bonds that the ETF holds appreciate in value. But when rates stay the same for a long time, I would also expect the value of the ETF to go up, as the bonds it holds mature, and the profits are reinvested. This doesn't seem to be happening?

Thanks

Hi all!

I'm a Finance student and about to finish my studies and therefore currently working on my Bachelor's thesis on the topic of Financial Investment Robo Advisors in Personal Finance.

It would be a tremendous help if you could spare 3 minutes to fill out my questionnaire. Of course everything is anonymous!

Thank you very much in advance and every help is very much appreciated!

Link: https://forms.office.com/e/FsvCD2sW4q

Which of these countries do you guys think is the best to FIRE in? So after the accumulation fase. Things that are important for me: Capital gains tax, housing prices, healthcare, crimerate, general safety, cost of living and quality of living. Everything about kids doesn't matter(don't want em). If anyone is from these countries i would like to hear your opinion. Thank you

Edit: I am from europe.(EU as well)

I'd like to teach my daughter the concept of compounding as early as possible - but my local bank only allows opening investment accounts starting with age 18.

I thought perhaps I can install eToro for her - but there too you need to be 18 to open an account.

What options are there in Europe that would allow children to do investing?

German currently living in US with family making decent money. NW currently hovering around 1-1.5mil USD.

Looking ahead to my kids higher education and other cost of living in the US (cars, healthcare, property taxes), makes me consider going back to Germany.

I do have a house in Germany in LCOL area, I expect minimal renovations to the property and moving expenses may end up with a NW of 1-1.4mil EUR to cover estimated 50-70k living expenses. Some of the assets are in US tax deferred accounts (401k/roth). I know that Germany may not accept the tax free Roth.

Debating to semi retire for health insurance and fun-money, some low key, low hours job or freelance consulting. As far as I see it, capital gains is 26ish percent on the capital gains but that’s pretty much it. The job ofc would come with the “heavy taxation”.

Looking for advice by people who’ve done similar move and their experiences. Any pitfalls or blind spots in what you experienced ?

Anyone can explain the risks attributed with XEON, for instance.

With an overnight rate at close to 4%, why would anyone still use bank overnight accounts?

Highest bank rates I see currently are Raisin banks which offer around ~3.3%.

I reached tax efficient threshold with my MSCI World Dist Phy and I will start buying MSCI World Acc Phy. I checked available options at preferred exchanges and have 7 options which I checked already looking at TER, Tracking Difference, performance 3y and 5y and need advice.

Best looking one is SPDR: IE00BFY0GT14 with best performance in last 5 years and low cost of TER 0,12%, anyone buying it? Any particular risks? Anything worth looking at?

Popular choice is iShares IE00B4L5Y983 but with its TER 0,2% looks so way less attractive. Thoughts?

Amundi, UBS and HSBC have lower costs than iShares but quite short history since inception. Any experience buying “new” ETFs?

Hello,

I have a question about investment strategy and instrument selection. Quick background: I sold my business 2 years ago for a significant amount, and I decided to take my time and not do anything rushed since I didn't have much experience with investing.

Investing in a lump sum felt uncomfortable, but I came up with a strategy for the long-term part of my portfolio. I allocated approximately 60% to a combination of S&P500 ETFs and stocks, etc...

The remaining 40% is being reinvested into short-term US bonds (T-Bills), but I am looking for a better alternative, considering the following:

1. The tax implications are not optimal since, in my country, I am being taxed more for short-term gains
2. Even though I could, I don't live off the income from my investments, I have another source of income that covers all of my expenses (I don't plan to retire anytime soon)
3. Not to mention that investing in EUR is in many ways simpler

Now, while I am comfortable keeping 60% of my portfolio invested in more volatile assets, I would prefer to keep the remaining 40% in something conservative that will simply help me preserve the value and keep it ready for other opportunities (business, real estate...)

So the question is, whether there is a viable alternative to US T-Bills, for example IB01 that would make it more convenient, or something completely different.

I am also considering updating my whole strategy, so if you have some recommendations for a good source of information to learn from, I would appreciate it!

Thank you!
M.

​

Hi all newby investor here. Can someone explain me this text below. What does in the event of bankruptcy refer to? Bankruptcy of Ibkr? And what assets? What if you own stocks 100 000 and ibkr goes bust, do you lose the 80 000k or is assets referring to cash only?

Hey all,

What do yoy think? Is Revolut a good and also reliable platform to invest in long time ETF's, commodities, stocks & crypto? I personally almost use it for everything because I think it works seamlessly and has alot of positives in comparison to regular bank. So would you leave your money for a long time in your revolut account?

Thanks 👌

Is there third party expense management software like Mint or Quickbooks that interacts with a banks data output so that I can categorize expenses?

In Canada I can do this via Quickbooks when cutting checks / making electronic payments and I used to be able to use Mint to reconcile expenses coming from my bank statements / data directly from my bank.

Is there an EU solution for this?

My current bank is Credit Agricola and I am in Portugal.

Hey everyone,

I've been looking into investing in Tenerife and came across some potential new regulations regarding tourist rentals on the island and throughout the Canary Islands. According to recent information, there's talk of significant changes that could impact property investment decisions.

Here's a summary of the key points:

1. Restriction on Vacation Rental Licenses: There's discussion about potentially restricting the process for obtaining vacation rental licenses (VV - Viviendas Vacacionales), and existing licenses could be at risk. The government has issued a draft law, currently in the public consultation phase until May 2, 2024, during which objections can be raised.
2. Zoning: There's talk that up to 10% of a municipality's total residential area could be designated for tourist rentals, with the municipality having the decision-making authority.
3. License Duration: There's discussion about potentially granting vacation rental licenses for 5 years with the possibility of renewal.
4. Energy Efficiency: There's talk that properties built after 2008 might need to have a minimum class B energy efficiency rating.
5. Age Restriction: There's talk that new-build properties might no longer be eligible for tourist rental, with properties required to be at least 10 years old.
6. Minimum Floor Area and Maximum Occupancy: There's discussion about new restrictions on minimum floor area (39 m²) and maximum occupancy.
7. Additional Requirements: There's talk that a habitation certificate might need to be obtained, and there should be no objections from the homeowners' association.

In popular tourist areas like Adeje, Los Cristianos, Medano (Tenerife), Playa Ingles (Gran Canaria), and La Oliva (Fuerteventura), there might be potential restrictions. Additionally, there's a tax restriction on VAT, which as of January 1, 2024, eliminates the small business exemption for non-residents.

Given the possibility of these new regulations, I'm wondering if it's still worth investing in Tenerife or the Canary Islands. Could these potential changes be too restrictive for potential investors? Will all vacation rentals go bust because of these regulations, or are there ways to adapt and thrive?

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello!

I'm new to this sub. I recently received an admit in one of the top Grande Ecole B-schools (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP) in France for doing a Business Masters. However, my goal is not to settle in France but to go somewhere else in the EU after my Masters. Could you suggest some countries where I could target (not UK) with English speaking job opportunities particularly in consulting, finance, etc., better social life without the local language barrier standing in the way, and a decent earning potential?

I have the flexibility to do internships in different EU regions. I'm trying to make a list to target first and if I like them, I would like to apply for FT roles there.

Interested Careers: Management Consulting, Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Equity Research, Corp Dev, Corp Strat, PM Rotational Programs.

I am mostly interested in MC.