Rules:

Hey all, this is a throwaway account (for privacy reasons) but have been a lurking here for the past year or so.

I was very fortunate to get into crypto back in 2016 and now have a fully paid property valued around £250k + £130k cash in 5.5% savings account + £80k ISA + £400k in crypto (So assets totalling around £860k / €1mil)

Myself an my partner (both 36y/o) are considering whether or not this could be enough to leave the UK and finally live our dream of FIRE/coasting in the EU.

We both live pretty modest lifestyles and could easily get by on £25k / €29.5k per year...

As far as income options are concerned, we could opt to rent out our UK property which would net around £1300/£1400pm + Interest earned from savings would bring in a sufficient amount to live off.

Also we have the option of selling the property/crypto and putting it all in a Global Index Tracker.

We have both spent 18 months travelling the EU together in the past and one of our fav locations was Portugal...so this is pretty high up on the list, although we do like the idea of just hopping around from airbnb to airbnb through a few countries for a year or two until we know where we want to 100% settle down. (We have no plans for children)

I guess this post really is about finding out thoughts/opinions on our options, things to consider etc etc (especially if someone is or has been in a similar situation) - I am a little nervous on whether or not this sum of money will be able to keep us going into the future and whats the best way to put it to use!

Much appreciated!

Im from the UK and studied at university there but now living in The Netherlands.

My remaining debt is just under £7,000. But there is 6.25% interest and they’ve just upped my monthly payments to £367.

I’ve been building my net worth through savings and investments and I’m happy with how it’s going. Currently putting €1000 per month into IWDA.

Currently have around €50,000 in savings and €60,000 paid off against my mortgage.

£367 a month student debt payments would make it much harder to put aside what I’m currently putting into my savings.

Should I pay my remaining balance in one go. Take the hit to my savings, which would suck after working so hard… But then be free from my debt completely.

Or pay this increased monthly amount with the interest rate, keep my savings but slightly lower my monthly savings amount?

What would you do in my position?

We are a couple in our mid forties in NL (permanent residency here; US citizens). Our combined retirement pot is 380k and we will continue adding about 1700eur per month for another 5 year. This assuming 7% return gets us to 655k and from there the pot can continue to grow without additional funds added to 1.5M. I suppose return could be higher or lower and we might be able to contribute more.. I am guessing that my estimate is fairly reasonable. I think it means that we are in decent shape in terms of funds for after age of 65. Part of our pension is in the US and we can start withdrawing from the age of 59.5 (not planning on it but it gives some flexibility if retirement age in NL gets pushed further away).

We also have 150k in private investments and 40k in emergency funds savings.

Our mortgage is 1.8% but horribly high (650k). The house could sell tomorrow for 1.2M. We are committed to the house for another decade as our two kids are growing. The house has been recently fully remodeled and we do not anticipate any crazy expenses for the upcoming decade anyway (we replaced everything from roof to walls to pipes).

So the question is if all of the extra money should thrown to pay down the house (and avoid box 3 taxation) as much as we can. I am committed to my job for another 5+ years and salary is great with occasional bonuses. We won't pay the house off in 5 years but we can put a good dent into the mortgage..

Once we pay the mortgage down to 60% our rate will drop to 1.66% so trying to get there ASAP. While the rate is so low it seems almost silly to throw money at it but on the other hand mortgage is our largest expense and I hate having it. If we did not have the mortgage we could save more, have flexibility with the employment down the road when expenses are lower.. Thoughts?

This sub seems to love VWCE for long term index investing. Is there a reason to prefer vanguard VWCE to the iShares IWDA as a world equity etf? I started investing in IWDA a few months ago, and I'm wondering why this one never seems to get mentioned. Did I make a mistake or a sub optimal choice?

I am based in the netherlands, using degiro, and my goals are to grow my retirement fund. I have a 25ish year investment horizon and plan to keep lumping more in every quarter or so.

IWDA is in the core selection of degiro so it's cheaper in terms of transaction fees

Hello everyone, i unfortunately can't find anything beside US breakeven inflation rate on fred economic data. I would like this data to have a market based estimate of inflation in my country Italy for the next 5/10/30 years for financial planning and also to have an idea of what i'm buying as real returns in euro long term bonds or inflation linked bonds for other european countries.

Does anybody know where to find this data? Or how to build it "manually" i don't know how, subtracting the yield to maturity of a nominal bond with an inflation linked bond of the same duration? I tried doing so with this two 2041 maturity italian bonds:

1)https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/obbligazioni/mot/btp/scheda/IT0005421703.html?lang=it (nominal)

2)https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/obbligazioni/mot/btp/scheda/IT0004545890.html?lang=it (inflation linked)

But I just can't make it add up, maybe im using the worng numbers. Thank you in advance

Hello everyone,

I'd like to share my view on this sub.

Being employeed and investing only in VWCE/MSCI World won't lead to FIRE for most of us.

There may be ways how to significantly increase your saving rate like moving to Switzerland or working remote in Eastern Europe for a UK/US Tech company as a contractor but those options are limited.

I'd suggest we should focus on the opportunities that our home countries provide instead.

In contrast to popular believe, there are opportunities in most countries. Take Germany where until 2 years ago, morgage rates where at 1,x% and people with average salaries could purchase several real estates and sell them tax-free after 10 years.

Or the Netherlands, where simple services like moving companies are expensive.Seting up your business can be more profitable than working 9-5 for someone else's FIRE. Or take the one German here on reddit who works at an embassy in Europe and has a net pay of close to €20k. Of course there are not so many opportunities, otherwise everyone would achieve FIRE, but focusing on those on can be helpful.

I was thinking about investing for the next 35-40 years on VGVF, however searching online for it doesn't seem to be all that popular at all, most is just all world or spx500.

Is there any reason? I'm new to all this but from what I checked FSTE Developed World seems solid, wdyt?

I'm a 32 yo product designer, single. My plan is to work for 4 years in Germany until I get citizenship. Once I get citizenship, I'll go work in UAE for 5-6 years, invest most of my income in ETFs and at the end of this period, I'll have around 650Ke to FIRE in Spain.

That's basically it. Is it a realistic plan?

P.S. I'm open to having a partner with similar goals and outlook in life, but I don't think it's something anyone can plan for tbh and it won't affect my FIRE plan because I'd like to have separate finances from my future partner.

The entire social contract of most European countries is that you can more or less never get fired and don't have to work very hard (shorter hours, "burnout pay" etc.), and you get a government-funded retirement at 65, but in exchange you can barely accumulate any financial wealth due to low wages and very high taxes. It seems to me that "FIRE" was born out of American software engineers who made a very high hourly pay in their 20s and 30s but didn't want to program software for 40 straight years and didn't have guaranteed employment, so they concocted the notion of saving as much as possible and GTFOing with like $1-2 million saved up. For the typical European career trajectory, FIRE seems to be "swimming upstream" against the embedded social contract. Thoughts?

My concerns about early retirement in Europe.

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1. SWR - 4%. This is relevant for the US stock market at certain interval of the time. The market may behave differently in the future. Look at Japan.

2. Inflation. Real and declared by the government. The last 4 years have shown how the price of food, utilities and housing (buying and renting) are skyrocketing. If you estimated to withdraw "1666 euros + inflation" per month, and now it is not enough even for basic expenses, what will you do?

3. The time periods are too long. You are going to live for 30 (40, 50) years after FIRE. In the 20th century only: 2 World Wars, depreciation of assets in Europe in 20s, Hitler, Great Depression in the States, birth and collapse of the USSR and other Empires etc etc. And things can go even worse. What will you do if you retire at 40, then at 60 your portfolio won't feed you anymore? Get a job after a 20-year break?

To this I would add risks like those faced by the Russians: their US stocks have been "frozen" by Euroclear, the Luxembourg company that kept track of the securities with no court decisions or whatever. They can neither sell nor receive divedents on their stocks. Similarly, assets of German citizens were seized in the U.S. during World War II. One could become such a "Russian" or "German" and lose a significant portion of their assets.

What's your plan B? Part time job? Own your real estate? Rely on the state pension (which is getting worse and worse)?

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I currently have two investment accounts each with ~100k invested in ETFs.

I do this to stay under the Dutch Guarantee scheme that ensures that in an event the bank goes under I get my money back.

Is this something you all do? Do you trust all your investment in a single brokerage account?

If you had the money to buy an apartment and you were currently renting one, would you buy it or put your money in an index fund instead? Why and why not?

I recently put 90k in the stock market (80k s&p 500 and 10k in individual stocks) but I regret it a bit, because I came to realize the stock market isn't safe by any means, and my main reason for investing was to be able to live off my investments at some point. But since my goal was security, I could have just got an apartment (putting down 30% or something).

Hello! Currently, I'm investing my capital in MSCI WORLD/Emerging markets index funds, creating something similar to ACWI. I was looking for ETFs that I can also invest in and that give me some interesting exposure. For example high-yield companies , equally weighted, etc.

I'd like to know about ETFs of this style. Which ones do you recommend/use to explore more options? Thanks!

It's time to replace our car (hopefully 12 years old).

The questions they are concerned with are:

• Purchase or lease?
• Buy cash (and save on interest) or with financing/loan

For those who vote "buy", new or used?

Notes to consider:

1. There are many cars.. the thought is for some middle category with criteria of safety/reliability and being good for "family"

Opinions differ but let's not fight for the brand. Let's assume a "Good" sedan, medium suv, which you could lease at ~350- 500e

2. There is a company, so it is possible to join a company. I know the benefits of leasing, not sure what you can do with buying

3. Yes you have to be careful about what kind of used one you get.. mechanical and other check will be paid clearly. I prefer to have a discussion from the financial point of view, assuming that you manage to get a decent car (even a used one).

4. We live in the south, and electric is growing but still a concern.

We will probably keep it for 3 to 5 years.. Electric now? Or keep waiting?

Hello everybody,

We are students from Aarhus University in Denmark conducting a study about “Investor Information Search”. We would appreciate it if you could respond to our 5-10 minute survey, especially if you have some kind of investment or even a savings account. Your input is highly relevant since everyone helps us better understand the investor information search process and its linkages.

You can find the survey here: https://survey.au.dk/LinkCollector?key=DU9HRQJ3LKCK

If you would be interested in the conclusions and results of our study, be sure to leave your email on the last page of the questionnaire. This survey can serve as a tool for introspection into your world of information and finances.

With regards,

Adam & Roman

I'm 41 years old and living in Eastern-Europe. The company I work for as a software engineer IPO-d a few years ago and my initial stock grant grew to €600k (before taxes). Stocks are fully vested, my new grant is €100k, but I'm not keen on staying just for that.

I took out a loan to by an apartment a few years ago €95k is remaining to be paid back. Monthly mortgage payment is 460€. I also spend about €1000 - €1500 per month for living and entertainment.

No kids, no wife, and soon I'm considering moving together with my girlfriend.

My question is at what point should I move that fund to something more secure? I know it's dumb to keep all my eggs in one basket. The company is growing steadily and has great potential. I often read financial research papers predicting company growth.

I also have entrepreneurial dreams (I failed a few times before), I could see myself spending my days building SaaS businesses or video games.

Hope this isn't against the rules. I'm looking for feedback, not trying to sell anything.

I have a manuscript pretty close to finished called "Escape from Serfdom". It's a how-to manual.

Why me? Spent fifteen years as executive VP of mega corporations in Europe and top tier consultancy. Now I putter around my garden and own a hotel and write books.

https://nooneofanyconsequence.substack.com/p/escape-from-serfdom

From my research it looks like wages in much of the EU are very compressed. The distribution of wages in different skill groups in very narrow. This leads to while collar professionals having much lower earning power. The wage gap is much smaller between skilled and unskilled professionals. And it looks like the ceiling for most jobs is much lower. Why is this ?

Hi, questions about the financial independence and retire early in France:

1. How big is the FIRE community in France?

2. What are the specific characteristics of the FIRE movement in France i) in comparison to the USA and ii) in comparison to the rest of Europe?

3. What are existing French-language resources, forums, or communities dedicated to personal finance, early retirement, or FIRE principles?

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Thanks,

I’m new to FIRE, self employed, and last year doubled my income from £40k to £80k, which was great. Managed to save £20k of it. Only down side is I’m going to have a massive tax bill (about £28k Edit: this includes NI and student loan and has been saved separately in a tax pot).

Coming up to the end of the tax year and I want to bring the tax bill down a bit - or at least put some of that money to use so it doesn’t all go to Gov. E.g I’ve spent £2k on upgrading my computer equipment for work to claim on expenses, bringing total taxable income down.

I’m thinking of doing the same with a private pension. If I put, say, £6k into a pension, government will then contribute £4K in tax relief and I’ll have £10k in pension.

This will also bring total taxable income down. So pension contribution plus expenses my total taxable income will be more like £70k with a £22-23k tax bill (roughly).

Worth it or not? Or any other suggestions?

Hi all, new here.

Working for many years and really want "out" with the goal of working only when I feel like it (today I learned it's called coasting).

Will be difficult to find a flexible enough job that pays as much as i'm getting now, so thinking between:

1. Biting the bullet, staying where I am for 3-4 more years and then "retiring".
2. Quitting, looking for something that I like, part time, flexible, but delaying retirement for 6-8 years (or more?) because i'd be saving much less.
3. Quitting and hoping for the best :-)

Details:

43yo, wife and toddler. thinking of another...

NW 1.5M Euros (1M ETFs, 500K specific stocks)

Apt (no mortgage) worth 500-600K, but need a bigger one (thinking if sell/buy, sell/rent or rent/rent).

Another small apt for investment worth 200K with a 80K mortgage and a tenant that pays the mortgage off.

Cost of living is around 5K per month. Thinking it will increase in the next few years due to kids and a bigger dwelling. Probably 6K per month. Maybe more?

Can save around 80K yearly with my current work and lifestyle.

A bit worried about more distant future costs, hard to evaluate. Currently the kid costs are cheap but surely they will increase.

Can delay taxes on profits for a very long time (basically, will start paying taxes only when I withdraw an amount bigger than I put in the investment account).

Pension depends on how much I work after "retirement". Currently should be enough for 1.5K a month but that's a really long time from now.

Advice?

Thanks

Just wanted to share with like-minded people.

We're in a bull market so I don't expect the same increases every month. I also have some gold, not a lot but it has been reaching ATHs lately (and may be dropping eventually) . I'm not counting the real estate because it's hard to quantify the value from one month to another. Still, it feels nice and encouraging me to keep investing.

My portfolio is pretty boring: about 52% real estate (not including my residence), 21% VWCE, 7% QDVE, 10% gold, 8% government bonds, 2% cash (for emergencies). No debts. Going forward I'll be:

• increasing my emergency fund (to about 6 months' worth of expenses)
• buying a few more bonds (to get them up to about 10% of my portfolio)
• then every cent saved will go into VWCE

Looking to CoastFIRE in 2-3 years.

Hi all,

I (43m) have been investing in ETF’s for almost a year now. Did start earlier with a small amount but “forgot” about it and neglected it for more than a year. (Luckily most of them were acc. 😜) Got more serious about it but ever since I have been reluctant of spending money on other things. Summer and going on a holiday is coming and even spending money on that is being calculated to the future value. I hate working (haven’t found a job yet that I like) so I would love to get a passive income but I feeling like things a getting out of hand a bit… How are you guys dealing with this?

If you buy real estate, after 10 years, you can sell it tax free in Germany. But if you sell ETFs for retirement, you need to pay ~30% tax. Does it mean it makes more sense to invest more in real estate?

i mean even if you make 1m profit, you have to give 300k to the government :/

First things first, I’m a newbie investor into ETFs and I’m curious to know different perspectives about this topic.

I understand the preference towards passive investing and how a globally distributed fund like VWCE lets one sleep peacefully at night. I’m subscribed to this idea too.

However, I really wonder if the gains are averaged out even during a bullish market in vastly distributed funds like this one? And doesn’t it cost years of working for someone who’s aiming towards FIRE? I always believed a CAGR of 20-25% would be required to beat inflation AND to have decent capital accumulation on your investment to build a decent corpus to FIRE.

How do you guys look at this? Do you also diversify across few more aggressive funds or other instruments to leverage gains while being invested in something like VWCE?

Hi there. I'm seeking for guidance. I'm 19-year-old engineering student in Poland. My main goals are to buy a house ('cause it seems to be the best option rn and in the future), retire early and buy a car. I know that at such an age, people rarely think about such things, but I prefer to protect myself in this respect.

Rn, I have about 5k PLN in my savings account and about 900 PLN in the Revolut app (S&P500 and mostly gold). I dont follow any financial blogs, website apart from this sub. Regarding my knowledge of investing, I would say that I have it at a basic level.

I was thinking about continuing to put money into Revolut so they can grow and I'd be thankful for any tips and advice on what can I do better or not do.

Thanks in advance :)

I'm moving from Northwest Europe to the US for work in two months from now (early June). I plan to stay for at least 2 years, but this could become 5 or so if I like it, which means I will become a 'US person' (liable for taxes). My current EU-based broker isn't set up to comply with the reporting that the US would require from them so they will terminate my account at some point in the future. As I see it, I have two options:

Option 1: open an account with a US bank and US broker and transfer the holdings to it from my EU-based broker account

Option 2: liquidate my 65k portfolio in the next 2-3 months and use the cash to buy in once I am stateside.

I'm leaning towards Option 2 because markets are currently at an all time high. My gut says i'll likely be able to buy in cheaper or close to today's priced. Pure gamble.

Curious to hear your views, in particular: A. How would you spread out or time the sale? B. Beyond the risk of missing out if the market keeps going up, do you see anything else I'm overlooking here?