Rules:

What city in Europe would suggest to consider for someone in their late 30s who want to settle down, that meets this criteria:

1. CITY approx. 1mln population (more or less Barcelona size) in Europe (don't want to deal with any visa and have UK+EU citizenship).

2. Community feeling with MANY EXPATS who settle down there - where people help, support and know each other and are friendly.

3. ENGLISH speaking (I know English, Polish, some German, some Spanish)

4. Well developed, GOOD GOVERMENTAL SYSTEM IBCL. TAX SYSTEM, especially for investment (stock, crypto, real estate) and small business owners (retreat running - not necessarily in this country/location), incl. loans, line of credit, credit cards etc.

5. SUNNY WEAHTER (2 hot months in the summer is fine - I prefer that over gloomy, rainy and cold weather).

6. Possibility to afford to buy a nice, modern HOUSE with a garden.

7. Dog friendly and easy to walk around (I like walking) and 'pretty'.

Not interested in nature, educational system or anything family related as don't have kids.

Northern Europe - cold weather, high taxes, unfriendly people.

Eastern Europe - not well developed, I feel the expats there are not really for 'community feeling' but for the experience, doesn't look great, traditional mentality.

I really enjoyed living in Melbourne but due to visa and location I wouldn't want to go there.

I didn't enjoy living in Barcelona as I find the governmental system there terrible but liked the size of the city, you could walk/bike everywhere, friendly people.

I like Wrocław and Krakow but they don't have that many expats and people complain a lot and the whole mentality is a bit too traditional/conventional for me.

Was in Malta many years ago and just for holiday found it to be a retirement village (maybe it has changed).

Is there a place like this in Europe?

Hi r/EuropeFIRE community,

I'm seeking some advice as I prepare for a significant life change and potential mini-FIRE. Here's a bit about my situation:

• I have a substantial sum invested in IWDA, but it's not yet enough for full FIRE.
• My investments are solely in IWDA; I currently hold no bonds.
• December 31st is my last day at my current job.
• I don’t want to wait another 10 years for full FIRE. I'm 31 years old, without kids, and eager to take a break from work to travel and pursue personal projects for at least 6 months, ideally a year.

My current financial situation is as follows:

• I'm spending less than 40% of my salary.
• I have a robust emergency fund.
• I have 6 months until my last working day, and I'll receive a severance pay.

Given these circumstances, I'm considering accumulating all the money I can save until the end of the year in a less risky place. However, keeping it in a bank seems risky due to the geopolitical situation. I live in Moldova, close to a war zone, and I don't fully trust the local banking system.

I’ve looked into bond ETFs, but they don’t seem promising. Specific bonds with a maturity date of 1 year might be an option, but I'm open to suggestions.

I'd love to hear your opinions and advice on:

1. Strategies for preparing for a mini-FIRE.
2. Safe places to save or invest money in the short term, given my situation.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I've seen this statistics showing how polarised is Europe of the topic of elderly care Personally we're on the FIRE journey, my family has been highly dysfunctional, expoitative and abusive though the lifetime and I broke off any contact and protected myself legally long time ago. My in-laws however are awesome, financially savvy, self sufficient and they expect nothing of us apart from living a good life

So my question to all of you especially those who come form CEE or Balkans - what are your plans?

The senior care is close to non-existent, private care in majority of cases exceed the salary amount and specialized care can be more expensive that putting your child through a premium private school The late boomers have little to no savings, usually own the place they live, retired early, have a low retirement. Their apartments are usually not adjusted to accessibility and senior needs

There is no judgement if you plan to provide care/ or financial support or not.

I simply don't see many FIRE plans including senior care for parents/ dependents

Hi all , I’m from India and started my fire journey there . To fast fire and other personal reasons I moved to EU. I’m new to everything here and want to understand how to choose a broker , based on my initial research IBKR is most recommended. And I have read multiple people recommend VWCE as a fund with good returns . I plan to stay for 3/5 in EU and then return to my home country . I can invest ~2k a month , would investing in VWCE be a good thing ? And after how long can I withdraw without being taxed ? Any help or directions towards learning about investing in eu would be helpful . Thank you

There is a big culture in the US working two, sometimes even three jobs. Not so pronounced in Europe. But I am curious: what kind of side hustles do you have in addition to your “official” job that allow you to increase your income?

Is the location of this sprinkler right per the code?

Google says capital gains tax is up to 26%, but google isn’t always reliable.

Google also says capital gains tax for Belgium is 0%, but that’s not entirely true. It’s only 0% if you’re a “good housefather” - one of the criteria being you hold long term, and even then it’s up to the government wether they choose to classify you as a good housefather. With most types of short term trading, it’s up to 50% taxed. This with a slew of other taxes.

Does the Spanish tax system have these caveats as well? Or is it pretty straight forward, meaning short term/speculative trading is viewed the same as investing/long term holding and taxed the same?

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.

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!

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 ?