The fantastic folks at the Financial Independence Europe podcast were kind enough to invite me for an interview. It was my first podcast interview, and I had a great time. Here are some of the topics we discussed: How to choose an ETF. The importance of learning how to make sound investment decisions. The tax […]
This guide mostly covers the details around investment taxes and brokerages available in Germany. I have written at length about the fundamentals of investing in index funds while living in Europe elsewhere, so I won’t repeat that in this post. I don’t know where to start with investing My “learn investing in 10 minutes a day” series […]
My book is (finally) available. I began writing this book in late 2019. It is crazy how, in light of COVID-19, it feels like a decade has passed since then. I’m thrilled about this milestone. And I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about the book. To celebrate the launch, I am running a temporary […]
I’ve been getting these questions a lot: What is your opinion about the recent market decline? Are you adapting your strategy to the new market reality? Are you investing in specific stocks or sector ETFs that are cheap? Are you buying the market dip? Is this the right moment to invest? My answer is: Nothing […]
I want to invest in the Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF (TER 0.12% p.a.) and in the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (TER 0.22% p.a.). Which percentage should I allocate to each? This portfolio of Vanguard funds has a TER of 0.13% p.a.. It is currently the cheapest “All World“ portfolio using distributing UCITS funds. […]
I want to invest around 100€ per month and considering investing 80% in the iShares Core MSCI World ETF and 20% in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF. What do you think about it? If you portfolio is small, you should buy the fewest amount of funds possible. Minimum brokerage fees and the need to […]
Being a passive investor requires being mindful of costs. Due to compounding, seemingly small differences in costs can lead to large differences in returns over long periods of time. The Total Expense Ratio (TER) is only a fraction of the cost of owning an ETF. The Tracking Difference (TD) is a better indicator of the […]
I’ve changed my mind regarding European government bonds. Even though these bonds have negative yields and that isn’t great, I think they are still useful in a diversified portfolio. A high yield government-insured savings account can be an alternative, but it does not have some qualities unique to bonds. Currently my standard suggestion for Fixed […]
The Vanguard FTSE All World ETF (Accumulating, ISIN IE00BK5BQT80) and the SPDR MSCI World (Accumulating, ISIN IE00BFY0GT14) are fairly recent funds which are suitable for the simple portfolio. The Vanguard fund exists since July 23rd 2019 and the SPDR fund exists since February 28th 2019. Should these funds be used instead of the current funds? […]
You can find a lot of information online about how to invest in index funds in general. An example of that is my “step by step guide to investing”. Yet, sometimes you need specific knowledge about aspects of investing in your own country. How should you go about finding that information? Successfully finding that information […]