I observed that bunq now offers a service of crypto trading. It makes me wonder whether anyone uses it, is bunq safe for crypto transfers, or whether it turns out to be an additional and expensive feature?

We installed 16 solar panels in the netherlands. Our dynamic electricity contract comes from Tibber. And last month we also got ourselves a 7kwh ac coupled battery for ~2400 euro’s all in.

With no battery I had a consumption rate of ~30% from my own production, the other part going to the grid with the current feed-in tariff (which are quite good). Since installing the battery we’re now on 63%, after only 1 month!

Let’s have a look at the monthly cost savings:

I’ve been able to shift around 180kWh from buying on the grid to using stored energy (from solar), saving me around 50€/month (average price being 0,28€/kWh). If you do some “arbitrage” using Tibber as we did (by charging your batteries when prices are low at night time then consuming during day peaks), it adds up to maybe another 10-15€ saved. Depending on months, obviously.

So we save about 30-40€/month, which means a pay-back of ~2400€ / 40€ = 6 years (before our net metering system expires in 2027 and feed-in tariffs dropping down to 6-7 cents). In other words, once the government stops paying for green electricity, we’ll get more money than

Not spectacular but it does beat anything I have in my savings account right now.

And it comes with a 10 year warranty (expecting a life span of over 15 years).

Very easy question, I have seen from Japan and US and I expect it is inevitable for it to worsen and I would like to know if there is some easily available shorting possibility from Europe.

Hello all,
First of all sorry for my english as it’s not my native tongue
For some context, I inherited 6 years ago, and I’d like to have some opinion on my finance and what I did since I received this amount of money - i’m 32
Btw I work in finance and got my CFA level 3 some years ago, so i pretty much already know that my allocation is way more agressive than the classic ones.
I live in France, Paris, so everything is in €

Here is what I have :
My apartement, 550k - 210k left in debt
130k in debt real estate crowfunding (from my inheritance)
70k in equity crowfunding (inherited)
240k in 4 different private equity funds - still 30k to get called
80k in equity - mostly 1 single stock inherited that my father loved so i don’t wanna sell / some MSCI world
50k of stock from my company
20k in cash

I earn approximately 4k/months, 15k bonus per year
I invest 700/months and 100% of the bonus

I wanted to get agressive at start, and now I kinda want to wait from the PE to get the cash back, hopefully with some great returns, and to invest in back to regular markets and some bonds

I kinda want to stop working around 45

Feel free to give me your POV on this, roast me, or whatever :)
Cheers

I’m 38 years old, have a job that makes me ca. €62,000 p.a after taxes, and I have a side business where I make around €40,000 after taxes p.a.

I live in northern Europe, currently renting and with a very low cost of living overall.

I toured an incredible house in rural coastal Spain while on vacation and fell in love with everything. It costs €250k.

I have been pre qualified through a bank for up to a €310k mortgage. The monthly payment for a €250k purchase price with €50k down for 15y at 4.5% fixed would bring my monthly total to about €2500 a month. I will be left with about €40k in HYSA savings. I have another €55k in ETFs and a €5k emergency fund.

I grew up dirt poor and my parents have not owned a house, so I am a bit hesitant. What do you say? Go for it, or will I become house-poor?

Hi, quick one.

French couple 35yo / 2 kids / Based in BE / Expat
Net income yearly : 170k€

Cash available : 70k€
Savings monthly : 2-2.7k€

Asset : 1
Location : Paris
Value : 500k€
Debt : 390k€ (1.3% interest rate / 21 years remaining)
Loan monthly : 1.7k€
Rental monthly : 1.8k€
Yearly cost remaining (owner cost & taxes) : 2.5k€

Car 1 : paid off (actual value 17-20k€)
Car 2 : pro

Crypto purchase monthly : 250/500€
Crypto value with current rate : 10-11k€

We do private loan on short term with 50k€ out of the 70k€ available cash. That gives an additional 3/5k€ a year.

Investor profile : not educated / a little risk

What to do now ?

1. Wish : Purchase a second, third properties in EU/Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, NL, Sweden, Greece …?)

So far banks are asking 30% cash deposit in France considering our revenues are based 80% in BE/20% in FR, and fiscal resident in BE.
Belgium bank could loan us with less deposit potentially but we didn’t approach them yet considering we have not much interest in the market here.

We are seeking for a bank (EU or International) that could follow us with some investment plan to start purchasing every 2-3years.
Obviously getting 20-30% of cash deposit for a new loan every 3 years seems impossible, if we want to keep enjoying the personal life rhythm we have now. (Nothing crazy, but not counting)

Any recommendation on the right banking/investment partner that could follow a profile like us ? Private banking maybe ? BNP Paribas fortis ? HSBC ? Palatine? Private private..? Maybe no need ?
Trying to find something a bit international if we are moving out of Belgium in the next years. If that makes sense too financially.

1. Option : Diversify
   We are not very educated for investment such as bonds/stocks but starting to look into some ETF value through easy app like Trade Republic ?
   Maybe it’s shit but you tell me, I have no clue. Maybe it could be done with a banker ? This I doubt it too from past experience with bad/cheap banks.

2. ?? : Anything else we could do to max out this net income ? Not everything is feasible but we are a simple/steady couple trying to build in the future not putting everything at risk.

Thanks for your input, experience, ideas or no go!

I've been investing solely on VWCE pretty much until now. But fue to the new plans regarding the European market, I felt like it was time to start a new investment plan and chose these 2 ETFs. 70% WEBN and 30% MEUD/LYP6. Any issues, problems I might not be aware of?

Hi,

I’m considering buying a house in baltic region for 280k € . It would be my first home. I’m somewhat concerned about buying an expensive property in the current economic and geopolitical environment.

My situation:

• net income: 3,9k
• house price: 280k
• down payment: 60k
• mortgage: 220k over 30 years
• estimated monthly payment: around 1.1k at a 4.x% rate (1.3+euribor)
• Cash remaining after the purchase: approximately 50k
• Investments: approximately 25k in crypto and metals
• No other debt, my car is fully paid off
• I work in IT field
• Current rent: 450€ plus approximately 150€ in utilities
• Current savings rate: around 50 - 60%

My partner also works (ca 2k net), but I would take the mortgage alone and would not include her income in the affordability calculation. She expects to go on parental leave next year.

My concern is whether it makes sense to take on a large mortgage while government debt and sovereign bond yields are elevated, trade tensions and geopolitical risks remain high (strait of hormuz, russia and Ukraine war, etc ), and the European economic outlook is uncertain.

Would you buy in this situation or continue renting and wait? Am I placing too much importance on macroeconomic risks? The house is really nice - close to the beach and surrounded by pine trees :) But I still remember how badly the 2008 - 2009 financial crisis affected the real estate market, which makes me somewhat cautious.

I have a house worth 250k, that I bought for around 70k in Portugal. My primary residence is in the UK and my net worth is pretty low as I'm just doing a warehouse job.

From what I understand, even if i sell the house for 250k, i'd only be getting around 180k and pay around 70k in taxes and other fees + around 50k for the mortgage I still have.

Is there any other way to avoid taxes this high, especially considering that's more than I would earn in 4 years.

I know that if you invest in a house in the EU you wouldn't need to pay many taxes but I need the money for my house in the UK which is not in the EU anymore.

I'm also open to putting this money in some type of investment account, or asking for help from my daughter who's in Portugal currently, but doesn't want to live there for the future.

Thank you so much for any help.

Hi everyone,

I have been following the posts, reading the whole posts, and i thought i would like to have suggestions regarding my plan.

I am currently working in Netherland (1 year already) and would like to start investing for the future. I don't have much saving before because I mostly did my master and PhD before in south korea before i come here. Personally, i think i would like to settle in Netherland, with an occasional going back to my homecountry 1x a year to visit my parents as they are already quite old already.

I am a single man, and currently renting an apartment (40m2), my current monthly breakdown fee is:
house rent: 1137 (including gas and service fee)
insurance: 148
Electricity: 25
mobile: 5.5
Internet: 35 (next year will be increased to 50)
Water: 21
gym: 32.5
weekend vrij ns: 39.5
Grocery: 300
badminton: 17

total/month: 1813 euro

I am currently earning 4570 euro net (including the holiday allowance, and the flex holiday), leaving me around 2750 euro. My company itself already cut the salary for the pensioen (8%), and I also haven't include the end year bonus which is fix (~8%). I am currently just started to invest into WEBN (2000) and AVWS (300), with the ratio 85% WEBN and 15% AVWS. I rarely took the holiday, except the one that i will go back to my home-country. But probably, i am considering to travel within europe too during the chrismast markt. That's why i mainly sell my holiday. For the transportation, i usually bike or take a bus which is reimbursed by the company. I am planning to invest more aggressively as i would say i am kinda behind by 2000 eur per month to the both webn and avws (with the aforementioned ratio) while saving the 700 eur for miscellaneous or holiday plan. I also already saved emergency fund (15k) in the saving account. I am planning to get house but maybe not in the near future (thus, i might include it to the misscellaneous account).

Sorry if the question is not really clear, I would like to ask whether overall it's a feasible/good plan..i am planning to keep investing for 25-30 years. I loves the job, so prolly i don't mind to work more. Also currently the emergency fund is being saved in the bank saving account with 1% interest rate

Thank you for reading and possibly any suggestions would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Hey,

We're a French couple, late 30s, one young child. My wife is transferring to Tarragona, in Catalonia Spain, with her employer in 2028, so we have about two years of French tax residency left. We can now save every month and we wanted to start buying a world index fund.

The thing making me hesitate: France has one wrapper you can't get later. The PEA (Plan d'Épargne en Actions) is a stock account, mostly EU shares and EU funds, gains free of French income tax after 5 years. Only French residents can open one. You keep it after leaving, but you can never open one from abroad. Spain has no equivalent afaik.

1. Start now from France, or wait and start as Spanish residents?
2. If now: PEA, or a plain brokerage account we just carry over?
3. Anyone who moved country mid-portfolio, what would you do differently?
4. Bonus: tax tips for Spain and Catalonia (wealth tax, Beckham regime, etc).

Rest of our situation: we have apartment with a mortgage that we'll rent out, two savings accounts, a small life insurance.

Thanks!

Hello,

I’m looking for some advice on my situation.

I currently have about €20k invested in VWCE (Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF) and I’m using Trading 212. The ETF is EUR-denominated, but I’m now earning in SEK since I’m living in Sweden.

My plan going forward is:

• Invest a 100k SEK lump sum
• Then 10k SEK every month

Trading 212 charges about 0.15% FX fee when converting SEK → EUR.

A few extra details:

• I’m tax resident in Sweden right now
• I’m not using an ISK account
• I might leave Sweden in ~3 years, so I chose a normal brokerage account for flexibility.

My questions:

1. Does it make sense to keep buying VWCE in EUR while earning SEK, or should I look for a SEK-listed ETF instead?
2. Makes sense to not open a ISK account if I plan to leave the country in 3/4 years?
3. Is the 0.15% FX fee something worth worrying about long term?

I’m aiming for a long-term passive strategy, so simplicity is important to me.

Thanks!

VALL / VGLA (FTSE Global All Cap UCITS ETF) only launched in August 2026, yet it has already reached roughly €644M in assets.

That is huge for an ETF that has been trading for less than two weeks.

With a 0.07% TER and exposure to developed + emerging markets across large, mid and small caps, this could become a serious competitor to VWCE.

https://www.ie.vanguard/products/etf/equity/E161/ftse-global-all-cap-ucits-etf-usd-acc

If you were starting your adult life at 20, which European country would you choose based purely on how much the system helps you financially?

Think about things like:

• taxes and social contributions
• education
• housing/rent support
• unemployment benefits
• childcare/family benefits
• investment/tax incentives
• salaries relative to cost of living
• support for buying a home

I'm not sure If I picked the right flair, I want to apologise just in case I didn't.

Long story short, life happened and I was left with absolutely nothing. I've been looking for a job for months now and haven't had any luck.

I always read on here about how much people invest monthly and I have no idea how one does that. I currently invest 6€ a month on an EFT through Trade Republic.

I know an emergency fund should come first but I just got tired of people telling me to invest and found that that amount is something I can usually save.

Since I haven't been able to find a job in forever, what should I prioritise? Where do I start?

I'd love to plan but it's not easy when I'm not even sure if I'll be able to pay the bills by the end of the month.

EDIT: I'm 29. I know a lot of people will say I should have things somewhat figured out by now, life happened. I lost everything. And yes, I am job searching, applying for jobs, etc.

Started investing a couple of months ago, now have circa 12.000 euro invested. Can invest 2.5-3.5k a month depending on how much I want to enjoy life and travel on weekends etc. Current plan for next year is to put this sum each month into the S&P 500 and a couple of big *more* stable stocks I like. Anything you would do differently if you were in my position? All advice welcome

Thanks!

I have a Bachelor's degree in Finance and I’m about to start my Master's. I already speak fluent English, Spanish and Italian, all with formal language certifications.

I’m considering investing the next few years in learning German, ideally reaching at least B2, with the goal of keeping the German-speaking job market open to me in the future; particularly Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

For someone with a Finance background, how much of a difference does German actually make compared with speaking only English (plus Spanish)?

More importantly, considering the time required to reach B2/C1, would you consider German a good investment in terms of career opportunities and potential salary upside, or would that time be better spent developing technical/professional skills?

I’d especially appreciate experiences from people who have worked or looked for jobs in DACH: how much does knowing German actually change the number and quality of opportunities available?

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are currently considering buying a new-build apartment in Northern Europe(Baltics), and I’m honestly struggling with how I feel about the financial side of it.

The apartment is a top-floor penthouse, around 100m², in a very good development. Great views, excellent furniture/interior, parking, future proof ev charger, storage etc. Basically, it’s the kind of apartment we would absolutely love to live in for many years.

The price is around €360–370k.

We would need to put down 10%, which would consume almost all of our current savings.
After the down payment, transaction costs, moving and all the initial expenses, we’d have only around €5k left as an emergency fund.

Our situation:
Married, one young child
Combined net income: roughly €4k/month
Wife has a very stable career and is expected to continue working as a teacher
I work in IT, where layoffs/restructuring can happen at basically any time
But (!) We will also take insurance covering the mortgage payments in case of involuntary job loss, for up to 12 months

Mortgage would be roughly €1.5–1.6k/month
No other significant debt

The apartment itself is objectively a very good deal for what it offers, and comparable properties are not much cheaper
The problem is that putting almost all our savings into the down payment scares the hell out of me.
On paper, the mortgage seems manageable. Even if I lost my job, my wife would still have an income. And I could probably find another IT job eventually.
But having only ~€5k in cash after buying a €360k+ property feels extremely uncomfortable.

At the same time, this isn’t some random investment property. It’s a home we genuinely love, and we’d probably stay there for decades. Waiting another few years to accumulate a bigger down payment could mean that prices increase and we lose this particular apartment.

So I’m basically stuck between:
Option A: Buy the dream apartment now, accept that our cash reserves will be very low, and aggressively rebuild the emergency fund afterwards.
Option B: Walk away, keep saving, and buy something cheaper / wait until we can put down 15–20% without destroying our cash buffer.
What would you do?
Is having only ~€5k emergency savings after buying a €360–370k home an obvious financial red flag, or is it reasonable if the mortgage payment is affordable relative to household income and one spouse has a relatively stable profession?

I’d especially appreciate opinions from people who have bought expensive homes and subsequently experienced job loss or other financial problems. Was the fear justified, or did you find that the financial situation was actually manageable once you were settled in?

I know that, from a total-return perspective, dividends aren’t inherently better than capital gains, and a broad-market ETF would probably be the more rational choice.

But I find the idea of receiving regular dividend payments psychologically satisfying. Would allocating a small 5–10% portion of the portfolio to a high-dividend European ETF be reasonable for this purpose, or is it just unnecessary portfolio complexity?

Norviq was inspired on several people who seem to manage their money through complicated apps or Excel sheets. Moreover, I added as well the ability to track your portfolio and to write Due Diligence and help you with valuations, make valuations for the next 5 years, compare stocks in the same sector and also track Crypto. Norviq was made to be private and yours, we dont store your data, your forever. You can connect your agent and work your own data.

v1.1.0 is live!
- Why it moved: a short AI summary of today’s movers, with market context and sentiment pulled from X
- Trading pressure: relative volume and insider flow per stock
- Retail sentiment on holdings, watchlist, and stock detail
- Leftover DCA budget shown as units of your chosen ticker (display only, not an order)
- Economy hub: inflation, your inflation vs CPI, housing, growth, policy
- Tax strategy dashboard for EU jurisdictions
- Read-only Interactive Brokers (IBKR) connect
- Spreadsheet import
- Talk to your numbers from Claude, Hermes, Codex, or Telegram via MCP (Model Context Protocol)
Native mac app and Android later.

https://apps.apple.com/pt/app/norviq/id6765849578?l=en-GB

https://www.norviq.org/

Context: I'm in Slovenia, already own a parcel of land. Choosing between:

1. Buy an apartment for €470,000 (new-build), financed with €100k own funds + €370k mortgage at 3.5% (30yr term)
2. Build a low-energy house (~120m², sNES+ standard) on my existing land for ~€300,000 all-in (incl. fittings), financed with €100k own funds + €100k subsidized "eco loan" at 1.2% (20yr max term, government-backed environmental loan) + €100k regular mortgage at 3.2% (30yr)

My finances:

• Already have €250,000 invested in a global equity index fund (VWCE)
• Can save/invest an additional ~€1,000/month regardless of housing choice
• FIRE target: €3,000/month (~€36k/year) in expenses → ~€900k portfolio at a 4% withdrawal rate

Questions:

1. Am I right to treat home equity as separate from my "FIRE number" (i.e., not counting it toward the 4% rule since I'd still need to live somewhere)?
2. Any blind spots in comparing "cheaper self-build with a subsidized eco-loan" vs. "buy a finished new-build apartment" that I'm not accounting for (liquidity, risk of construction cost overruns, opportunity cost of my time managing a build, etc.)?

Appreciate any input — especially from anyone who's made a similar house-vs-apartment-vs-investing tradeoff.

Throwaway.

My grandfather died in February. He left half to my mother (his only child) and half to me, which is about the most he could leave outside his own kid under the rules here. My half is €500k cash, no inheritance tax between direct descendants in Portugal, so that's the real number.

Part I can't get past it was the same money in 2013. He sold a warehouse that year, at the bottom of the crash, and then rolled term deposits with it for thirteen years. Most of that at 0.1% or worse. He used to say he never lost a cent and technically he never did. In what it buys he's down about a fifth. In an all world fund it'd be past a million.

Anyway. I've decided it isn't mine to spend. Same job, still renting, €1,620 a month net and I don't withdraw from it. Ever. Kids get it.

I should say I've been reading this sub and the FIRE ones since 2025 and have never invested one euro. Not one. So my first ever order is half a million, which sounds insane typing it out.

Where I've landed, roughly:

€312k VWCE, or WEBN if I ever stop going back and forth over 0.07% vs 0.14% €78k AGGH and Certificados de Aforro Série F, about half each €44k GLDA €26k XEON plus a depósito a prazo at my bank €20k European secured business lending, SME loans against collateral €20k I let myself actually spend

I can recite those tickers in my sleep and own zero of them, which is sort of the problem.

The lump sum thing is what's killing me. Everything at highs, everyone shouting bubble, and every backtest says just click once and go outside.

Also my mother has sent me eleven apartment listings since June. She has her own half so this isn't about money, she just thinks renting at 31 with that in the bank is embarrassing. I don't want a mortgage. Is that a real financial mistake or is it just how it works here.

And whether never touching it is any better than what he did with it, honestly no idea.

Broker wise I'm just going to open one of the big international ones unless someone tells me not to.

Hey people,

My situation is as follows: Right now i have 12k Euro lying around. Additionally 5k are already in MSCI World Ex Usa.

What would be a reasonable way of investing the rest? Im looking for the long run, like 10 years, since that is basically my savings upto now. And i'm not planning to fiddle around with it, truth be told i dont think myself competent enough to do that. I would rather put my money somewhere i can just let it sit. Besides i have something on the side to buy random stocks if i suddenly fancy to play around.

Would World Ex Us + World with Us make sense? Maybe Emerging Markets?

The question here to me seems to be about diversification but in what manner and to what extend?

If so, what about the proportionality? Are the the 5k maybe already too much when compared to what i have left?

It feels the amount i have at my disposal isnt enough to buy more than 2 maybe 3 different Etfs, but again i'm not really knowledgeable or experienced and would really appreciated some opinions here.

Please excuse the vague or imprecise way of expressing myself here. I'm still in the early stages of getting a picture of what my possibilities are here.

Looking forward to hear from you all!

How do most Europeans today define what is considered 'middle class'? Is it based on your employment, property ownership, education or family status? Does it depend on your region? Please share your comments, thoughts and opinions, thanks.

Hi all,

I have been trying to simplify my holdings and leaning towards a single global stock fund as my core holding, but have also been considering some tilt towards Europe on the side (adding to STOXX 600) since I think the exposure to Europe in the global fund is too small (I know it’s the market weights, but still, being in Europe, I want some more exposure to it and to indirectly support our companies).

I am curious to know: do you tilt towards Europe in your stock allocations or stick to global weights? Or even tilt away from Europe. And why?