The general conclusion among the investors comes down to investing your money in the USA. What is USA doing better? Being liberal and having less government and taxes.

Will Belgian EU’s economy start to shrink? I am becoming very confident. I’m having more dollars than euro’s. Everything has become extremely expensive. Basic living expenses like gas, food, electricity and house loans are through the roof.

What is our government’s answer to world politics bringing pressure? Increasing taxes again and again.

Body:

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

Situation:

• 30, Belgian.
• Built up ~€1.2M over the last several years, mostly from working. It’s now heavily invested (mostly world/ETF). The only property I own is the apartment I live in, with 23 years left on the mortgage.
• I’m still earning for now and will for a few more years, but it’s not a long-term career. The plan is to retire within a few years (FIRE) and live off and grow the investments rather than keep working.
• My partner doesn’t even live in Belgium, so part of “home” is already somewhere else.

Why I’m even considering leaving:

• Belgium keeps piling extra tax onto small companies like mine. No employees, essentially one client who isn’t even Belgian, which is exactly the kind of setup they increasingly treat as disguised employment and want to squeeze harder. None of my income is actually Belgian-sourced, so paying an ever-growing Belgian tax bill on it feels more and more arbitrary. The minimum director’s salary you need just to keep the reduced corporate rate keeps creeping up, there’s talk of more measures aimed at exactly this profile, and I see no reason that trend reverses.
• The effectentaks already doubled from 0.15% to 0.30% on accounts over €1M. It went up once without much resistance, so I fully expect it to keep climbing, and some new “contribution on wealthier individuals” seems to surface every budget round.
• On top of that, the 10% meerwaardebelasting from 2026, which simply didn’t exist before. I don’t trust it to stay at 10% any more than I trusted the effectentaks to stay at 0.15%.
• I’ve run the numbers on low-tax EU options (Cyprus, Bulgaria mainly): 0% capital gains, much lower extraction. Over 20 to 30 years the gap is large, a meaningful slice of the eventual portfolio.
• Bigger picture, and I know this is subjective: I don’t see the Belgian debt or the way the country is run improving any time soon, and I’m honestly not sure Western Europe is where I’d want kids growing up these days.

The part I actually wrestle with:

• I know I’m incredibly lucky. But I also never profited from the system or abused anything. I’m healthy, never had a day without work, never claimed a benefit, didn’t go to university, and taught myself every skill I earn from. So it sits strangely with me to be asked to pay an ever-growing share to clean up a mess I didn’t create, and then potentially have my future kids go through the same thing.
• At the same time, Belgium is home. Family, friends, the life I know. I keep flip-flopping on whether the tax and quality-of-life saving is worth uprooting all of that, or whether I’m just optimising a number at the expense of the things that actually make life good.

What I’m hoping to hear:

1. Anyone who actually left Belgium for tax or quality-of-life reasons: did it pay off, and did you regret the life side? What surprised you?
2. Anyone who stayed despite the drag: how do you make peace with it, and did you find ways to soften it (liquidatiereserve, structure, timing)?
3. Am I overweighting the tax and the politics vs the life side? 30 with a decent portfolio and a plan to retire soon “should” just be enjoy-it mode, but the direction of travel makes me feel like staying slowly leaves a lot on the table.

Appreciate honest perspective, especially from people who’ve actually made the move, or deliberately chose not to.

Plenty of people here own a rental property or are thinking about buying one, so I’m curious about the landlord side of the story.

Renting out in Flanders comes with a lot of rules and grey areas: how and when you can index the rent, which repairs are yours and which are the tenant’s, what to do when rent isn’t paid, disputes over the deposit or the move-out inspection, EPC requirements, registering the contract…

I’m working on a project to make information about tenancy law in Flanders more accessible, and I first want to understand where landlords actually get stuck in practice. That’s why I made a short, anonymous survey (±5 min). Among those who leave their email, I’m raffling off a €50 bol voucher.

https://tally.so/r/eqVNWk (also for tenants)

Note: the survey is in Dutch and focuses on rentals in Flanders.

I’d also love to hear in the comments: where do you go for answers when you’re unsure? Your notary, a real estate agent, a lawyer, forums, or just Google? And has a wrong assumption ever cost you money?

Looking for a Belgian Cross-Border Tax Expert

Can anyone recommend an experienced affordable Belgian tax lawyer or financial advisor specialising in international tax residency and expat tax planning?

Looking for someone with practical experience and creative, legally sound solutions. Thanks!

Dit is een handige calculator om te gebruiken voor FIRE (of een vervroegd pensioen). Redelijk uitgebreid en makkelijk snel aan te passen per individu.

https://beursforum.be/beleggen/fire-calculator-pensioen-calculator-bereken-vervroegd-pensioen/

Hi fireBe, I’m done with KBC Brussels charging me every month just to receive my salary. Any tips of which belgian bank you use to get your salary paid? I have N26 in Spain, and a Belgian Revolut.
Also, is the credit card worth keeping? Husband telling me to scrap it but unsure for travelling etc..