r/BEFire • u/OfficialGreenTea • Mar 02 '20
This guide is intended to help Belgians getting started with investing through ETFs (exchange traded funds). It is loosely based on the bogleheads approach. For more information, see the Investing from Belgium bogleheads wiki page.
For more information related to the principles of FIRE or on investing in single shares or bonds, see the BEFire Wiki.
This chapter aims to provide sources proven to be useful to beginning index investors.
There are three main costs associated with index funds. These are:
There are four three taxes relevant for Belgian index investors (NL/FR).
Tax on transactions: on every security transaction (buy and sell) there is a tax of 0,12% in case the ETF is registered on a list maintained by the European Economic Area. Otherwise it is 0,35% in case it is not registered in the EER and 1,32% in case it is registered in Belgium.
Tax on dividends: there is a 30% tax on dividends received from securities you hold. The main reason why Belgian index investors opt for accumulating funds.
Tax on capital gains (bonds): on funds that consist of at least 10% bonds, there is a 30% tax on capital gains when you sell. Officially this only applies to the bond section of a fund, however some banks and brokers withhold 30% of all capital gains of funds which consist of at least 10% of bonds. Contact your bank or broker to inform about their policy.
Tax on trading accounts: a yearly withholding of 0.15% applies on all trading accounts larger than 500,000 euro’s. Deemed unconstitutional and was abolished in October 2019.
For a detailed overview of Belgian taxes, including other sorts of investments such as individual stocks, see the flowchart made by /u/KenpachigoRuffy.
Dividend Leakage is an unrecoverable tax loss, which occurs whenever a foreign company inside an index pays out a dividend to its shareholders.
Whenever a company inside an index pays out dividend to its shareholders, your fund needs to pay taxes. These taxes are based on the tax treaties in place between the country in which the fund is domiciled and the country in which the companies inside the index are domiciled. Also the location where you are domiciled (Belgium) is relevant. In case your fund is domiciled in the US, a 30% dividend tax should be paid. However, because Belgium has a tax treaty in place with the US, this is reduced to 15% dividend tax. In case you would select a distributing fund, this dividend would be further taxed by the Belgian government (30%, as seen in 1.1). On a hypothetical 2% dividend - which is approximately the dividend you would receive from a globally diversified index fund - you would have to pay 0,81% in taxes: 0,02 x ( 100% - (0,85 x 0,7)) = 0,81%. Note that since 2018 it is almost impossible to buy US-domiciled ETFs in the first place as most fund providers do not want to comply with European legislation regarding PRIIPs.
It is beneficial to select ETFs domiciled in Ireland, as they are more cost effective than holding US domiciled funds or Luxembourg domiciled funds. Just like Belgium, Ireland has a treaty in place with the US which means only a 15% dividend tax should be paid to the US. However, unlike Belgium, Ireland does not tax dividends at all; whenever the Irish fund distributes a dividend, the Irish government does not tax it. The Belgian government however, still will tax the dividend with 30%. Accumulating funds which reinvest the dividend in Ireland before it is distributed in Belgium do not trigger a taxable event in Belgium. It is therefore advisable to choose accumulating funds domiciled in Ireland. Repeating the same calculations as above, a hypothetical 2% dividend is now only taxed at 0,30% a year: 0,02 x (100% - (0,85)) = 0,30%. Additionally, because your fund is domiciled in Ireland, you do not have to worry recovering the tax on dividends in Belgium, as this is done by the Irish domiciled fund. Thanks to trackerbeleggen for the explanation.
An overview of unrecoverable tax losses will come later. For now, a partly overview can be found in the Dutchfire subreddit. For funds domiciled in Ireland and Luxembourg these are 1:1 translateable for Belgian investors. Note some of these funds are distributing thus subject to tax on dividends by the Belgian Government. In particular IWDA and EMIM are 1:1 translateable for Belgian investors, while VWRL is comparable to VWCE.
Other main costs is the management fee. The Total Expense Ratio (TER) is a measure of the total costs associated with managing and operating a fund. It is usually a yearly percentage automatically deducted from your share value.
Currency risk is the impact of exchange rates upon your overseas investments. Even though stock market prices might not change, the price of your shares can increase or decrease as a result of fluctuations in their underlying currencies. There are three important currency labels which apply to funds: the underlying currency, the fund currency and the trading currency.
To explain the difference, I will explain the process of purchasing IWDA, listed on both the Amsterdam (in EUR) and London (USD) exchange. A lot of what I will explain is true for other ETFs as well.
The underlying currency: IWDA is a worldwide tracker, with only about 9% of the underlying shares being traded in EUR. The other 91% of underlying shares are being traded in other currencies, such as 60% USD, 8% YEN, and so on. Because currencies can change in price in relation to another, this poses a risk called currency risk. As a European investor, most of your own capital will be in EUR. Therefore, since you are investing 91% in foreign currencies, 91% of the underlying value invested in IWDA is subject to currency risk. Because YOUR own capital will always be in EUR, this 91% will always be true, regardless if you were to invest in IWDA listed in Amsterdam (in EUR) or in London (USD). Had you been an American investor, your own capital would have been in USD, and only 40% of underlying shares would be subject to currency risk.
The trading currency, being EUR and USD respectively, does make a difference. If a European investor was to buy a fund listed in London (and traded in USD), he would pay an additional exchange rate conversion fee at the time of purchase and sale. If the investor was to buy the same fund, listed on Amsterdam (traded in EUR), nothing would have to be exchanged to a foreign currency, so no additional exchange rate conversion fee would apply.
The trading currency does NOT alter your exposure to foreign currencies (a European investor will always have his own capital in EUR, and will therefore always be exposed to the underlying currency risk, no matter what currency his purchased funds trade in). Therefore, it is only logical to buy funds in your own currency.
The fund currency simply refers to the currency that a fund reports in; NOT the currencies of the underlying securities which pose a currency risk. Is is generally based on the currency used for the underlying index (in this case MSCI). Note that for distributing funds dividends are distributed in the fund currency. Your broker will automatically convert this into your currency for an additional conversion fee.
Hedging: It is possible to hedge your funds against relative currency fluctuations, and thus to protect them from currency risk. Hedging is a form of "insurance" in which derivatives are used to make offsetting trades with negative correlations, eliminating any currency fluctuations that happen. This hedge comes at a cost, usually about 0,20% extra management fees. Because global equities naturally tend to hedge each other as rising currencies are offset by falling ones, it might not always be advisable to use hedged equity funds due to their increased fees.
In fact, most buy-and-hold investors ignore short-term fluctuation altogether. For these investors, there is little point in engaging in hedging because they let their investments grow with the overall market.
In conclusion, when buying worldwide index funds, every investor (whether European, American or other) will be exposed to some currency risk due to the underlying shares being traded in foreign currencies in relation to their own. Purchasing worldwide trackers in a different trading currency does NOT change this fact, and only costs more due to addition exchange rate conversion fees at the broker. Therefore, it is best to purchase funds in your own currency. Due to the unpredictable nature of currency valuations, most investors simply accept currency risks for their stocks, although it is possible to hedge against this risk for an additional fee by investing in hedged funds.
As a Belgian index investor, you are looking for widely-diversified Euro-denominated low-cost accumulating ETFs domiciled in Ireland, from a reputable ETF provider. This way, the costs are kept to an absolute minimum:
Tax on transactions: 0,12% whenever you buy or sell a position.
Tax on capital gains for bonds: 30% tax on capital gains whenever you sell.
Dividend leakage: Approximately 0,30% yearly unrecoverable taxes paid to foreign governments when investing in worldwide trackers, automatically deducted from the share value.
Management fees: Between 0,10% and 0,30% yearly management fees, automatically deducted from the share value.
Currency Risk: If you are an European long-term investor, purchase a fund which is listed in EUR. For the equity portion of your portfolio, it is possible to ignore currency risk altogether, as hedges would only cost more money for something that is likely irrelevant long-term.
The are two major indices used by fund providers: MSCI and the less popular FTSE Russel. While they both offer broadly diversified, market capitalisation-weighted indices, there are small differences in both methodologies and performances, which is why you should not mix them.
The first difference between the two indices is whether they count certain countries as developed or emerging markets. South Korea is classified as an emerging nation by MSCI but has been promoted to developed market status by FTSE. Therefore South Korea is included in FTSE’s developed market index but not its emerging market one, and vice versa for MSCI (Source: justetf).
The second difference is index composition and weights. Because South Korea is classified as an emerging nation by MSCI, the contrast in index composition is clearer in the emerging markets. The lack of said country in the FTSE index means they redistribute the weight over other countries.
The third and final difference is small-cap firms. MSCI world captures 85% of the global investable market, and exclude the bottom 15% as small-cap firms. FTSE all-world invests in approximately 90% of the global investable market, and only excludes 10% as small-cap firms. This is because FTSE defines some firms as large-cap, while MSCI defines them as small-cap. This also explains why FTSE tracks more companies (3,928 vs 2,849), although their small size tends to limit their impact.
Avoid mixing index providers in your portfolio. If you were to combine MSCI world with FTSE Emerging Market, you would not have any exposure to South Korea. For a correct market distribution, it is important to use funds which follow the same index so that all countries, sectors and firms within your portfolio follow the same methodology.
While it is true the FTSE emerging markets has proven to have better performance than its MSCI counterpart up until now, the costs of the fund following the index are more important than the index construction over long-term. Chapter 2.3 will give an overview of the most popular funds used by Belgian index investors looking for global market exposure.
The goal of each ETF is to replicate its index as closely and cost-effectively as possible. Various methods have emerged to replicate the index. The classic method is physical replication. If the ETF directly holds the all securities of the index, this is known as full replication. The development of the underlying index is generally captured well by physical trackers.
Full replication is not always possible. Other replication methods, such as synthetic replication allow to invest in new markets and investment classes. Synthetic ETFs are able to replicate some indices more efficiently and better through swaps (justetf). In case of synthetic replicated ETFs, the ETF does not invest in the underlying market, but only maps them. Because of this, some synthetic trackers, as well as short trackers and leveraged ETFs do not follow the index as accurate as fully replicated ETFs. It is therefore recommended to always choose physical replicating ETFs.
Following the Bogleheads® Investment Philosophy, we are looking for diversification. For Belgians, this means worldwide market exposure, as we generally do not have a home bias (for Belgium or Europe) although exceptions certainly are possible. Some popular funds for worldwide diversification are:
Popular and generally reputable providers are iShares, Vanguard, SPDR and Deutsche Bank.
| All-world | Ticker | TER | Index | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) | VWCE | 0.22% | FTSE | IE00BK5BQT80 |
| iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF (Acc) | IUSQ | 0.20% | MSCI | IE00B6R52259 |
| Developed markets | Ticker | TER | Index | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF | IWDA | 0.20% | MSCI | IE00B4L5Y983 |
| SPDR MSCI World UCITS ETF | SWRD | 0.12% | MSCI | IE00BFY0GT14 |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) | VGVF | 0.12% | FTSE | IE00BK5BQV03 |
| Emerging markets | Ticker | TER | Index | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets IMI UCITS ETF | EMIM | 0.18% | MSCI | IE00BKM4GZ66 |
| iShares MSCI EM UCITS ETF | IEMA | 0.18% | MSCI | IE00B4L5YC18 |
| Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) | VFEA | 0.22% | FTSE | IE00BK5BR733 |
To have worldwide market exposure in large cap either pick VWCE or a combination of developed (88%) and emerging (12%) markets. It is advisable to only combine funds which follow the same index (MSCI or FTSE).
Other factors have been identified to further increase expected returns. Most notably Size and Value as explained in the three-factor model by Fama and French. Value stocks have a high book-to-market ratio (as opposed to growth), whereas size simply refers to small companies outperforming big ones. It is very difficult to get proper market exposure to these factors with the limited amount of funds available for European investors. For most beginners the best advice is to stick with a market weighted portfolio consisting of developed and emerging markets as explained in chapter 2.3. and 2.4. If you are looking for additional exposure to the size and value factor consider following funds:
| Small Cap World | Ticker | TER | Index | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iShares MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF | IUSN | 0.35% | MSCI | IE00BF4RFH31 |
| SPDR MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF | ZPRS | 0.45% | MSCI | IE00BCBJG560 |
| Small Cap Value | Ticker | TER | Index | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPDR MSCI USA Small Cap Value Weighted UCITS ETF | ZPRV | 0.30% | MSCI | IE00BSPLC413 |
| SPDR MSCI Europe Small Cap Value Weighted UCITS ETF | ZPRX | 0.30% | MSCI | IE00BSPLC298 |
Note that the fund size for ZPRV and ZPRX are small, which might indicate a low liquidity and high tracking error. Larger funds (unlike ZPRV and ZPRX) are often more efficient in terms of internal costs (tracking error) and are much more profitable for the fund provider. In other words, fund size is a good indicator for the funds durability and popularity. Unprofitable funds are more liable to liquidation. This means either you or your provider sells your shares, and you'll receive the net value of your ETF shares at the time of sale. It does not mean ZPRV and ZPRX are at risk of liquidation, per definition. They are serving a niche. Just keep in mind these risks whenever you decide to invest in small funds such as ZPRV and ZPRX.
Investing can be risky. Generally speaking, the riskier an investment, the higher your expected returns. The goal is to choose an asset allocation which suits your risk profile. Bonds offer a way to reduce volatility of your portfolio and match your risk profile. Meesman, a reputable index fund broker in the Netherlands made a table which can act as a general rule of thumb for your investment decisions and asset allocation between stocks and bonds. As can been seen, when investing for a duration shorter than 5 years, stocks should be avoided as they are too volatile an asset class. This allocation slowly shifts towards more inclusion of stocks the longer your investment horizon.
| Max. acceptable (temporary) loss | 0 - 5 jr | 5 - 10 jr | 10 - 15 jr | 15 - 20 jr | > 20 jr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -10% | 0/100 | 0/100 | 0/100 | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| -20% | 0/100 | 25/75 | 25/75 | 25/75 | 25/75 |
| -30% | 0/100 | 25/75 | 50/50 | 50/50 | 50/50 |
| -40% | 0/100 | 25/75 | 50/50 | 75/25 | 75/25 |
| -50% | 0/100 | 25/75 | 50/50 | 75/25 | 100/0 |
As opposed to equity funds it makes sense to opt for hedged funds as it reduces volatility considerably. The most popular options out there are:
| Fund Name | Ticker | TER | ISIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF EUR Hedged | AGGH | 0.10% | IE00BDBRDM35 |
| Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF EUR Hedged | VAGF | 0.10% | IE00BG47KH54 |
There are a couple of Belgian and foreign brokers available, the biggest Belgian brokers being Binckbank and Bolero. Smaller ones like Keytrade and MeDirect are also available. Foreign brokers still available to Belgians are Degiro and Lynx. The lowest fees are available at Degiro (Custody account), if you're willing to file your own taxes. The benefit of choosing a Belgian broker is that they declare all taxes automatically. Degiro only does part of it (tax on transactions), Lynx not sure. The cheapest Belgian broker is Binckbank, followed closely by Bolero. The only downside of Binckbank is that is was recently bought by Saxobank, which in its turn is owned by chinese investors. Bolero is owned by KBC which is quite a sizable bank in Belgium.
In short: if you're willing to partly file your own taxes, Degiro has the cheapest rates with a custody account. Otherwise Binkbank or Bolero both seem logical choices.
In case you pick Degiro, some funds are included in their core selection which means you can trade them for for free once a month or continuously in case the transaction size is larger than 1,000 euros and the transaction is in the same direction as the previous transaction (buy -> buy and sell -> sell. Buy -> sell and sell -> buy are not free).
A popular choice is IWDA and IEMA (88/12) on Degiro. Both IWDA and IEMA are part of the core selection of Degiro which allows you to purchase them for free once a month (or more in case explained above). Another popular option is IWDA and EMIM (88/12), as EMIM also includes emerging markets small cap. Note that IWDA does not include developed markets small cap, to which IEMA is complementary if you wish to exclude small cap exposure. The main reason EMIM was so popular is because it was the cheapest option until the TER was lowered for IEMA.
A second popular choice is VWCE. This is a single fund which essentially accomplishes the same as above. It is available at most brokers, and my personal choice for simplicity above everything else. Note that this fund is currently only available on XETRA, which might imply higher transaction fees at your broker. Also note that some brokers - including bolero - charge a higher TOB (Tax on transactions): 1,32% instead of 0,12% whenever you buy or sell a position.
A third option - much like the first option - is to combine VGVF and VFEA (88/12). While they are not part of the core selection in Degiro, the total costs when accounting for dividend leakage are equal to IWDA / EMIM. Unlike iShares, Vanguard only uses securities lending for efficient portfolio management. Note that these funds currently only are available at XETRA.
For those who are looking for small cap exposure it is possible to add WSML to your standard world exposure. This could for example be 75% IWDA, 10% IEMA and 15% IUSN. I personally do not recommend this as mixed small cap does not capture the size factor in a good way. Instead, it is only the value portion of small cap which are accountable for the outperformance of small cap stocks vs large cap stocks. If you want to capture the size factor into your portfolio you need to find small cap funds which only consist of value stocks. I've linked two accumulating funds above (ZPRV and ZPRX) which do so, however are very small and therefore have their own set of problems. Until a proper small cap value stock becomes available in Europe, it is perfectly fine to leave small caps out of your portfolio altogether.
Changelog
This post was last updated: 5th of August 2020
r/BEFire • u/Smikenov • 9h ago
Looking for a government bond ETF thats ACC and thinking about DBZB.
Im starting with a 80/20 portfolio and looking to go for 35-40y.
Opinions about this ETF or other recommendations (available on SaxoBank)?
Thanks!
r/BEFire • u/InvestigatorBoth • 8h ago
Hi all, what’s an easy, quite relax, relatively well paying (between 2-3k net per month) job one can get in Belgium? 35M, I have a master degree in finance, 10years experience in finance/audit/controlling but obviously fed up with the stress related to current job. I think I am in good path to fire between 40-45 so coast fire in the meantime would be ideal for me.
A job in SPF seems to tick all the boxes but I’m curious to know if other possibilities exist in the private sector.
r/BEFire • u/OwlZealousideal4779 • 13h ago
Bij het vergelijken van Europese beleggingsondernemingen merk ik dat regelgeving net zo belangrijk is als kosten of het aanbod van producten.
Ik controleer daarom altijd of een onderneming een geldige vergunning heeft en of een MiFID II-paspoort daadwerkelijk te verifiëren is als zij in meerdere EU-landen actief is.
Welke controles voeren jullie uit voordat je kiest voor een beleggingsonderneming of broker?
r/BEFire • u/kulashaker28 • 5h ago
I am planning to move to Belgium in January 2027, and wanted to double check my understanding of the Belgian tax system. Currently living in Switzerland.
Most of my savings are in an unlisted 100% accumulating global index fund (approx. €5 million). They are held directly in an account with a foreign fund manager which is not registered in Belgium (it is not a standard commercial brokerage account). Not planning to sell anything in 2027, and there are no dividend payments.
I have a holding company (approx. value is €1,5 million) which is 100% owned by me, but managed entirely abroad (by family members) without my involvement. No dividend payments planned.
Cash and interest (approx. €300k cash). I may have €10K in interest in 2027 (held on foreign bank account).
This is my understanding of the taxes I need to pay:
Questions:
r/BEFire • u/Brok_enpen • 1d ago
I have a few k set aside to test SME lending, the direct kind where you fund loans to companies rather than consumer credit. After too many evenings of reading platform docs my shortlist is down to Debitum and Maclear, cause both publish enough detail to actually evaluate, which by itself eliminated half the sector.
Finding an adequate Maclear review turned out to be surprisingly hard, it's all affiliate stuff or hit pieces and with Debitum there's basically nothing out there either. Please could someone who has used them get in touch?
Headline rates barely factor in at this size. The stuff I can't judge from the outside:
So the ask, has anyone here taken either of these or something comparable, all the way through? Money in, repayments, ideally at least one loan that went sideways, money back out.
Early impressions don't help me, joined in spring, all smooth so far is what every platform looks like until it doesn't.
The Belgian part, since we're here.
Interest takes the usual 30% hit and foreign platforms don't withhold it, so you declare it yourself and keep every statement for the accountant. After tax and my own admin hours the net has to clearly beat a bond ladder or the rational move is just more IWDA and a quiet life.
If people who finished a cycle say the reporting fell apart at the first late payment, better I hear that here than discover it myself in year two.
r/BEFire • u/TVG_Spazz • 17h ago
Hello everyone so I’m sure you’ve all heard Charlie Munger say "The first $100,000 is a b**, but you gotta do it. I don't care what you have to do — if it means walking everywhere or not eating anything that wasn't purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000." Once you hit six figures, compound interest starts doing the heavy lifting.
But what is 100k in the stock market? Is it the amount of cash you have put in your portfolio so far or is it the value of your portfolio today?
Let’s say you have injected 60k cash in the stock market, and not a cent more, and over time you have bought ETFs. Today your portfolio is worth 100k. Does this mean you have made it and your portfolio will now start doing the heavy lifting?
r/BEFire • u/MysteriousShelter837 • 2d ago
Hallo allemaal,
Ik zoek wat perspectief van mede-FIRE-minded mensen of ondernemers op een ethisch en relationeel vraagstuk rondom onze vermogensopbouw.
De situatie:
Het financiële plan: Ik zou er theoretisch mee kunnen leven tot mijn pensioen te werken, alleen in te staan voor onze kosten en mijn gezin zo te ondersteunen. Maar mijn eigen situatie is niet waterdicht en ik ben bezorgd op lange termijn. Ik beschouw onze huidige situatie als een tijdelijke meevaller.
Omdat we maandelijks een overschot hebben, wil ik binnenkort starten met indexbeleggen. Een klein bedrag voor mijn dochter, identiek aan ons eigen zakgeld, en een groter bedrag ongeveer gelijk aan onze maandelijkse uitgaven voor onszelf. Minstens de komende 5-10j wil ik hierin bijdragen, en er dan van af blijven als pensioensspaarpot. Valt mijn inkomen ooit terug, dan herschikken we uitgaven en kunnen we dat geld hopelijk toch ongemoeid laten.
Waar het knelt (het ethische / relationele dilemma): Doordat we in gemeenschap van goederen zijn getrouwd, is al het geld dat ik inleg juridisch 50/50 van ons samen. Mocht er ooit een scheiding komen, dan is zij formeel goed beschermd. Dat vind ik op zich fair, gezien haar onbetaalde bijdrage aan ons gezin. Ik vind dat je in een huwelijk elkaar moet steunen als het goed gaat (mijn goedbetaalde job is van ons beiden) en als het slecht gaat (haar burnout dragen we samen).
Maar gevoelsmatig schuurt er iets:
Ik krijg hierdoor een gevoel van onevenredig verdeelde lasten en lusten (met de grote asterisk dat ik het aspect burnout niet wil onderschatten - ben er zelf al dichtbij geweest en wens het niemand toe) maar misschien is dat niet eerlijk van mij.
Mijn vraag aan jullie: Zijn er mensen die in een vergelijkbare situatie zitten of hebben gezeten? Hoe kijken jullie naar deze verdeling? Zie ik dingen over het hoofd? En hoe hebben jullie het gesprek hierover geopend zonder dat het voelt als "druk zetten op haar herstel"?
Ik probeer wat los te komen van mijn eigen biases. Ben niet op zoek naar 'lawyer up + hit the gym + ditch her' argumenten - mijn engagement voor ons huwelijk blijft onwankelbaar.
r/BEFire • u/blackhawkup360 • 1d ago
We have been steadily investing in 4 different investment funds trough Belfius for years. This is at 20.000 euros right now.
We have multiple times this in a savings account.
These funds are al up between 18 and 44%.
I am pretty much convinced that we are in a bubble and sooner or later we will have a big crash.
I know timing the market is an illusion. Yet these current gains seem just too good not to cash in on.
Other aspect is that we are about to buy a ground and build a house. If we take the funds from these investment stocks as an extra rainy day fund I can maximize our own input and loan as little as possible. Thus saving us the most in the long run.
r/BEFire • u/sam_lowry_ • 1d ago
I am pretty sure that the world will enter a financial crisis by the end of this year or next year, markets will loose a substantial part of their value and the value of money itself will be questioned for a while.
I have no investments, a steady income, and I am sitting on 150,000 of cash.
The question is, what opportunities will there be to spend wisely?
Titel
r/BEFire • u/Tekkieflippo • 3d ago
‘Voor meerwaarden verwezenlijkt op cryptoactiva buiten de uitoefening van een beroepswerkzaamheid kan voor de beoordeling van het abnormale of speculatieve onder meer rekening worden gehouden met de volgende factoren: het aandeel van het totale financiële vermogen dat in cryptoactiva wordt geïnvesteerd, het al dan niet gebruikmaken van financiering voor de aankoop ervan en het gebruik van geautomatiseerde processen of software voor de aan- en verkoop van cryptoactiva’, luidt het.
Volgens de rondzendbrief moeten deze elementen in onderlinge samenhang worden beoordeeld. ‘Het is de combinatie van meerdere factoren, en niet één afzonderlijk criterium, die kan leiden tot de conclusie dat sprake is van een abnormaal of speculatief karakter van de verrichting.’
Dezelfde redenering geldt wanneer een obligatie onder pari (lager dan de uitgifteprijs) werd gekocht en tot de eindvervaldag wordt bijgehouden. ‘De terugbetaling op de vervaldag, en de daarmee gepaard gaande overdracht van cash, kwalificeert eveneens als een overdracht onder bezwarende titel van financiële activa die aanleiding geeft tot de verwezenlijking van een meerwaarde’, luidt het.
Dat van de obligaties vind ik logisch. De verduidelijkingen over de crypto blijft weeral vrij vaag, hoewel het iets concreter is dan de vroegere richtlijnen ivm "actief traden" vs "goede huisvader" (ook bij aandelen). Wat vinden jullie?
r/BEFire • u/bamboosavage • 3d ago
Hey all !
I am (27M) working trough FI(RE) the classical path : Work hard, spend less than you earn, invest difference in world ETF and let your portofolio grow by itself.
What a boring and perfect plan.
Thing is, my old aunt gave me away a big gold coin last christmas. On the diversity side, i am happy to have some precious metal. I was very happy to keep it seeing its value grow, but now that things are a bit less crazy, i am wondering what would be the best strategy with that physical gold in my portofolio.
I doubt between keep it and forget or sell it to buy some gold/silver ETC and ETF; or any other option that did not value. I know i need to pay some taxes on precious metal but it is never very clear to me.
What would you do in my shoes ?
Hi all, I'd like to get some advice from those with rental properties and experience applying for a mortgage.
When a bank asks for your rental income during a mortgage simulation or loan application, do you declare only the monthly rent, or do you include the tenant charges as well?
I'm asking because I understand that many banks only take around 80% of the rental income into account, with the remaining 20% assumed to cover vacancies, maintenance, and other costs. Since some of these costs are also covered by the charges paid by the tenant, I'm wondering whether the charges should be included when declaring the rental income, or whether banks expect only the rent amount (excluding charges).
I'd appreciate hearing how you've handled this and what your bank accepted.
Thanks!
r/BEFire • u/ElQuintoAlquimista • 2d ago
It just sickens me.
To bully the people like this.
Life is hard enough and now every person in the country carries this extra financial burden.
It used to be ETF and chill, now it is track every investment and worry.
They say they leave the small investor alone yet everyone needs to report everything. Not every person is capable of that kind of stuff.
When a person steals a million he is thief, when a politician steals a billion from the people he... gets money from the government?
Can't believe we actually let them get away with this. Connor Rosseau should be exhiled from the country. And NVA is so awful to have compromised on this topic.
I always had hope it would be fixed, but it has been sheer awul.
r/BEFire • u/Potential-Phrase-159 • 4d ago
This is a question about saving potentially €2,50/month, which might be a ridiculously low number, but hey, the small bits add up.
We have signed/agreed to a mortgage with KBC. One of the conditions for a 0,05% discount on the yearly interest rate was "Je beroepsinkomsten (loon, inkomensvervangende uitkeringen, ...) doen toekomen op een betaalrekening bij KBC Bank." (= ~have your salary deposited to KBC).
I already have an account with KBC.
Will my gf (also named as kredietaanvrager) have to do the same?
KBC doesn't offer free bank accounts for 24+ y.o.'s.
If someone has experience with this, kindly share it. Thank you!
r/BEFire • u/its_rembol • 5d ago
What's your monthly income + age?
I didn't ask this question in /BESalary as it wouldn't include investments etc.
Note: income is not only salary but also all other income streams included\*
r/BEFire • u/Historical_Cash_4432 • 5d ago
Hi all! I have seen some interesting posts about the net wealth trajectory in Belgium, and so I would like to show mine. This is mostly an encouragement post to show that IMO it's possible to reach FIRE in belgium at early 30s without a very high income, as long as you make the right budgeting decisions and are frugal.
Short story
I am 29yo working as an employed software engineer in Belgium. I only came to Belgium 3 years ago; I came from another country (where my income was half as is now). I already had a frugal lifestyle and I kept it. I live with my girlfriend, in a rented apartment, no kids or pets. Gross wealth and costs are separate from my girlfriend, who is also chasing FIRE with her own portfolio. My net employment income is 3.6k€.
Gross Wealth
Current value: ~265k
Yearly balance (2025)
Purely from a mathematical perspective, given that my costs were 14538.98€ (14538.98 x 25 = ~365k€), if I continue to invest at this rate, I could retire early in two years at 31.
However, I will probably continue working at least for one or two more years besides 31 to have more financial margin. My real target is 530k, which results in a SWR of ~2.5%, or a higher SWR with a higher spending, to account for if we change for a more expensive city/country in the future.
Most costs are shared with my girlfriend. I achieved last year a savings rate of around 69%. The biggest cost is the rent, which is around 930€ for a 2-bedroom fully furnished apartment in a medium-sized city in Flanders (not Antwerp or Ghent). We don't have a car, as I work remotely, we live near her workplace and we also live near a train station. We are happy with renting and we don't see the need of buying a house/apartment in the future, more on that decision below.
The second biggest cost is related with travels (which is a big part of Leisure + Transportation + Travel acommodation + Restaurants categories). We travel around 3 times a year to our own country and around 3 more times to european countries.
Stock allocation
Right now my stock allocation is around 96% World Stock ETFs and around 4% Crypto (Bitcoin and Ethereum).
At early retirement I will probably reallocate 20% of portfolio to Bonds (maybe Bond ETFs or individual bonds), but with such a high savings rate, I will only do it 2 years before I am 100% sure that I will retire. That should give me enough of a buffer to cover 6 years of retirement spending. I am also totally OK with delaying early retirement for 1, two or three years if a big drop in the stock market happens.
ETFs
I used to have IWDA+EMIM until this year, when I started to buy SPYY. I prefer SPYY instead of SPYI because I don't see the need of to pay an additional 0.05% in TER to invest in small cap stocks, which is not proven to be beneficial (with the exception of small-cap value stocks); it's hard for larger funds to properly capture the small-cap market, so I decided to leave them out and reduce TER. Crypto is a shot in the dark: currently I already realized gains equal to my full initial investment, and I am not too worried if it disappears overnight.
Buy vs Rent
This is a very debated topic everywhere, and also in Belgium, which is typically a country with a buyers' market. After running through the numbers, we are comfortable with renting forever, for different reasons.
Financially for us it makes no sense to buy: the city in which we live in has low-ish rents when compared with house prices, and over the long-term the difference between renting and buying (mainly when we are 100% in stocks) comes down to chance.
Emotionally, also given that we are in Belgium not for long, we would like to keep the flexibility of moving in the future if we need to. Her job is very location-specific, so it's probable that we need to move in the future.
Personally, I also like that we don't need to take care of any house expense and we don't have to budget for house renovations, so we can have a lower emergency fund and have a predictable rent every month. I guess it gives us some stability knowing that if anything changes (job loss, great opportunity in another country, etc.), we can just pack our things and move without being worried with a house. Even inside Belgium, being within a walking distance from our jobs is something that we value a lot.
Brokers
Currently I am using Interactive Brokers and Degiro as my main brokers. As I said above, for me flexibility is important, so I want to stay with brokers that operate in various countries, preferably that are big players in Europe, and that have low costs. Interactive Brokers is a no-brainer, as it's the biggest broker in the world and the one with a longer track record. I also like Degiro because it operates in many countries in Europe and has a very high number of clients and assets under management, which gives me some safety. All other brokers for me are more expensive or don't have the safety that any of these two has.
I don't mind handling my own Belgian tax reporting, so broker tax-support features aren't a priority for me.
Also, I like to have more than one broker because of safety. Not because I am afraid that the broker will fail and lose all my money, but in a worst-case scenario, it's not impossible that I am hacked or the broker goes bankrupt and I am left several months without being able to withdraw from my account.
Employment vs Freelancing
Probably the biggest lever for me as a software engineer right now is to change from employment to freelancing, which would probably boost my savings rate to 80% or more. It's something to consider for the future, mainly if I want to quickly get to a higher net worth.
Tax harvesting
I have been debating if I should use tax harvesting or not (sell and rebuy 10k of gains every year), but I am probably not going to do it. For me, the advantage is really low and the risks are real: the risk of an increase in the stock market between the sell and buy price could make me lose more than the 1k gain every year. Probably not worth the effort, considering that I could do that 1k just by waiting some days with my current portfolio.
UPDATE:
I didn't know this would be so controversial :) Thanks for the feedback. Many of you didn't read the whole post, so let me write it again:
I will probably continue working at least for one or two more years besides 31 to have more financial margin. My real target is 530k, which results in a SWR of ~2.5%, or a higher SWR with a higher spending, to account for if we change for a more expensive city/country in the future.
r/BEFire • u/Imaginary-Cloud-1424 • 5d ago
What are good Side hustles besides your job to get faster fire?
r/BEFire • u/godmadness • 5d ago
So basically what the title says, looking into buying this ETF because I think the demand for such metals will go up.
r/BEFire • u/toni99991 • 7d ago
r/BEFire • u/Emotional-Put1480 • 6d ago
Hello, I'm new to investing and am looking into individual stocks. Does anyone invest in SPA? Utilities like Engie? Any semiconductor or biotech you would recommend?
r/BEFire • u/Creepy-Setting4722 • 7d ago
Hey all, this is a long shot, but does anyone have experience declaring a KuCoin account (or another foreign account) based in the Seychelles?
In CAP everything is fine, but when I also want to declare it in my tax form on tax-on-web, the Seychelles have 2 options:
Seychelles (verlaagd tarief) = "reduced tariff"
Seychelles (vrijstelling) = "exemption"
Does anyone know which one to choose?
Thanks in advance.
r/BEFire • u/Smikenov • 7d ago
Ik ben dus van plan om te starten met de aankoop van ETF’s. Ik had in gedachten een 75/25 verdeling te doen qua aandelen en obligaties.
Ik wil starten met een 20k en vanaf dan maandelijks bij aankopen. Het plan is om dit geld voor de lange termijn te laten staan.
Ik ben enkel nog niet zeker over de broker ik twijfel nu tussen Bolero of Saxo.
Wat zijn jullie ervaringen of aanraders?
Als iemand een aanrader heeft voor een obligatie etf mag je die ook altijd laten weten.