Older American living in Germany - investment advice
I've had various financial hardships throughout my life, so it's been difficult for me to let go of my money. But it's not doing anything, and I know I need it to do something, or retirement won't be possible. I obsessively run calculations constantly on how much money I'll have for retirement.Some info:
I'm 54, married, so Tax Class III. My wife has a small business, but there's been no profits yet. We have no kids, no debt (we finished paying off our student loans last year), no car, we rent, and live a fairly simple life. I'll spend around 2k/year on my hobbies. I also funnel off about 400/month into a subaccount dedicated to travel. I have no relatives that will be dying and leaving me money :).
Salary: 88k€ net
Yearly stock bonus: ~15k net
I put 2k€/month into a subaccount for savings.
Current assets:
- 55k€ bank account
- 50k€ brokerage (IBKR) (I got lucky with a couple of risky meme stocks)
- 20k€ US 401k
- 120k€ in company stock
- ~40k€ RSUs vesting over the next 2 years
Taxes for 2026 are going to be complicated because I dealt with ISOs this year. I have a final tranche of ISOs I need to deal with next year as well. I'm going to need to get a tax person this year.
My current retirement goal is 600k€, because that will give us enough to supplement US and German social security to continue living our current lifestyle, for 20 years. If I can continue saving 2k/month, I will just make that number at retirement. I KNOW that's an unrealistic way to look at it, but I've been stuck in hoarding mode, afraid to let the market control my money.
I'm looking for advice on where to start. I read about companies like Black Swan Capital who could get me started, but I've done some research on how much it would cost, and it shocks me (see money hoarder mentality, so I don't know if it's a reasonable reaction).
Anyway, thanks for any advice.
Edit: if it matters, I'm expecting to apply German citizenship next year.