r/BEFinance

Hello,

- 31yo with wife & 2 young children

- net salary +/- 3500 + benzine car all included

Next year I'll have to choose mobility budget (+/- 1100€ monthly) when my lease will be over.

Option 1 : chill & pick a high end electric car all included.
+++ : no worries

--- : if I lost my job or leave, I have no car starting immediately

Option 2 : take loan reimbursement, during 3 year 1100€ net then 580€/month + 3800€ once a year (pillar 3). Buy a nice 30-35k car by myself

+++ : After 3-4 year, probably a good € gain if I dont buy a car too expensive and if I keep it 7-8 years. Still have a car in case of job loss

---- : I need to handle everything by myself, possibly not so advantageous for a small gain. Probably around 10k€ after 5 years. Potentially I can be frustrated with the same car during a long time and ruin the strategy by changing the car after 4-5 years.

TLDR; should I take 5-8% more money in my situation or abandon it for the peace of mind

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Hello,

I've seen a few posts about the Belgian mobility budget and company cars, and I'd like to get some opinions on my situation.

My situation:

- Net salary: ~€2,800/month

- Married, no kids

- I live about 90 km from my workplace

- I drive about 185 km each way, 3 days a week

Currently, my employer offers me a company car, but it would cost me around €650 gross/month in salary sacrifice.

From what I've calculated, my net salary would decrease by roughly €370–400/month. I'm also taking into account the impact of the lower gross salary on my yearly bonus.

If I keep my current car, my approximate monthly costs are:

- Diesel: €250–300/month

- Insurance: €55/month

- Maintenance/repairs: ~€500/year (~€42/month)

So I'm spending roughly €350–400/month on the car, excluding depreciation, tyres, etc.

Because of that, the company car doesn't actually look like a bad deal. The reduction in my net salary is roughly comparable to what I'm already spending on my car, while presumably giving me a newer/reliable car and avoiding some maintenance costs.

However, there's one big problem: I'm planning to buy a house.

As I understand it, the bank will look at my gross salary/income when determining how much I can borrow. Taking the company car would reduce my gross salary, so it could potentially reduce my borrowing capacity.

That makes the company car less attractive to me, even if the monthly financial calculation isn't necessarily bad.

Then there's the mobility budget.

My company is introducing a mobility budget this year. From what I understand, I could potentially choose between a company car, sustainable mobility options, or receiving the unused amount in cash.

I've seen that the mobility budget is based on the TCO of the company car, and I've heard that in my case it could be around €1,050/month (€12,600/year).

If I understand the rules correctly, money left over for Pillar 3 is paid in cash but subject to a 38.07% special social-security contribution, which would leave roughly €7,800/year (~€650/month) if the full €12,600 went into Pillar 3.

However, I initially thought I might also be able to use the mobility budget to pay rent or a mortgage. Since I live ~90 km from work, I assume that probably doesn't apply to me, because of the 10 km housing-distance requirement.

So my questions are:

1. Am I understanding the mobility budget correctly?

2. Given my situation, would you take the company car, keep your own car, or go for the mobility budget/cash option?

3. How much weight would you give to the impact on gross salary and therefore mortgage borrowing capacity?

4. Am I missing any important costs in my comparison (depreciation, tyres, taxes, etc.)?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have been in a similar situation in Belgium, especially when trying to get a mortgage.

Hallo iedereen, ik zit met twee vragen.

1) Grootte buffer spaarrekening

Ik ben een 20-jarige student, volop bezig met investeren in ETF's (voornamelijk WEBN).

Ik ben begonnen met 10.000 van de 20.000 euro van mijn spaarrekening, en ben hier nu ook een deel van mijn studentenjob-loon aan het toevoegen. Er staat dus nog 10.000 euro onaangetast op mijn spaarrekening.

Ik vroeg me af hoeveel van die onaangetaste 10.000 euro ik nog zou kunnen bij investeren, m.a.w. hoeveel ik ongeveer zou moeten overhouden als 'noodbuffer'? Ik moet nog zeker 3 jaar studeren, en 'grote' kosten zijn niet aan de orde in de nabije toekomst. (ik zie me geen huis kopen in de volgende 5 jaar, en mijn kot bv wordt ook door mijn ouders betaald). Ik wil zo vroeg mogelijk zoveel mogelijk geld in mijn ETF's steken, om die compound interest goed zijn werk te laten doen.

2) Getrouwheidsrekening vs Groeirekening

Mijn 10.000 euro (die dus momenteel niets is aan het doen), staat op een getrouwheidsrekening van Argenta: Basisrente 0,10 % op jaarbasis + Getrouwheidspremie 1,40 % op jaarbasis na 1 jaar;

Nu is er bij Argenta ook een zogenaamde Groeirekening:

Basisrente 1,65 % op jaarbasis + Getrouwheidspremie 1,40 % op jaarbasis na 1 jaar;

Op deze rekening kan je max 500 EUR/maand storten.

Zou ik per maand 500 EUR van mijn getrouwheidsrekening overzetten naar die groeirekening, die vele betere rente heeft, of zou ik die 10.000 euro op mijn getrouwheidsrekening laten staan, en vanaf nu al het geld dat ik krijg, eerst 500 op de groeirekening zetten en de rest op de getrouwheidsrekening?

Bedankt voor jullie antwoorden!

Anyone who has been trading covered calls or cash secured puts in Belgium?

What’s your strategy and how have you experienced this new way of investing?

EDIT:

Indeed long term investing in a world ETF would return better returns.

I’m mainly talking about stocks you actually want to own, whether that’s to diversify, have some fun investing, or just try options. I’ve been doing this for almost a year now and really enjoy it.

Compared to distributing ETF’s, high dividend stocks/REITs, or just holding stocks long term, I mostly use short-term (1/2 months) CSP’s to wait for stocks to reach my buy price, and CC’s once I’m assigned (basically a wheel strategy). Since my portfolio is only around €18k, be able to continue writing put options.

This year I’ve only really done this with WDP, a fairly low-volatility REIT, and I’ve collected almost €800 in premiums since January while waiting for it to hit my buy price. And for more than half the time, I had less than €10k tied up as collateral for the options.

So wondering how it can be this profitable?

Hi everyone,

I'm a recent graduate starting my first job in Belgium with a salary of €4,200 gross/month. My employer provides a company pension, so I'm covered there and don't plan to set up individual pension products right now.

My Goals:
- Set up a High-Yield Savings Account for a 3–6 month emergency fund.
- Invest around €250/month into broad-market ETFs.

Questions:

1. I would appreciate any overall guidance you may have to a fresh graduate transitions into full time.

2. Belgian Tax Rules: As a beginner, what should I keep in mind regarding Belgian taxes?

Thanks for any tips or lessons learned!