r/eupersonalfinance

I strongly believe some sort of market correction will be happening between now and 2030, most probably triggered by the AI bubble popping, but the world geopolitics (and US politics where the largest chunk of the market depends on) are so unstable that it feels we are each day walking a tighter rope.

I also received a bonus from work that I could put somewhere. But if I just do "WEBN and forget", or even if I dig into other ETFs, they will give about, idk, 5 to 10% that would get erased on a 50% market crash. It feels like we are at a peak getting closer to a cliff.

With that in mind, what assets would give some returns and/or be less impacted by a global market crash?

Any ideas why both recent posts on Robin Hood's 5% offering were removed? I personally use Trading 212, but it seemed like a good deal.

Sorry for the unstructured explanation, hust dumping all my thoughts.

Hi, I need advice on how to handle the savings I have build up.

Context: Non-EU couple (33M and 31F) from humble backgrounds. We always had just enough growing up and never extra. So it is really difficult to judge how much risk we can afford to take.

I believe in ETF and chill theory while it took my wife some time to accept it. Which means in the meatime I have more money in savings account than in ETF.

Bank accounts: 250k mostly in raisin earning 3%

Investment: 45k (35% S&P, 25% EU 600, 25% home country, 15% emerging markets). I add 1k€ each month on same since 3 years and 500€ on VWCE since last year.

Now, we are thinking of investing the cash balance in an assest which provides better return than 3%. One idea was also to invest in a property, but the taxes and effort to find and maintain it, demotivates us.

Second idea is to put in VWCE. I feel the market is too high right now, if I put all my money in it right now and it crashes. It will kill my savings. I cannot imagine it taking 10 years to come back to 0 gain. On the other hand, if the makret grows 20% and then falls, I am less impacted but I cannot predict this. If I wait for this fall, who knows how much the market can grow before and make my money worth less due to inflation and lost opportunity.

Smart move could be to do 10k each month for the next 24 months. But I do not know if this staggering is enough risk averse or so.

Also, is there a possibility US goes to shit and we lose all our money? Since 50%+ VWCE is US stocks. I feel a property will be yours even in case a worst case. The stock market is just numbers on some server which might not be worth much in case such a scenario.

So want to know your opinion how to move from here?

P.S. Portfolio - 250k cash & 45k long term ETFs. What is the best way to move the cash from back accounts to investment? Is it too risky to dump it all in VWCE given the world?

M36, no children, I own a small web agency full remote. I've been resident in Malta for the last 6 years.

This has allowed me to make taxation as efficient as possible and therefore accumulate in these years in which I have pushed hard with my business, while also travelling a lot.

I don't like to live in Malta at all. In these years, I stayed 2-3 months in Malta, 2-3 months in Spain, and then the rest travelling.

I'm tired of my business now, and I'm not pushing it anymore. I'm still making around €65-70.000€ a year, but I'm not actively looking for new clients, so likely this income will gradually decrease year after year.

I come from a poor family, I will not receive any big inheritance.
10 years ago my net worth was 0€ and in these years I accumulated a net worth of around €770k, roughly allocated as:

• 50⁠% global stock ETFs and single stocks
• 25% real estate: 2 properties I let (in Spain)
• 15⁠% cash
• ⁠5% gold
• ⁠5% crypto

I spend 35.000€ per year.

Financially, staying in Malta is attractive because of the tax system, it would allows me to save even more and so going on FIRE with an higher invested net worth.

On the other hand, I would like to move to Spain and have my base there because I enjoy the lifestyle much more, I could potentially apply for the Beckham Law if I move.

I calculate that, with my current income, I would save around 25-30.000€ net every year staying resident in Malta only from the income from my business activity, in addition to the fact that the bureaucracy is much lighter and I don't even have capital gains taxes, so I manage my investments in a much more peaceful manner.

The question I'm struggling with is whether, now that I've reached a relatively comfortable level of wealth, it still makes sense to optimize taxes as much as possible by staying in Malta for 1 or 2 more years, or whether I should prioritize quality of life and move to Spain sooner.

What do you think about it?

I have around one year of expenses in a Tagesgeld with N26 but as they did not move the interest rate even with the latest ECB increase I am considering moving some or all of it.

Easiest logistical piece would be the Flexible Cash Fund they offer up to 2.29% however the more I read around MMF the less I trust them. How is the sub around MMFs? Do you use them?

Should I just open yet another bank account to still use Tagesgeld but with better conditions? (I have a DKB, N26, Degiro and Scalable but will close the latter soon)

I opened an account with them a couple months ago, thinking of taking advantage of the 5% interest on cash they were giving for a limited time (it was supposed to be until today)

Now, to my surprise, they have extended it indefinitely. Seems like a great place to have emergency money parked.

It’s protected up to 22000€ and transfers are instant (I have tried them myself).

Is this a too good to be true thing or you guys are also using it to squeeze a little extra from your emergency cash?

Invite link: https://sharetext.io/a366fvlx

Hi everyone! Using a throwaway for privacy. My wife and I are in a privileged financial position and want to make the most of it, with an eye toward the future, including possibly kids. Current situation:

Mortgage: 4.5%, 25-year term. Payments start in ~3 years Fixed rate for first 3 years, and then re-adjustment with the bank.

Liquid Assets:

• 40,000 EUR in cash
• 34,000 EUR in checking accounts

Investments:

• 4,000 EUR in bank-tailored stocks
• 16,000 EUR in Core World ETF (through app)
• 23,000 EUR in RSU from previous company (fully vested, taxes paid)
• 39,000 EUR in RSU from current company (fully vested, taxes paid)
• 12,000 EUR in pension fund, matched from employer

Monthly Income: 6,000 EUR ~15,000 EUR in RSU per year (vested every 3 months)

Expenses: ~3,500 - 4,200 EUR for everything (bills, entertainment, travels)

No other debt Tax context : EU based (15% on capital gains from stocks)

Looking at this, it's clear we're holding too much cash. Questions:

Is it reasonable to move most of the cash into ETFs (Core World or S&P 500), given the mortgage doesn't start for ~3 years? (Afraid of all eggs in one basket situation)

Does gold make sense as a place for some of the cash right now?

Our bank offers a fixed 3.5%/year savings account - worth using for part of the cash instead of ETFs? The funds are immediately available.

Should we sell down the RSU concentration and diversify into index funds?

Appreciate any input, especially on how to think about the multi-year runway before mortgage payments start. Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone, I didn't have a lot of savings until now, and I was fine investing via REVOLUT, but I don't trust the platform enough to go there with a lot of money. Are there some investment brokers for index funds which you could recommend in Europe? Specifically for Czech people if that matters :)

Money sits in JPM MMF. IMHO currently the best place to park some cash (protected up to 22k€)

For context I live in Australia and the current interest on my bank savings account is 5%, and Trading 212 just announced they are increasing interest in Australian Investment Accounts to 5.2%

So with this information, transferring all my savings into Trading 212 seems like a smart thing to do on the surface, and use that to grow interest instead.

My question is pretty much what am I missing, if anything? Is it risky doing this, should I use my trading account as a savings account or is this the start of a bad idea? Any thoughts, please let me know!

For anyone in Europe trying to build wealth and achieve financial independence, especially younger people, do you feel like your European country is holding you back? I keep seeing things online about how people are fleeing Germany, UK, France, etc because these countries are high tax and not convenient for doing business. Of course you don't have to leave Europe; countries like Switzerland and Bulgaria are lower tax, but on the whole Europe is not the easiest place to become a millionaire.

For anyone who does think about leaving, is it something you're unhappy about? Is it painful to feel like you have to leave your home to get what you want? Or are you unbothered by the idea of going somewhere else?

I’m based in Germany and I’m looking for the lowest-cost way to convert USDC (or USDT) into EUR and withdraw it via SEPA.

My priority is the lowest total effective cost (trading fees + spreads + withdrawal fees), not necessarily the simplest workflow.

What setup do you currently use? Kraken Pro? Monerium? ARQ? Coinbase? Something else?

Ideally I’d like to compare how many EUR you actually receive for every €1,000 worth of USDC.

Thank you in advance

So, if you basically move for a longer period of time like more that 5 years in another EU country with a more friendly capital gain taxation , do you need to change your fiscal residence from your native country to the new adoptive country ?

I heard that if you move in another EU country, even for a long period of time, the broker is obliged to send the fiscal informations (sales) to your native fiscal jurisdiction which is written in your Identity document, of course if you didn't already change your fiscal residence and then inform your broker/new broker ?

Thanks.

Hi,

I am in Belgium and using saxo bank as stock and etf platform.

The fee recently increased with added investment service cost, commission, financial ans third party costs.

Why so ?for you too?

Basically what the title says.

I’ve been investing monthly into a World ETF, but right now it’s at all-time highs and with everything going on in the Middle East, I find it hard to keep putting money in.

I know you’re not supposed to time the market, but psychologically it feels wrong to buy at these levels when a drop feels more than plausible.

Hence, I ended up pausing my investments for the last 2 months because of this.

Am I just falling into a classic bias here? Or is it somewhat reasonable to wait in this kind of environment?

Curious if anyone has frameworks / rules to deal with this, because right now I feel stuck between “stay disciplined” and “this doesn’t seem like a great entry point”.

Happy to be told I’m completely wrong here, genuinely trying to fix my thinking.

Because if you keep changing where you pay social insurance, you will get nothing eventually right?

Any opinion on this etf?

Ticker: XDEV

Ter: 0.25%

The Xtrackers MSCI World Value UCITS ETF 1C seeks to track the MSCI World Enhanced Value index

Today marks the end of the EU's transitional period for crypto service providers. From July 1, only fully authorized platforms can legally offer crypto services across EU member states. Firms that didn't complete the licensing process have to wind down or face enforcement action.

Worth understanding what this actually changes, and what it doesn't.

What MiCA does: it creates a single regulatory framework across all 27 EU countries for crypto asset service providers, covering licensing requirements, consumer protections, transparency obligations, and capital requirements. Before MiCA, rules varied significantly by country. A platform authorised in one member state can now passport that licence across the entire EU.

What it means practically: platforms operating without authorization are now in violation. Some have already withdrawn from certain EU markets ahead of today's deadline. If you're using a platform and haven't received any communication about its MiCA status, it's worth verifying against the ESMA register before continuing to use it.

What it doesn't change: MiCA regulates the companies offering crypto services, not the assets themselves. Volatility, market risk, and the tax treatment of crypto in your country remain entirely unchanged.

One thing worth knowing for EU personal finance specifically: MiCA authorization doesn't automatically mean a platform is the right fit for your situation. Fees, product range, and how crypto fits into your broader financial plan still matter more than the licence alone.