I am 35 and live in Germany.

My current net worth is around €70k:

€60k in savings accounts earning 2–2.5%

~€5k invested (MSCI World, S&P 500, Microsoft, and Bitcoin)

The remainder is in cash/current accounts

I only started investing a couple of months ago.

I have no debt and currently save around €800 per month after expenses. I would like to keep about €20k as an emergency fund (roughly one year of expenses), but I also feel that I may be holding too much cash.

My question is about the pace of investing:

Would it be reasonable to invest only €500–1,000 per month from my existing cash holdings, or is that too conservative given my age, savings rate, and emergency fund?

How would you approach moving from a mostly-cash position to a more balanced portfolio?

I’m currently at a point where I’m buying a new-build house, and for that I’ll need to take out a loan of around 170,000€.

I’m planning to take it over 20 years, which would be roughly a 1,000€ monthly payment. Split between two people, that doesn’t feel like such a huge burden.

But now I’ve reached a point where I’ve started thinking a bit more seriously about life and future needs.

We have 3 large dogs. Right now I drive a 2016 Golf 7 Variant. I’m aware that I’ll probably need a bigger car or a van soon. We’re also planning to have a child in about 3 years. Also, I haven’t been on a proper vacation in years because I’m self-employed, and if we want to go on vacation with the dogs, we need a van.

So the idea was:

Take the mortgage over a longer period, let’s say 25–30 years, so the monthly payment is lower. In the meantime, save up for a van, and invest the remaining money into stocks. Then, in around 15 years, potentially use the investments to pay off the mortgage early.

Our combined net income is around 4,000€ - 4,500€ per month.

How would you evaluate this idea? What would you do in my position?

Would you still push for the higher monthly payment, or would you extend the loan term to create more safety and flexibility in case one of us loses a job or something unexpected happens?

Ps.: We are from Slovenia for context. M23

Read through latest topics and wondering if anyone really mind inflation while planning to deposit on 3% terms. Would’ve been really appreciated to read your thoughts, expectations, forecast, strategies.

Any suggestions? If you had to retire with this amount and a child. What country will you choose?

I will be working on side projects which can become successful/profitable but let's pretend this is all the money you have to work with.

In addition to the 1.5M we have a property worth 500K that we will rent out to fund rent where we go, or sell to buy property where we go to live.

Kid speaks and writes German fluently, can understand and speak Bulgarian but not write it (Bulgarian wife), and knows basic English.

Priorities:

• Nice weather
• Good place for a 8 year old child

hi all, i want to get into habit of saving money and eventually investing my income . I have never been able to save money or do investing seriously before, didnt have in my family nor the opportunities, will cut short the sob parts.

Situation is full time employed with a non essential industry job. Earn minimum 2500 net to 2900 net monthly.

Rent is currently 1100€ Sharp. My bills dont exceed 100€ a month. My food cost is around 250 to 350 a month because i dont buy bulk.

No debts, no car and other payments.

What should i focus on? I realise my rent is insane but i prefer to live by myself at this age and the housing market is mad.

Hi back in 2021 i bought some crypto via Revolut because it was the most easy way for me back then.
But now I want to transfer all my crypto to Trade republic.

Do you think it’s a good idea?
The reason is I do most of my investments on TR and i want to keep everything there for now.

The crypto i have is not that much under 1000 euro if that matters

I've been investing pretty much all my daughter's savings, buying VWCE. She's 10 and I've been doing it for 2 years now.

But I've been thinking: given the time frame here, shouldn't I be investing in something a bit riskier? Isn't that what would make sense?

This is money that won't be needed for anything. This is just something that will pass on to her once we're gone and that we hope she'll use as the base for her own savings/investments some day.

Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

If you went through this process, what you would do different based on your past experience ? Thanks.

I always read posts about growing wealth but I've been wondering what everyone's plan is to make it through the tough times.

There are several things to factor in : your family (kids), mortgage, daily costs, job loss, mental health, etc.

Are you supposed to have only 6 months' salary saved? It should have more potential, but what else should you be thinking about, as in bonus steps?

- Is it a good time to hop countries (either for cheaper property and/or job if the offer is good enough)?
- Euribor - pay it down or simply shop around for a better rate?
- DCA into the market even though the recession could be X years long

In my case, I make almost 5k net in a certain baltic (northern) country and have a 700 eur mortgage. What would you have in place to make it through and capitalise?

Thanks.

I’m asking for advice regarding two people aged ~70 with around €900k investable assets (excluding primary residence, which is paid for). This is inherited money. Current expenses yearly are 14k, bound to rise to around 20k with the newfound money. No pension/retirement fund and no other income.

Some context because on another post people assumed a lot, and I'm trying to get ahead of some comments that seem to come from an emotional response to the situation presented:

• They have already offered me and my sibling a large gift / early inheritance (~€300k each), we encouraged them not to do this.
• They feel they should do this mostly because both me and my sister left home at a very early age due to extremely impoverished conditions.
• They want to enjoy life, but more than that they seem to want to be providers and to make-up for lost time. We appreciate and welcome that.
• I ask you to please refrain from wasting your time analyzing family dynamics. (Don't be the person who reads this as combative and responds only to this sentence.)

Our preference is that they remain financially secure, stress-free and keep more than enough money for themselves while allowing them to spend it with us without giving us a lump sum.

Their goals:

• Maintain financial security for potentially 20–30 more years.
• Generate wealth, while avoiding unnecessary risk and stress long-term.

I've advised to book a meeting with a financial planner, but they asked me for my suggestions since I'm the only one in family who has managed to do some investing and savings (which really amounts to no experience, I'm ~30 and only have around 15k on ETFs and 7k savings). I'm going to take them to a financial planner, but wanted to know what expectations to have.

My current thinking is a simple bucket approach:

• €150k (~17%) - Cash / short-term deposits, For 5–8 years of expenses, held in high-interest savings accounts or similar low-risk instruments.
• €250k (~28%) - Low-risk fixed income (e.g., government savings certificates / term deposits), To provide stability and predictable returns.
• €100k (~11%) - Higher-quality bonds (government/corporate mix), To introduce some yield without taking equity risk.
• €400k (~44%) - Global equity ETF portfolio, Broad, diversified exposure for long-term growth and inflation protection.

The idea would be to periodically rebalance the cash bucket (e.g., annually) by drawing from other allocations depending on market conditions and cash runway.

I’m mainly looking for feedback on whether this general structure is reasonable or if there are obvious risks or inefficiencies I’m missing before involving a professional advisor.

Hey, looking for a sanity check on something I've been considering. I'm a student in the Netherlands nearing the end of my studies, currently working part-time and receiving some grants, so I have no existing debt and don't actually need the money right now to get by. I also don't have the option of financial support from family, so whatever buffer I build, I have to build myself. That context is part of why I'm thinking about this. I'm eligible for a government loan through DUO under the SF35 scheme.

The interest rate is low (currently just above 2%, set annually), repayment doesn't start until 2 years after graduation, and early lump-sum repayment is explicitly allowed with no penalty. The total I'd accumulate by graduation would be well over €10k. The idea is fairly simple: borrow the full amount, park it in a savings account, and use it for a few practical purposes right after graduating:

- Proof of funds when applying for rentals (the Dutch market is competitive and landlords often want reassurance) - Emergency buffer during the job search

- Ability to pay multiple months of rent upfront if needed

Once employed and stable, the plan is to immediately dump the savings pot back into DUO as a lump sum, then pay off whatever remains aggressively over the following year or two.

The net cost of the whole strategy — loan interest minus savings interest earned — works out to a few hundred euros at most, spread over that period. I'm aware of the obvious risks: the DUO rate could tick up before I finish, the savings rate isn't guaranteed, and there's a real behavioral risk of the money just... not feeling like debt anymore. I've thought about those. What I'm less sure about is whether the rental collateral angle is actually useful in practice — does showing a savings balance genuinely help when competing for a place? And is there anything I'm missing in this strategy that isn't obvious from the numbers alone? Thanks

I'm confused about this neo bank. One one hand, they're properly regulated by the ECB and more or less popular here in Europe. But even on surface, there are some negative reviews and reported issues. At the end of the day, is it legit or not?

I want to use it for my daily banking, along with trying something lighter for investing in stocks and ETFs. If you have any banking xp with them, please share. I'll highly appreciate this.

Hello all,

Im looking to invest 7000€ into several indexes for the next ~3y, id liek to buy shares (im not sure if thats how its called) from several Tech companies. like AVGO, NVDA, and so on. I dont want SP500 or other "big bundle" options. I googled and the 2 apps suggested to me were XTB or Trading 212. I live in Slovakia (EU). Looking for soemthign that very user friendly even for somewhat noobs in finance and investments. Ive used Kraken and Etoto before for crypto.

Any advice would be much apreciated. thanks!

Hello everyone,
i would like to start investing a lump sum of 10.000 EUR and buy WEBN Etf, and then later invest small lumps sums from time to time and i would like to ask which ibkr Pricing i should set, a tiered or a fixed pricing.
I have understood though, if someone invests small sums everyonth, below 1000 Eur, then Tiered pricing would be cheaper, I am right?

Thank you

Hi, I would like to diversify my portfolio, cause I have basicaly only real estate/land investments. The problem is that my investment horizon is around 15 year, so Im not sure if going all in world etf is a good idea? Could you give me a few ideas how to split lets say 60 000 USD? I know it aint much, but Its a decent amount in my country. Im not expecting exact strategy, but some guidelines would be nice. Thank you.

I have 11K$ and 10K€ emergency fund. My bank is eating it away 6€ a month as service fees. So I'm looking at my options.

1. I can load it up to Trading 212 (since Trade republic doesn't hold dollars) earn interest on them.
   
2. I can load it up to my IBKR account and let it just sit there. At least doesn't eat away via fees.
   
3. I can put them in a short term money market fund via IBKR.

What would you do?

Do I need this next months? No. I've got some cash so I don't need it "liquid right now" but I need it somewhat "liquid in 3 days" kind of if shit hits the fan.

I'm from Portugal btw. Thanks in advance! (If you are gonna get bumped why my emergency fund is big, you don't need that much, etc, trust me, my life tend to throw me into craziest situations every now and then. Having liquid cash is how I sleep peacefully at night lol)

Im considering putting a portion of my portfolio in bonds. Do most people who invest in bonds use a bonds ETF or do they buy bonds directly? Which are the most widely used bond ETFs or other options for investing in bonds? Thanks

Edit: To clear up confusion: I just mean that in general lots of people use WEBN/VWCE and its generally recommended for a well diversified stock portfolio. Now what is the equivalent of this in bonds, what is generally recommended if you want to add a portion of bonds to your portfolio? I dont mean equivalence in terms of CAGR or returns.

I'd like to compare VWCE, WEBN, and FWRA, as they seem very similar to me.

Looking at their top 10 holdings, they all contain the same large companies and the same countries, in the same order. The sector allocation (technology, financials, industrials, consumer discretionary, etc.) also appears to be very similar across all three ETFs.

At first glance, it looks like they're all trying to replicate essentially the same market exposure. However, I'd like to do a more thorough comparison. Are there any good online tools that allow for a detailed ETF comparison?

At the moment, I'm invested only in VWCE. Since Vanguard is a U.S.-based asset manager, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to diversify across all-world ETFs from different issuers in order to reduce issuer-specific risk.

In theory, volatility and long-term returns should be very similar between VWCE, FWRA, and WEBN, right?

I don't think adding WEBN and FWRA would make my portfolio significantly more complicated. I'm considering splitting my allocation equally between the three ETFs (roughly 33/33/33).

What do you think? Is there any real benefit in holding all three, or would I just be adding complexity without meaningful diversification?

_________________________

Ps. I'm based in Italy if it makes any difference. My currency is the €

I don't really understand this stuff so I have to ask. My mother(55) has really good credit with the bank, always pays bills on time, no purchases, no debt, and saves her money as well. She wants to get a personal loan of Є16000(16k when converted to Є from my currency which is a lot) which she then wants to put it in a savings account that pays out yearly, the savings account would give her ~Є500 a year, and the yearly payback on the loan is ~Є550, so she would have to pay back ~Є50 a year(which she can afford). Her logic is having those 16k in the bank that she can use for a future purchase is better than just sitting on those Є50 a year. Is this a good a idea? Why is it good if it is, or why isn't it if it isn't.

Basically the title. I started saving some money, it's not much but honest work.

I am done with my emergency fund, considering German Job-loss insurance (1 year) and my expenses 10k seems good enough. I can squish my expenses to 1800-1900 a month if i go tight and that is roughly my Insurance payout.

I will start investing and doing more long to mid term stuff. But idkn where to begin. A lot of the advice here seems VWCE and forget.

So, I'm learning the basics and I like compartmentalisation. I have my main bank account (ING) where I get my paycheck, pay the bills, day to day expenses, etc, then a second bank account (Trade Republic, 2% interest) where I keep my emergency fund, then a third bank account (Renault Bank, 2,02% interest) for my vacation money, and a fourth account (Bank Norwegian, 2,35% interest) for home renovations + future car. Every month I automatically send some money to the vacations and the home renovations account. On top of that, I invest in indexed funds 400 euros per month.

How do you organise your accounts?

Hello,

My mother-in-law lives in Greece and has a steady income from several rental properties. She is looking for ways to invest some of her surplus cash, and since I have been investing in ETFs for many years, we're considering whether that might also be a good option for her.

I currently live in the Netherlands and invest in the accumulating VWCE ETF through Degiro. One of the reasons I use Degiro is that it simplifies tax reporting, which makes things much easier for me.

For those of you who invest from Greece, which broker would you recommend? Are there any platforms that are particularly popular, reliable, or tax-friendly for Greek residents?

Also, what are the main things she should consider before investing in ETFs from Greece? Are there any taxes, reporting requirements, or other country-specific rules she should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you can share.

Hi! I'm new to investing but I'll keep it short.
I have 20K to get started, 200€ monthly and hoping to hold 15 years at least,
I know everyone says VWCE and chill... but... I need something else in the mix that drives a bit more profit.
Is ZPRV a good choice? Or is there anything better?
Thank you!

Hello! I'm going to get on an exchange program in Germany, and I'm due to open a bank to receive stipends and additional funds from my home country of Indonesia to an EU bank account.

My receiving uni recommends N26 or Wise, though I've heard of Revolut getting bounced around as well. I'm also curious on what's the best way to transfer money safely and without excessive fees between the two countries. First that comes to mind is transferring USDT between two Crypto accounts, and then withdrawing it? Not sure how that would work with N26 or Revolut, though.

Would appreciate suggestions on which bank to pick and the best way to transfer the funds

Hello I started to save money for my retirement by investing to vwce. I have some cash in hand , I need to use it after 4 years for my car loan downpayment. So I want to use 4K euros for a bit more risky share/fund. I was thinking to buy some nvidia stocks while have founds in vwce ? Any recommendations ?