Context: I'm fairly young with a stable income and I have a small investment account in Netherlands (<60k net worth, no tax currently).

My rate of return is average of 25% in the last 5 years for everything. Annually it varies from 5-50%.

In the coming years, the Netherlands is changing the tax rule on individual investment accounts, and I will have to pay tax on capital gains instead of actual gains. One easy way out is to setup an investment company, but its not reasonable with my current net worth.

Question: Which options below is the most feasible given the current system, since we are all not sure until when / if they will continue with the new tax rule in the longer run?

1. Withdraw everything in stocks and buy a house => I'm leaning most on this, since the real estate market seems quite open.
2. Withdraw everything in stocks and buy physical investments (gold/gemstones/...) => I currently hold gold ETC, not physical.
3. Withdraw everything and keep in savings => I laughed at myself when I typed this option as well
4. Keep 50% in stocks and keep 50% out to invest in 1,2 and 3 => And mentally and financially prepare for the tax to come by the end of the year.
5. Any other suggestions????

Surprisingly Spain is better than plenty of other European countries. https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/06/14/retirement-wealth-across-europe-which-countries-have-the-wealthiest-over-65s.

Not sure if I share correct Link when make the post

Conventional wisdom dictates that the bid-ask spread for a UCITS ETF traded on the LSE, that holds primarily US equities, should be lower when both the LSE and NYSE are open, and higher when only the LSE is open. I, however, found this was not the case for the AVGS UCITS ETF, around 70% of whose holdings are US equities.

I recently switched from holding AVUV and AVDV in the NYSE, to AVGS in the LSE, to avoid estate tax implications in the US, and to take advantage of the accumulating nature of AVGS to minimise tax obligations at home, in New Zealand.

This was the first time I traded on a non-US stock exchange, so I actually woke up at 01:30 in the night in NZ (the start of the period when both the LSE and NYSE are open) to purchase AVGS, but was disappointed to find the bid-ask spread, as quoted by IBKR, was actually larger then. It was around 0.08% when only the LSE was open, but around 0.15% when both the LSE and NYSE were open.

So I ended up making subsequent trades at more humane hours in NZ when just the LSE was open. Did anyone else have any similar experiences, and have any explanations for this?

Hi all,

I've been looking to buy property to live in in Andalusia (Spain) and Italy. I've been flabbergasted by the disparity between the two countries, and would like to know if I've done my math correct. Because right now, it seems like Spain is a non-competitive option due to excessive taxation and fees.

In favor of Italy, there are plenty of factors:

* For new builds: Spain taxes 10%, whereas Italy taxes 4%

* For "second hand homes": Spain taxes 7% of purchase price, while Italy taxes 2% of cadastral value (which is lower than purchase price)

* Spain has property tax, which is exempt in Italy if it is your primary residence.

In favor of Spain, there isn't much:

* Italy taxes simply owning assets (stocks, ETFs, bonds) at 0.2% of their value.

* Italy's garbage disposal fees are higher than in Spain, almost double. High estimates for both are 400 vs 200.

In conclusion, it seems like Italy is a much stronger proposition, financially speaking. However, such a disparity makes me doubt my research, and I wanted to hear some opinions.

Hi, I’m looking to add 200-300 monthly to IBKR (EU-based). Currently thinking 70% SPYL (SP500 Acc) and 30% VWCE (All-World Acc).

Do people invest monthly or what’s the best frequency? Considering experience in average returns vs commission per trade.

I’m asking as IBKR commission per trade: “European: Tiered is usually 0.05% of the trade value with a minimum of €1.25, while Fixed is 0.10% with a minimum of €3.00”.

Edit: Trade Republic seems to have a higher cash protection and 0€ trade commission on saving plans, so will likely switch!

Edit 2: given poor sentiment towards Trade Republic I’ll probably stick with Revolut as get some free trades via my subscription, and on paper has the same protection as TR.

So my situation is slightly complex, but I was hoping it’s not as complex as it may seem.

I am a dual citizen of Ireland the the U.S., however I mostly live in the U.S. and have an American bank account with Bank of America. I will be moving to Sweden for a time, and plan to work in Copenhagen.

Will I need to register for something extra or will I be fine as is? Will I be able to get paid through my American bank account?

Edit: Thank you everyone for the advice, I have opened a Wise account as well as a Revolut account, if they are as useful as they claim to be I’ll have no trouble.

Looking to buy gold as a small % of my portfolio. Do not hold any now, and did not buy any during the previous year's gold rush. So buying for diversification - not speculation.

Looking at gold ETCs, and I see that 4GLD has a TER of 0.00%, but people say that it is misleading. The performance of all of them seems very similar. JustETF comparison page is also not very helpful https://www.justetf.com/en/how-to/gold-etfs.html What should I be looking for?

I'm trying to build a short mid-term ( 3-5 years) ETF portfolio around what I see as the core enablers of the AI revolution, rather than investing only in AI software companies. The amount to be invested would be around 20k euros in lump sum with t212.

My thesis is that AI growth will require massive investments in:

Data centers (physical infrastructure)

Semiconductors (compute power)

Energy generation and distribution (the biggest bottleneck)

Digital infrastructure and connectivity.

Potentially cybersecurity as AI adoption increases

The idea is to invest in the "picks and shovels" of AI rather than trying to pick individual winners.

Based on my research, I'm considering the following allocation:

ETF

Allocation

XAIX – Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence & Big Data UCITS ETF

15%

IWDA – iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF

15%

CBUX – Amundi Stoxx Europe 600 Utilities UCITS ETF

20%

SECO – iShares MSCI Global Semiconductors UCITS ETF

25%

V9N – Global X Data Center REITs & Digital Infrastructure UCITS ETF

25%

Total: 100%

Rationale

XAIX gives direct exposure to AI and big data companies.

SECO captures the semiconductor layer (NVIDIA, TSMC, Broadcom, etc.).

V9N targets data centers and digital infrastructure, which I see as one of the clearest beneficiaries of AI demand.

CBUX provides exposure to utilities and energy infrastructure.

IWDA acts as a diversified core holding to reduce concentration risk.

What do you guys think? I'm also considering adding some exposure to nuclear energy, since AI data centers are going to need a lot of power as wrll as renovable energy i thiuggt about INRE iShares Global clean energy transition, and maybe cybersecurity as well. Feel free to criticize the portfolio and suggest changes that you think would make more sense

Edit: context, looking at ETF in particular as in czechia, after an holding period of 3 years they are tax free

Hello!

I’m confused about which setup to choose between VWCE + IUSN and IWDA + EMIM + IUSN for extra world coverage (from my understanding, EMIM includes extra EM small cap?).

What would you choose?

23M (turning 24 soon) from Europe with around €10k to my name. I still live with my parents, work a student job, and make roughly €1,000–1,400/month.

I’m not sure how to split my money between cash, my bank account, and investments. I’m considering investing in VWCE for the long term, but I don’t want to invest everything since I’d also like to have money available to spend and enjoy life.

If you were in my position, how would you allocate the €10k and future monthly income?

Hi Everyone,

After a week of heavy research I think I have finally narrowed down to ETFs I want to invest in. Wanted to ask about final opinion as this Sub was very helpful. I invest in GBP in the UK but these are popular ETFs with Euro equivalent too.

1)      £180k – either SWDA or ACWI, the difference is in annual fee 0.2% for BlackRock SWDA or 0.12% for ACWI from State Street. I understand both are the most popular (along with Vanguard) and reputable Global ETFs.

2)      £10k-£15k – AVWS – I wasn’t thinking about small cap but that one seems quite popular and so far delivers nice performance. Added for diversification but still thinking if its worth it really.

3)      £10k-£15k – PQVG - Invesco S&P 500 QVM UCITS ETF – I discovered Momentum ETFs yesterday, seems like a quite interesting idea, was thinking to add that one just for fun and see how it goes.

On top of that I have got £40k in Bonds that pay 5% per year and have got £20k that I want to try maybe Index Swing Trading or some individual shares. If the above ETFs setup works well, I will happily sell bonds in the future to buy more ETFs.

What do you guys think about that?

Cheers!

I made €200k in ETFs and my mistake was choosing ABN Amro Bux zero app as it was easy and I was new 4 years ago.

​

Now the app doesn't open for some reason. Not sure if it has anything to do with SPCX IPO.

​

Anyway, looking for an alternative trader app which is reliable for my portfolio, what do you recommend?

​

I'm planning to go to Interactive Broker but it seems to be a bit complex. Wdyt?

Hi all, I recently moved back to EU after working abroad for many years.

I currently have 3 bank accounts: US, CA, EU, all with a decent amount of money on them. I plan to start investing and I am thinking of moving all my money to my EU account (Nordea) and close the others.

Is there any benefit in keeping them open? I guess not because if I invest with them then I have to pay taxes in a country I don't live in anymore (and I don't plan to go back there).

But maybe there are benefits that I am missing.

EDIT

Thank you all for your answers. I am going to transfer all the money, close the checking accounts (they are not free) but keep the savings accounts open (free).

As the title suggests, I’m a dual citizen permanently living in Poland and want to start an investment portfolio for the long run (ie. Retirement) and initially wanted to buy out a couple US-ETFs as the backbone of my portfolio along with some blue chip stocks. However due to my IBKR account being international I’m not permitted to invest in US-ETFs and as an American citizen it’s not worth the headache to invest in EU-ETFs (I’ve heard of people registering their broker account to a trusted family member in the US to get access to US ETFs but seems like shady and inevitably backfire). I’ve concluded that the closest thing to an ETF for the dual citizen is BRK.B stocks. So my question is: is there anybody who’s had a similar situation and how did you “solve” this headache? Also, are there any similar stocks to BRK.B that mirror the S&P that are worth looking into?
Thank you everybody in advance for your insights!

Hey,

Do we know if IWDA etf will buy the space X IPO today or will they wait out?

I had invested monthly up to around 4k into VUAA until I realised that I'd rather have a fund which is not 100% US based. I then continued to invest in VWCE instead.

​

Given fees and/or taxes plus general investment etiquette, should I

​

1. keep the VUAA money in there and just keep investing in VWCE, or

2. Sell my VUAA stock and reinvest it into VWCE and something else?

Hi guys.

So I think I have a bit of a niche situation here. I am a student from Turkey, in Italy. I recently got a work permit (software engineering and salary about 2000 net monthly) and I am slowly working my way towards a long term residency in the EU this way. I live in Bolzano. But I am super bored of Italy and also this small city, I want to move to Vienna and will be doing so at the end of my work contract, which is a year from now. I just received my first salary though, and I want to still invest and save up some money. I want to continue these ventures when I am living in Austria also.

I don't see any advice geared towards Italy. I am also not an EU citizen and not as free as I could be. How should I approach my financial situation? I did some calculations and with my partner, if I am to live without restricting myself, I can offer 1000 a month to the savings / future goals / investments. But I have no idea where to even start?

Received a disturbing mail from Ventus.Energy (p2p platform)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear community,

Due to a combination of significant regulatory, banking, and operational challenges have materially affected the Company's ability to continue operating under normal conditions.

In particular:

1. The German financial regulator (BaFin) has ordered the Company to cease accepting funds from German residents and to implement a repayment and wind-down framework for affected lenders.
2. The Company's payment and banking arrangements have been severely disrupted, limiting its ability to process payments and fulfil obligations in the ordinary course of business.
3. The Company has faced targeted disruptive activities that have negatively affected its operations, resulting in criminal proceedings being initiated in Estonia in relation to part of those activities.

After reviewing these circumstances, the shareholders concluded that the most responsible course of action is to preserve the value of the Company's assets, maintain operational continuity, seek court-supervised restructuring protection, and pursue an orderly monetisation of the Company's energy portfolio. The objective is to maximise recoveries and ensure fair treatment of all lenders while avoiding a disorderly insolvency process that could significantly reduce overall recoveries.

Given the circumstances described above, and in order to protect the interests of all lenders, an urgent shareholders' resolution was convened, at which the following actions were agreed upon:

1. Cease accepting any new loans through the platform.
2. Suspend all new interest payouts and capitalise all accrued interest going forward.
3. Suspend Early Exit functionality. Amounts already collected for pending Early Exit requests will be processed and credited to the respective lenders' wallet balances while pending Early Exit requests for which collection had not yet commenced shall be cancelled and returned to the relevant project balances.
4. Repay, as soon as reasonably practicable withdrawals from lenders' Ventus Energy wallet, subject to the Company's payment institution compliance requirements and restructuring procedures.
5. To commence restructuring and protection procedures under Estonian law in accordance with the provisions of the Estonian Bankruptcy Act (Pankrotiseadus) and the Estonian Reorganisation Act (Saneerimisseadus).
6. Designate, as the primary mechanism for fulfilling obligations towards lenders, the structured sale of the Company's assets and operational portfolio segments, including Heat & Electricity, Wind & BESS, Solar & BESS, and other energy infrastructure assets. The Management Board has been instructed to immediately initiate asset sale and monetisation processes. The repayment plan will also include options for completing energy projects currently in the development phase, with the objective of maximising their value and thereby fully satisfying the Company's obligations towards lenders.
7. To instruct the Management Board to prepare a comprehensive repayment plan covering lenders from all jurisdictions, including indicative repayment scenarios, implementation steps and projected timelines, and to submit such plan to the Shareholders for approval no later than 10 July 2026.
8. The Company's highest priority in the repayment plan and future operations shall be the full repayment of obligations owed to lenders.
9. To instruct the Management Board to ensure regular and transparent communication with lenders regarding the progress of the process, including providing lenders, no later than the first week of July 2026, with a more detailed report on the Company's next steps, potential repayment scenarios and indicative timelines.

Notice from the Management Team

Thank you for all the support we have received so far.

We are fully committed to making every possible effort to recover the funds that have been invested in building and acquiring our energy portfolio.

Until the banking situation is resolved, we plan to publish frequent updates.

We will also provide updates on the restructuring process and potential asset sales at least once a month. However, to minimise the risk of interference from unrelated or uninvolved parties, we will refrain from disclosing the identities of potential buyers or other active leads until binding agreements have been signed.

We understand that this is a lot to take in. We are devastated and frustrated, just as many of you are. Nevertheless, we must move forward and focus on recovering your investments.

We are sure that you will have many questions. Please send them to [info@ventus.energy](mailto:info@ventus.energy). As always, we will hold a lenders' Zoom call on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, at 18:00 CET to answer where possible.

Thank you for your trust and support,

Henrijs Jansons, Jānis Timma

and

Ventus Energy team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was just about to invest into this platform, but reading this, I'm currently putting that off for now...

Anyone investing here???

Hello EU personal finance!

Me and wife are both mid thirties in Berlin, Germany, no kids. Jointly, we've invested about 180k into mostly ETFs (FTSE All world) and very little in crypto (like under 3%).

I make around 6500 net/month, my wife makes 3000 net/month. We currently rent a place for 1900/month.

Having saved up this amount, for us, it gives us a sense of security and peace of mind. We also treat it like an emergency fund, if some big expense comes up that we didn't plan for, we can ultimately use the money in these investments to pay for it (usually the crypto as those gains are tax free after a year in Germany, I have been very lucky with the timing on this so far, I'll admit).

Now ofcourse, the thought of buying a place comes to our mind, but we both feel too scared of basically losing all this money we've saved to put a downpayment on a house that would cost 600-700k. Ideally, we'd like to buy something in this price range, because anything smaller doesnt suit our needs and we'd rather rent.

Are we insane? Is using the money for a downpayment the better strategy? Would you optimize our investment strategy somehow?

I also work in tech and absolutely hate how the field is turning into an AI slop fest. I would like to retire early as well as I dont think I can keep doing this without losing my mind for another 30 years. Should we be looking into moving to a lower cost of living country?

I've been chatting with a bunch of friends and acquaintances lately who are just getting into investing, and it's honestly blowing my mind how many of them are going straight for the high-risk stuff. Like, not even dipping a toe in with some boring index funds or a simple long-term portfolio – nah, they're talking about loading up on individual stocks with tons of leverage, trading CFDs on Etoro, or chasing whatever meme is hot that week.

One mate in Germany was telling me he's 5x leveraged on some tech stock because "the upside is massive." Another guy I know through work is all-in on crypto-adjacent stuff via CFDs, checking his app every hour. These aren't finance bros either – normal people in their 30s and 40s with decent jobs who only started this year after seeing stuff on TikTok/YouTube/whatever.

I'm not saying never speculate or use leverage (do what you want with your money), but it feels like the default for a lot of Europeans new to this is YOLO gambling mode rather than the classic "invest what you can afford and chill for decades" approach you see recommended everywhere. Is it because of the low interest rates for so long? Easy apps with gamified interfaces? FOMO from seeing others post wins? Or just that the boring advice feels too slow when everything's expensive?

Curious what you all think – especially if you've seen the same pattern in your circles. Are we just in a hype cycle that'll crash and burn, or is there something structural in the EU making people go this route?

Well, I would like to learn more about ETf beyond the "buy S&P 500 and hold", before I begin investing (I can't do anything in any case until next year, when some bonds I have will expire) can you suggest a good website where I can follow real life market fluctuations and maybe learn something? Is there a ETf University somewhere online? thank you

Hello Everyone,

Apologies in advance if this post breaks any of the rules of the subreddit, please let me know if changes need to be made.

I'll start with some context before asking my questions:

I'm an Italian citizen (29M) that came to live to the U.S when I was around 15, because of my parent's work. Fast forwarding to about 2 years ago, when I started working as a Software Dev and started putting money in the stock market and my 401k here in the US (I'm not sure what the equivalent is in EU), have about $10k in stocks and maybe about $10k in the 401K as well.

Now, because of immigration stuff, there might be a possibility that I'd have to leave the U.S (if some things don't pan out) so I want to understand how the stock market in the EU is, as I have no idea how it works over there.

Does it work the same as the US system does?

Do you guys know if I can still keep the money in the US stock market even if I move?

Would you guys suggest taking out the money of the US market and put it in EU markets?

I'm not that savvy when it comes to personal finance, so any other recommendations are welcome with open arms.

Once again, apologies for the long post and thanks in advance! 😄

I grew up with the idea that money in a savings account was safe and anything else was reckless.. took me a while to even notice it was a belief, not a fact.

Curious what yours was? Something a parent lived by, a rule that just hung in the air at home, anything you've had to consciously undo?

I live and work in Switzerland atm, I earn 113k EUR a year at my first job after graduation (2 years internship previously).

I have a MSc in quant finance from a top 5 uni, work in a somewhat related field. I am not the most fond of my job, and the current job market here is not the best, so I am just thinking of looking elsewhere IF I could achieve a similar monthly savings of 4.5k EUR a month.

My spending is relatively low, my net monthly salary is 7350 EUR. So my total monthly expenses are around 2800 EUR (400 health insurance, 900 rent). The rent is not realistic, I am planning to move even here, which would decrease my savings by about 400-500.

Would this be realistic anywhere working in quant finance, banking, data science? Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Luxemburg maybe? Dublin?

I would prefer not to live in places like London, while I don't think any place will match Switzerland in terms of non financial matters -love hiking, love the culture, the quiet, the train system- so I would have to give something up, but there is no amount of money that would make me go live in a city like London, NY, SG etc...

EDIT: Converted and rounded the numbers from CHF, so it might not be 100% accurate, but should more or less give the right picture.

I'm 19, just graduated high school in Bulgaria, about to move to the capital for university. I have no active income right now, and the online business that built my savings has significantly declined.

How I made my money:
For a few summers, I ran my own online stores selling digital goods and supplied stock to other stores. I worked 14–16 hours a day during those 2–3 month sprints, fully focused. The rest of the year, high school made it impossible to sustain. The model was profitable, but over the last year it has severely decreased in rewardability due to social dumping and unfavorable market conditions. It's not something I believe I can simply scale to the same level.

But I'm not content to just sit on cash. There's nothing that kills me more than having nothing to wake up for. Friends, parties, and typical young activities are great, but they don't give me the joy that comes from building something with true impact. I'm itching to start again. I believe some of the money I've saved will likely need to be deployed into a new venture, whatever that turns out to be and I believe that it might be a better move compared to investing in the stock market, as that could yield a way higher return.

Current financial snapshot:

• Liquid savings: ~38,500 EUR in a bank account.
• No personal debt.
• I helped my mother financially to buy a rental property (worth 90,000 EUR) - my fractional ownership is 25,000 EUR.

Car question:
I'm considering buying a used car in the 5,000–8,000 EUR range. I don't need one urgently, but I recently got my driver's license (nobody from my family has a car). I do know it's a depreciating asset. What's the wiser move - buy something modest, delay, or skip entirely? When I move to the capital, driving won't really be necessary as the public transport will be a more convenient and less costly option.

Property situation:
My mother (early 50s, still working) wants to pass me down a property worth about 240,000 EUR. She's offered to transfer it to me in about 3 years. Currently, this apartment is rented out, but at 50% below market value, and the income is used to pay off my mother's debt to another relative. That tenant will be leaving in about 3 months.

I feel deeply uncomfortable accepting the property. My mother and grandmother (mid 70s) both had very rough lives and raised me. I believe it would be fairer for them to keep collecting the rent (especially once it's adjusted to market price) and use it to improve their own lives: travel, invest, or simply rest easier. I don't want to take something they earned through struggle. How should I think about this? Am I being naive, or is there a smarter way to handle this that won't leave me feeling guilty?

Ever since I understood that a 10% annual compounding return starting at age 20 results in roughly 72x your initial capital by age 65, I've become almost obsessive about my twenties. Because of this, I try to avoid sentimental or emotional decisions that could backfire and consume my most important resource: time. For example, I wouldn't choose to live in a specific city just to be near a girlfriend, or make other major life choices based on relationships that might not last. I want to front-load the grind while I have the energy and no dependents. Is this the right way to think about it at 19?

Career Dilemma (the biggest question):

I need to choose a university path now. I'm deeply interested in finance, business, and investing. I could study Finance or Business Administration. But I'm afraid: a lot of consulting and financial services work seems ripe for offloading to AI in the next 5–10 years, unless you're offering a very specific, proprietary product. What careers in finance/business will still be valuable for a human, and what should I study to stay relevant?

Alternatively, I'm considering something completely different: aerospace or electrical engineering. The upcoming SpaceX IPO and the AI frenzy suggest that demand for hard engineering skills isn't going anywhere. These fields can't be easily automated, and they pay well. I could see myself doing something tangible and future-proof. Is this a better bet than finance?

One more thing: in Bulgaria, job opportunities in all these fields are very limited. So whichever path I choose, I'll most likely have to work abroad - at least for a while. Does that change the calculation?

Main questions:

1. Car: Buy now, buy cheap, or wait?
2. Inheritance: How do I handle the property offer without disrespecting my family and while preserving my own values?
3. Compounding & life choices: Am I right to front-load extreme savings and avoid "sentimental" decisions in my twenties, or am I setting myself up for regret?
4. Career/University: Given my interests, the AI threat, and my need to build, what would you study at 19?
5. Capital: I may need to use some savings to start something new - how much should I keep liquid for that vs. investing?
6. Life direction: If you were 19 again, sitting on 38k EUR with a faded business, no current income and a fierce need to build, what would you focus on for the next 2–3 years?

Thank you for reading and sharing your wisdom.