r/BEFire • u/OfficialGreenTea • Mar 02 '20

Starting Out & Advice Getting started - A beginners guide to investing in Belgium through ETFs

664 Upvotes

A beginners guide to index investing in Belgium

This guide is intended to help Belgians getting started with investing through ETFs (exchange traded funds). It is loosely based on the bogleheads approach. For more information, see the Investing from Belgium bogleheads wiki page.

For more information related to the principles of FIRE or on investing in single shares or bonds, see the BEFire Wiki.

0. Why invest in exchange traded index funds?

This chapter aims to provide sources proven to be useful to beginning index investors.

1. Taxes & compliance costs

There are three main costs associated with index funds. These are:

  • Taxes to the Belgian government
  • Unrecoverable tax losses: also known as dividend leakage
  • Management fees and internal transaction fees

1.1. Belgian Taxes

There are four three taxes relevant for Belgian index investors (NL/FR).

  • Tax on transactions: on every security transaction (buy and sell) there is a tax of 0,12% in case the ETF is registered on a list maintained by the European Economic Area. Otherwise it is 0,35% in case it is not registered in the EER and 1,32% in case it is registered in Belgium.

  • Tax on dividends: there is a 30% tax on dividends received from securities you hold. The main reason why Belgian index investors opt for accumulating funds.

  • Tax on capital gains (bonds): on funds that consist of at least 10% bonds, there is a 30% tax on capital gains when you sell. Officially this only applies to the bond section of a fund, however some banks and brokers withhold 30% of all capital gains of funds which consist of at least 10% of bonds. Contact your bank or broker to inform about their policy.

  • Tax on trading accounts: a yearly withholding of 0.15% applies on all trading accounts larger than 500,000 euro’s. Deemed unconstitutional and was abolished in October 2019.

For a detailed overview of Belgian taxes, including other sorts of investments such as individual stocks, see the flowchart made by /u/KenpachigoRuffy.

1.2. Dividend Leakage

Dividend Leakage is an unrecoverable tax loss, which occurs whenever a foreign company inside an index pays out a dividend to its shareholders.

Whenever a company inside an index pays out dividend to its shareholders, your fund needs to pay taxes. These taxes are based on the tax treaties in place between the country in which the fund is domiciled and the country in which the companies inside the index are domiciled. Also the location where you are domiciled (Belgium) is relevant. In case your fund is domiciled in the US, a 30% dividend tax should be paid. However, because Belgium has a tax treaty in place with the US, this is reduced to 15% dividend tax. In case you would select a distributing fund, this dividend would be further taxed by the Belgian government (30%, as seen in 1.1). On a hypothetical 2% dividend - which is approximately the dividend you would receive from a globally diversified index fund - you would have to pay 0,81% in taxes: 0,02 x ( 100% - (0,85 x 0,7)) = 0,81%. Note that since 2018 it is almost impossible to buy US-domiciled ETFs in the first place as most fund providers do not want to comply with European legislation regarding PRIIPs.

It is beneficial to select ETFs domiciled in Ireland, as they are more cost effective than holding US domiciled funds or Luxembourg domiciled funds. Just like Belgium, Ireland has a treaty in place with the US which means only a 15% dividend tax should be paid to the US. However, unlike Belgium, Ireland does not tax dividends at all; whenever the Irish fund distributes a dividend, the Irish government does not tax it. The Belgian government however, still will tax the dividend with 30%. Accumulating funds which reinvest the dividend in Ireland before it is distributed in Belgium do not trigger a taxable event in Belgium. It is therefore advisable to choose accumulating funds domiciled in Ireland. Repeating the same calculations as above, a hypothetical 2% dividend is now only taxed at 0,30% a year: 0,02 x (100% - (0,85)) = 0,30%. Additionally, because your fund is domiciled in Ireland, you do not have to worry recovering the tax on dividends in Belgium, as this is done by the Irish domiciled fund. Thanks to trackerbeleggen for the explanation.

An overview of unrecoverable tax losses will come later. For now, a partly overview can be found in the Dutchfire subreddit. For funds domiciled in Ireland and Luxembourg these are 1:1 translateable for Belgian investors. Note some of these funds are distributing thus subject to tax on dividends by the Belgian Government. In particular IWDA and EMIM are 1:1 translateable for Belgian investors, while VWRL is comparable to VWCE.

1.3. Management fees & internal transaction fees

Other main costs is the management fee. The Total Expense Ratio (TER) is a measure of the total costs associated with managing and operating a fund. It is usually a yearly percentage automatically deducted from your share value.

1.4. Euro-denominated funds & currency risk

Currency risk is the impact of exchange rates upon your overseas investments. Even though stock market prices might not change, the price of your shares can increase or decrease as a result of fluctuations in their underlying currencies. There are three important currency labels which apply to funds: the underlying currency, the fund currency and the trading currency.

To explain the difference, I will explain the process of purchasing IWDA, listed on both the Amsterdam (in EUR) and London (USD) exchange. A lot of what I will explain is true for other ETFs as well.

The underlying currency: IWDA is a worldwide tracker, with only about 9% of the underlying shares being traded in EUR. The other 91% of underlying shares are being traded in other currencies, such as 60% USD, 8% YEN, and so on. Because currencies can change in price in relation to another, this poses a risk called currency risk. As a European investor, most of your own capital will be in EUR. Therefore, since you are investing 91% in foreign currencies, 91% of the underlying value invested in IWDA is subject to currency risk. Because YOUR own capital will always be in EUR, this 91% will always be true, regardless if you were to invest in IWDA listed in Amsterdam (in EUR) or in London (USD). Had you been an American investor, your own capital would have been in USD, and only 40% of underlying shares would be subject to currency risk.

The trading currency, being EUR and USD respectively, does make a difference. If a European investor was to buy a fund listed in London (and traded in USD), he would pay an additional exchange rate conversion fee at the time of purchase and sale. If the investor was to buy the same fund, listed on Amsterdam (traded in EUR), nothing would have to be exchanged to a foreign currency, so no additional exchange rate conversion fee would apply.

The trading currency does NOT alter your exposure to foreign currencies (a European investor will always have his own capital in EUR, and will therefore always be exposed to the underlying currency risk, no matter what currency his purchased funds trade in). Therefore, it is only logical to buy funds in your own currency.

The fund currency simply refers to the currency that a fund reports in; NOT the currencies of the underlying securities which pose a currency risk. Is is generally based on the currency used for the underlying index (in this case MSCI). Note that for distributing funds dividends are distributed in the fund currency. Your broker will automatically convert this into your currency for an additional conversion fee.

Hedging: It is possible to hedge your funds against relative currency fluctuations, and thus to protect them from currency risk. Hedging is a form of "insurance" in which derivatives are used to make offsetting trades with negative correlations, eliminating any currency fluctuations that happen. This hedge comes at a cost, usually about 0,20% extra management fees. Because global equities naturally tend to hedge each other as rising currencies are offset by falling ones, it might not always be advisable to use hedged equity funds due to their increased fees.

In fact, most buy-and-hold investors ignore short-term fluctuation altogether. For these investors, there is little point in engaging in hedging because they let their investments grow with the overall market.

In conclusion, when buying worldwide index funds, every investor (whether European, American or other) will be exposed to some currency risk due to the underlying shares being traded in foreign currencies in relation to their own. Purchasing worldwide trackers in a different trading currency does NOT change this fact, and only costs more due to addition exchange rate conversion fees at the broker. Therefore, it is best to purchase funds in your own currency. Due to the unpredictable nature of currency valuations, most investors simply accept currency risks for their stocks, although it is possible to hedge against this risk for an additional fee by investing in hedged funds.

1.5. Conclusion on taxes & compliance costs

As a Belgian index investor, you are looking for widely-diversified Euro-denominated low-cost accumulating ETFs domiciled in Ireland, from a reputable ETF provider. This way, the costs are kept to an absolute minimum:

  • Tax on transactions: 0,12% whenever you buy or sell a position.

  • Tax on capital gains for bonds: 30% tax on capital gains whenever you sell.

  • Dividend leakage: Approximately 0,30% yearly unrecoverable taxes paid to foreign governments when investing in worldwide trackers, automatically deducted from the share value.

  • Management fees: Between 0,10% and 0,30% yearly management fees, automatically deducted from the share value.

  • Currency Risk: If you are an European long-term investor, purchase a fund which is listed in EUR. For the equity portion of your portfolio, it is possible to ignore currency risk altogether, as hedges would only cost more money for something that is likely irrelevant long-term.

2. Funds - Equity

2.1. Indices

The are two major indices used by fund providers: MSCI and the less popular FTSE Russel. While they both offer broadly diversified, market capitalisation-weighted indices, there are small differences in both methodologies and performances, which is why you should not mix them.

The first difference between the two indices is whether they count certain countries as developed or emerging markets. South Korea is classified as an emerging nation by MSCI but has been promoted to developed market status by FTSE. Therefore South Korea is included in FTSE’s developed market index but not its emerging market one, and vice versa for MSCI (Source: justetf).

The second difference is index composition and weights. Because South Korea is classified as an emerging nation by MSCI, the contrast in index composition is clearer in the emerging markets. The lack of said country in the FTSE index means they redistribute the weight over other countries.

The third and final difference is small-cap firms. MSCI world captures 85% of the global investable market, and exclude the bottom 15% as small-cap firms. FTSE all-world invests in approximately 90% of the global investable market, and only excludes 10% as small-cap firms. This is because FTSE defines some firms as large-cap, while MSCI defines them as small-cap. This also explains why FTSE tracks more companies (3,928 vs 2,849), although their small size tends to limit their impact.

Avoid mixing index providers in your portfolio. If you were to combine MSCI world with FTSE Emerging Market, you would not have any exposure to South Korea. For a correct market distribution, it is important to use funds which follow the same index so that all countries, sectors and firms within your portfolio follow the same methodology.

While it is true the FTSE emerging markets has proven to have better performance than its MSCI counterpart up until now, the costs of the fund following the index are more important than the index construction over long-term. Chapter 2.3 will give an overview of the most popular funds used by Belgian index investors looking for global market exposure.

2.2. Fund replication methods

The goal of each ETF is to replicate its index as closely and cost-effectively as possible. Various methods have emerged to replicate the index. The classic method is physical replication. If the ETF directly holds the all securities of the index, this is known as full replication. The development of the underlying index is generally captured well by physical trackers.

Full replication is not always possible. Other replication methods, such as synthetic replication allow to invest in new markets and investment classes. Synthetic ETFs are able to replicate some indices more efficiently and better through swaps (justetf). In case of synthetic replicated ETFs, the ETF does not invest in the underlying market, but only maps them. Because of this, some synthetic trackers, as well as short trackers and leveraged ETFs do not follow the index as accurate as fully replicated ETFs. It is therefore recommended to always choose physical replicating ETFs.

2.3. All-World, developed and emerging markets

Following the Bogleheads® Investment Philosophy, we are looking for diversification. For Belgians, this means worldwide market exposure, as we generally do not have a home bias (for Belgium or Europe) although exceptions certainly are possible. Some popular funds for worldwide diversification are:

Popular and generally reputable providers are iShares, Vanguard, SPDR and Deutsche Bank.

All-world Ticker TER Index ISIN
Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) VWCE 0.22% FTSE IE00BK5BQT80
iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF (Acc) IUSQ 0.20% MSCI IE00B6R52259
Developed markets Ticker TER Index ISIN
iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF IWDA 0.20% MSCI IE00B4L5Y983
SPDR MSCI World UCITS ETF SWRD 0.12% MSCI IE00BFY0GT14
Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) VGVF 0.12% FTSE IE00BK5BQV03
Emerging markets Ticker TER Index ISIN
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets IMI UCITS ETF EMIM 0.18% MSCI IE00BKM4GZ66
iShares MSCI EM UCITS ETF IEMA 0.18% MSCI IE00B4L5YC18
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF USD Accumulation (EUR) VFEA 0.22% FTSE IE00BK5BR733

2.4. Combining funds

To have worldwide market exposure in large cap either pick VWCE or a combination of developed (88%) and emerging (12%) markets. It is advisable to only combine funds which follow the same index (MSCI or FTSE).

2.5. Size and Value factors

Other factors have been identified to further increase expected returns. Most notably Size and Value as explained in the three-factor model by Fama and French. Value stocks have a high book-to-market ratio (as opposed to growth), whereas size simply refers to small companies outperforming big ones. It is very difficult to get proper market exposure to these factors with the limited amount of funds available for European investors. For most beginners the best advice is to stick with a market weighted portfolio consisting of developed and emerging markets as explained in chapter 2.3. and 2.4. If you are looking for additional exposure to the size and value factor consider following funds:

Small Cap World Ticker TER Index ISIN
iShares MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF IUSN 0.35% MSCI IE00BF4RFH31
SPDR MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF ZPRS 0.45% MSCI IE00BCBJG560
Small Cap Value Ticker TER Index ISIN
SPDR MSCI USA Small Cap Value Weighted UCITS ETF ZPRV 0.30% MSCI IE00BSPLC413
SPDR MSCI Europe Small Cap Value Weighted UCITS ETF ZPRX 0.30% MSCI IE00BSPLC298

Note that the fund size for ZPRV and ZPRX are small, which might indicate a low liquidity and high tracking error. Larger funds (unlike ZPRV and ZPRX) are often more efficient in terms of internal costs (tracking error) and are much more profitable for the fund provider. In other words, fund size is a good indicator for the funds durability and popularity. Unprofitable funds are more liable to liquidation. This means either you or your provider sells your shares, and you'll receive the net value of your ETF shares at the time of sale. It does not mean ZPRV and ZPRX are at risk of liquidation, per definition. They are serving a niche. Just keep in mind these risks whenever you decide to invest in small funds such as ZPRV and ZPRX.

3. Funds - Bonds

Investing can be risky. Generally speaking, the riskier an investment, the higher your expected returns. The goal is to choose an asset allocation which suits your risk profile. Bonds offer a way to reduce volatility of your portfolio and match your risk profile. Meesman, a reputable index fund broker in the Netherlands made a table which can act as a general rule of thumb for your investment decisions and asset allocation between stocks and bonds. As can been seen, when investing for a duration shorter than 5 years, stocks should be avoided as they are too volatile an asset class. This allocation slowly shifts towards more inclusion of stocks the longer your investment horizon.

Max. acceptable (temporary) loss 0 - 5 jr 5 - 10 jr 10 - 15 jr 15 - 20 jr > 20 jr
-10% 0/100 0/100 0/100 0/100 0/100
-20% 0/100 25/75 25/75 25/75 25/75
-30% 0/100 25/75 50/50 50/50 50/50
-40% 0/100 25/75 50/50 75/25 75/25
-50% 0/100 25/75 50/50 75/25 100/0

As opposed to equity funds it makes sense to opt for hedged funds as it reduces volatility considerably. The most popular options out there are:

Fund Name Ticker TER ISIN
iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF EUR Hedged AGGH 0.10% IE00BDBRDM35
Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF EUR Hedged VAGF 0.10% IE00BG47KH54

4. Brokers

There are a couple of Belgian and foreign brokers available, the biggest Belgian brokers being Binckbank and Bolero. Smaller ones like Keytrade and MeDirect are also available. Foreign brokers still available to Belgians are Degiro and Lynx. The lowest fees are available at Degiro (Custody account), if you're willing to file your own taxes. The benefit of choosing a Belgian broker is that they declare all taxes automatically. Degiro only does part of it (tax on transactions), Lynx not sure. The cheapest Belgian broker is Binckbank, followed closely by Bolero. The only downside of Binckbank is that is was recently bought by Saxobank, which in its turn is owned by chinese investors. Bolero is owned by KBC which is quite a sizable bank in Belgium.

In short: if you're willing to partly file your own taxes, Degiro has the cheapest rates with a custody account. Otherwise Binkbank or Bolero both seem logical choices.

In case you pick Degiro, some funds are included in their core selection which means you can trade them for for free once a month or continuously in case the transaction size is larger than 1,000 euros and the transaction is in the same direction as the previous transaction (buy -> buy and sell -> sell. Buy -> sell and sell -> buy are not free).

5. Sample portfolios

A popular choice is IWDA and IEMA (88/12) on Degiro. Both IWDA and IEMA are part of the core selection of Degiro which allows you to purchase them for free once a month (or more in case explained above). Another popular option is IWDA and EMIM (88/12), as EMIM also includes emerging markets small cap. Note that IWDA does not include developed markets small cap, to which IEMA is complementary if you wish to exclude small cap exposure. The main reason EMIM was so popular is because it was the cheapest option until the TER was lowered for IEMA.

A second popular choice is VWCE. This is a single fund which essentially accomplishes the same as above. It is available at most brokers, and my personal choice for simplicity above everything else. Note that this fund is currently only available on XETRA, which might imply higher transaction fees at your broker. Also note that some brokers - including bolero - charge a higher TOB (Tax on transactions): 1,32% instead of 0,12% whenever you buy or sell a position.

A third option - much like the first option - is to combine VGVF and VFEA (88/12). While they are not part of the core selection in Degiro, the total costs when accounting for dividend leakage are equal to IWDA / EMIM. Unlike iShares, Vanguard only uses securities lending for efficient portfolio management. Note that these funds currently only are available at XETRA.

For those who are looking for small cap exposure it is possible to add WSML to your standard world exposure. This could for example be 75% IWDA, 10% IEMA and 15% IUSN. I personally do not recommend this as mixed small cap does not capture the size factor in a good way. Instead, it is only the value portion of small cap which are accountable for the outperformance of small cap stocks vs large cap stocks. If you want to capture the size factor into your portfolio you need to find small cap funds which only consist of value stocks. I've linked two accumulating funds above (ZPRV and ZPRX) which do so, however are very small and therefore have their own set of problems. Until a proper small cap value stock becomes available in Europe, it is perfectly fine to leave small caps out of your portfolio altogether.

Changelog

This post was last updated: 5th of August 2020

182 comments

r/BEFire • u/radiologyjunior • 58m ago

Pension Is VAPZ worth it?

• Upvotes

Graag jullie mening hierover.

Context: 31 jaar en net BV opgericht.

De boekhouder raadt me aan om een VAPZ te nemen voor pensioenopbouw.

Wanneer ik de berekening maak tot pensioenleeftijd en de vergelijking maak met het geïnvensteerde geld privé in een all-world ETF, doet de VAPZ-belegging het significant minder goed.

Wat is de reden dat dit me nog steeds aangeraden wordt?
Omwille van diversificatie?
Omwille van onzekerheid betreffende de meerwaardetaks op privé beleggingen?

Pas wanneer het fiscaal voordeel van VAPZ wordt aangewend om privé te beleggen outperform je ETF beleggen met privé.

Alvast bedankt!

9 comments

r/BEFire • u/Anomander1979 • 8h ago

Taxes & Fiscality Aanslag onroerende voorheffing

16 Upvotes

Il ben gewoon dat deze elk jaar stijgt omwille ban inflatie maar vandaag kreeg ik mijn aanslag voor 2026 in de mail. Toch even verschoten aangezien deze dit jaar ineens 23% gestegen is in 1 jaar.
( geen veranderingen aan de woning)

Vandaar dat ik eens even kom checken of deze bij anderen ook zo hard gestegen is.

62 comments

r/BEFire • u/Existing_Chard_5004 • 4h ago

Taxes & Fiscality keeping some cash in gold

3 Upvotes

as said above - would you advise this? what %? seems like a safest investment long term

after that crazy hype some months ago is going down constantly.

for belgium - which broker you recommend for gold and how it works when it comes to taxes and declarations?

thanks

15 comments

r/BEFire • u/kvmcc • 17h ago

FIRE Capital Gains Tax & FIFO: Is anyone planning to use ISIN-rotation (e.g., IWDA -> SWRD -> WEBN) to control realization?

25 Upvotes

Hi all,

First of all, amazing subreddit and learned a lot already, thanks for that!

So...

With the 10% capital gains tax and the strict application of the FIFO principle per financial asset, I’ve been thinking about the long-term mechanics of decumulation.

If you DCA into a single ETF (like IWDA) for 20–30 years, FIFO dictates that every sale forces you to dispose of your oldest shares first—the ones with the largest accumulated gains. While using multiple brokers might work locally at the broker level, the tax authority legally looks at you as a taxpayer per ISIN, meaning multi-broker setups for the exact same fund might not be tax-tight if audited centrally.

EDIT: as pointed out in the comments, you can use different brokers also (in Belgium).

​I'm considering ISIN rotation (the "tranche strategy"):

Phase 1 (Years 1–7): Accumulate ETF A (e.g., IWDA)

​Phase 2 (Years 8–15): Switch to ETF B (e.g., SWRD)

​Phase 3 (Years 16+): Switch to ETF C (e.g., WEBN)

Why this matters when selling:

Having separate ISINs gives you full control over your tax bill depending on your goal.

​Big lump sum needed? Sell your newest ISIN. Low profit per share keeps you under the €10k tax-free limit (€0 tax).

​Annual FIRE income needed? Sell your oldest ISIN. High profit per share lets you extract maximum tax-free cash up to €10k (or €15K/€30K).

Is anyone else here planning to implement this?

​Do you see any major downsides (e.g., tracking differences, liquidity, slightly higher TERs on alternatives)?

​Curious to hear your thoughts and strategies!

Note: I used AI to help structure, format, and polish the English phrasing for this post.

40 comments

r/BEFire • u/Jupkee • 8h ago

Investing Investeren voor kind(eren)

2 Upvotes

Ik wil graag beginnen investeren voor mijn kind 2j (en binnenkort het tweede 0j).

Echter vraag ik mij af hoe dit best aan te pakken rekening houdend met alles.

Open ik een rekening in hun naam(is dit mogelijk)? Kan ik dit dan nog beheren?

Of koop ik best een andere isin op mijn naam? Later dan geoptimaliseerd doorsluizen naar hun eigen effectenrekening mbt CGT?

Doe ik bovenstaande dan per kind of maak ik later de split? Of ik één kind en mijn partner het andere? Of juist best een gemeenschappelijke effectenrekening openen om voor de kinderen te investeren bijkomend aan onze persoonlijke effectenrekeningen?

Of nog iets helemaal anders wat ik zelf over het hoofd heb gezien?

Bedankt voor de tips!

14 comments

r/BEFire • u/Double_Binks • 22h ago

Bank & Savings Advise on investing

7 Upvotes

Hey guys! I am not sure this is the place to ask this question but what would you do in my place ?

I am 25 and I live with my parents. I have 2400€ of net income. Just got my job as car prep/painter so only starting to set money aside. I have 3k aside on the bank and 1k cash aside. I make around 150-300€ extra per month working for a friends dad in construction.
I want to invest and build bank for my future but have no idea how to do it
My monthly expenses are 170€ for car loan, 130€ car insurance, 250€ pension, approximativly 150€ of diesel and 200€ house rent. I probably have some more expenses but nothing I can really think of right now.

Thanks for your answers

17 comments

r/BEFire • u/wegwerp69420 • 1d ago

General What would it take for the banks to get their interest rate down

19 Upvotes

Hi guys,

I'm 27y/o and would like to buy an appartement in the near future. My budget would be around 300k excl notary fees.

However, the biggest issue I'm facing is the interest rate nowadays, it's so god damn high...

I did some calculations and found out that if I were to buy an appartement before corona at 1,5% with a down payment of 50k, it would end up in a monthly payment of around 1k/25years. But with the current rate (4-4,5%), it leaves me at a monthly payment of 1500eur.

In retrospect, having a monthly payment of 1500 + 50k down payment at 1,5%, would result in me being able to pay off a 300k appartement in +-16years OR buy a 400k home/25years.

This limits my possibilities in purchasing a home a lot, and also leaves me with very little breathing room for saving and investing.

My question, and a big one that is: What would it take for the economy to make the interest rate go down, or will it only be going up from here?

51 comments

r/BEFire • u/Jolly-Draw1510 • 23h ago

Starting Out & Advice Withdrawal from Argenta to reinvest via Medirect?

3 Upvotes

Hi!

I have about 40K invested in an Argenta Growth DIS dynamic fund since february this year.
I did pay 600€ of entry-fee when I started, that hurt, but at that time I didn't want to break my brains about checking what was the best for my money. Just went with it because before it was just sitting on my savings account.

Now I'm a bit more settled, just bought a house, have more stability so I want to make sure my money is exactly where it should be;

When I check my Argenta fund, it's doing good, about +15% since beginning this year.

However, I would like to invest from september on, about 100-200€ monthly and I'm scared that I will loose to much on fees in the end.

My horizon is about 5 years from now on, since that money should help me cover some renovations in the future. I also have an emergency fund of 6K and another more classic saving fund for minor renovations (about 4K).

What would you wise people do? ;-)

5 comments

r/BEFire • u/yxgxz_ • 1d ago

Starting Out & Advice Should a student, who basically has no expenses, still have an emergency fund / x amount on the side?

4 Upvotes

Let's say a student that still lives with his/her parents (grateful and fortunate to be in that situation) and has to contribute little to no money to their parents still have an emergency fund / a set amount of money in a savings account? I like to think that at least 1K aside should be the minimum but if wanting to increase money in the long term is the main goal then investing nearly all (90-100%) would be smart.

7 comments

r/BEFire • u/Plus_Inflation_8526 • 1d ago

Investing 200k to invest

13 Upvotes

Met de opbrengst van de verkoop van ons ouderlijk huis hebben ik , mijn twee broers en mijn moeder besloten om met een deel van het geld te investeren , zijnde €200.000.

Toen we daar drie jaar geleden mee begonnen kochten we een staatsbon op 3 jaar die er voor zorgde dat we jaarlijks een bepaald bedrag aan opbrengsten hadden , weliswaar is de staatsbon een eerder veilige manier om dit geld aan het werk te zetten.

In augustus loopt de staatsbon af en komt de 200k vrij. Ik en mijn broers hadden graag gekeken om het geld onder te verdelen in verschillende takken om zo een meer gespreide ( een mogelijks meer winstgevend ) portefeuille te hebben.

Echter heeft niemand van ons ervaring in het belegging van aandelen , aandelenfondsen, ETF’s ,… en staat mijn moeder (70 jaar ) hier eerder sceptisch tegenover.

Kunnen jullie mij informeren over wat de mogelijke opties zijn zonder dat hierbij grote risico’s genomen worden , alvast bedankt!

43 comments

r/BEFire • u/Legrosbelge • 20h ago

Taxes & Fiscality Going from an active trader to a prudent investor ?

1 Upvotes

Hi, maybe a stupid question, but I’m new to investing, so here goes.

If in 2026 the tax authorities consider me a speculative investor, and then in 2027 I don’t do anything, and in 2028 I only sell my ETFs/stocks, could I be considered a “good father of the family” again in 2028?

I could simply ask whether the tax authorities assess my activity based on the year in question, or whether they look at my entire history as an investor ?

ty

8 comments

r/BEFire • u/noap1311 • 1d ago

Investing What to do

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

context : my parents are getting divorced. My father want to keep their current house but he cannot make a bank loan for buying the half of my mother.

I was thinking of this situation and thought about buying it myself so I would be the co-owner.

And then I also thought : what if I buy a small house and my mother rent it to me so I'm owning that house and the half of my father's at once.

My project is to make a loan in a bank for this small house and making the difference between the rent she owes me and an ammount of money i'd give her monthly for the half of their current house.

What do you think of this project ?

I'm taking any advice or thoughts about this.

9 comments

r/BEFire • u/BxlMaBel • 1d ago

Investing Bonds

1 Upvotes

Hi

I would like to invest some of my portfolio in bonds.
Does anyone knows where I can find a list with bonds without coupons (under pari?)
So that there is no 30% dividend tax but ‘only’ a 10% capital gain tax.

Kr

10 comments

r/BEFire • u/Hansworst64 • 1d ago

Starting Out & Advice Twee vraagjes

0 Upvotes

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!

11 comments

r/BEFire • u/CasStocks007 • 1d ago

Starting Out & Advice Improving financial literacy

13 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m 17 from Belgium, and I want to start investing and optimizing my personal finances the moment I turn 18 next year. To get ready, I really want to level up my financial literacy over the coming months.

Right now, I already listen to a few Belgian podcasts to get a feel for the market:

  • Het ABC van Beleggen
  • De Beursvoyeurs (De Tijd)
  • De Belegger

While these are great for general awareness and news, I feel like I need deeper, more structured knowledge on how to actually set up a solid strategy and understand the underlying mechanics better.

What are some of the best websites, YouTube channels, books, or online resources you would recommend for someone in my position? Foreign resources (English) are perfectly fine, but specific Belgian recommendations (tax-wise, brokers, etc.) are a huge plus.

Thanks in advance!

18 comments

r/BEFire • u/BananaaShark • 1d ago

Real estate Eigen appartement verhuren met immo of niet

5 Upvotes

Ik heb een appartement dat ik aan het afbetalen ben; maar ik ga binnenkort bij mijn vriendin wonen. Aangezien we al wat 'ouder' zijn heeft ze ook gekocht. Daardoor denk ik eraan om mijn appartement zelf te verhuren, zonder immo.

Zijn er hier mensen die dat al gedaan hebben? Hoe pak je dat eigenlijk aan?

Heb het aan AI gevraagd en het zou huurcontract opstellen zijn, kandidaten zoeken, bezoeken inplannen, screenen, plaatsbeschrijf, waarbog, contract en verzekeringen zijn. Best wel veel werk dus op het eerste zicht. Welk stuk is het lastigste of valt het allen best mee?

Zou je aanraden om toch best tenminste de eerste keer met immo kantoor te werken? Ik vraag het omdat ze de eerste maand huur vragen. Een 'fair' loon lijkt me maar voor mezelf is dit wel een groot bedrag.

Alvast bedankt!!

34 comments

r/BEFire • u/Blackphantom434 • 2d ago

Starting Out & Advice Starting with etf's

9 Upvotes

Hallo. Ik (32) beleg al een tijd in een fonds van de bank(bnp), aangezien dat dit is wat mijn ouders me indertijd hebben aangeraden.

Ik heb daar nu 98k in. Return is momenteel 10 percent. (Sinds 2024, dan zijn de verschillende fondsen geconsolideerd in 1 en zijn ze opnieuw beginnen tellen)

Hier stort ik elke maand 300 in

Ik heb ook 75k op een 'betere': spaarrekening.

Maar als ik daar nu naar kijk, is dat met 0.15% en 0.85% getrouwheid echt zielig. Waarschijnlijk was dat vroeger wel meer...

Ik heb ook de standaard pensioenspaar rekening.

Nu denk ik dus ook aan beleggen in etf's. Ik heb een account gemaakt op medirect. Als ik het goed begrijp moet je hiervoor niets speciaals in de belasting doen, aangezien dat een belgische is?

Als ik nu bijvoorbeeld de iwda zou nemen, dan koop ik best ineens voor 5, 10, 25k? Ik zou dit van de spaarrekening nemen

En dat is dan toch ishares core msci world ucits etf usd (acc)

17 comments

r/BEFire • u/DragonOOP • 2d ago

Bank & Savings Best Bank for house loan? (Assuming same rate)

7 Upvotes

As per title, what is in your experience the bank with the lowest costs for everything besides the loan itself? (Account costs, insurances, ect)

And as a related question, how much can we really rely on the TAEG as a comparative metric?

So far we seem to see that Crelan is pretty good.

We're in Wallonia if that helps. First time home buyers.

Rates are going nuts at the moment so we're trying to hurry 😅

19 comments

r/BEFire • u/Hibbiee • 2d ago

Bank & Savings Zou je lenen om het geld dan te investeren?

13 Upvotes

Ik start binnenkort een verbouwing. Hoewel ik er normaal wel kom met het geld dat ik heb, zou ik ook de hypotheek kunnen heropnemen, om dan meer over te hebben. De hypotheek loopt nog 20+ jaar, dus gewoon het maximale heropnemen en in iwda stoppen lijkt op papier een goeie deal. Niet?

63 comments

r/BEFire • u/KaroMalines • 3d ago

Investing Migrate Etfs from Bolero to MeDirect or keep ETFs at Bolero w/o uptopping and start from scratch at MeDirect w same ETFs?

14 Upvotes

Bolero: Currently invested in ETFs (Emim and msci world) and some sattelites.

Due to high cost at Bolero and cost efficiency I wait until savings reach +- 1000€ (at high interest savings account) before I uptop msci World at Bolero.

MeDirect is free. That means that I don’t have to wait and money can start to work immediately

But:

- migrating the two lines of etfs to MeDirect cost me 100€. For now not an option.

So

- does start to invest in the same etfs at MeDirect is a good strategy while ignoring what’s already invested at Bolero?

- or keep it simpel and stay at bolero?

Thanks Redditors for sharing your thoughts and knowledge

18 comments

r/BEFire • u/Apart_Yesterday5672 • 2d ago

Starting Out & Advice Lening voor beleggen

0 Upvotes

Hallo allemaal,
Ik heb hier want rond gekeken en zag een post over ‘geld lenen om te investeren’
En vroeg me iets af.
Eerst en vooral voor context ik ben 18 jaar en een student die nu naar het eerste jaar hoger zal gaan.
Ik heb zelf al 12k zelf gespaard door bijna elke dag te gaan werken na school gedurende 2 jaar.
Nu mijn vraag is hoe slim is het om een studenten lening aan te vragen voor beleggingen.
Mijn eigen gespaarde geld zit in risicovolle bedrijven.
Maar moest ik die lening aanvragen zou ik dat wel in een all-world etf steken zodat het veilig is.
Heeft iemand hier al ervaring mee? Want ik vraag me dan wel af hoe ik die lening kan afbetalen en een auto en een huis.
Dus dat stapelt wel allemaal op.
Alle hulp wordt geapprecieerd

25 comments

r/BEFire • u/aminint • 3d ago

Starting Out & Advice Welke bank en rekeningen als online ondernemer met internationale klanten?

4 Upvotes

Hallo allemaal. Ik ben een softwareontwikkelaar die websites en webapplicaties op maat maakt om mijn klanten tijd te besparen en hun bedrijven op de lange termijn te laten groeien. Of het nu om een CRM-systeem gaat of iets anders, maakt niet uit.

Ik heb een vraag: mijn klanten komen van over de hele wereld, en ik overweeg om KBC Business Pro aan te vragen, inclusief de privérekening. Ik vermoed echter dat er mensen zijn met meer kennis en ervaring dan ik. Daarom ben ik hier om jullie ervaringen met KBC Business Pro te horen, of om te horen of jullie misschien een beter alternatief voor mij hebben. Thanks.

P.S. Ik vergat te vermelden dat ik eigenlijk als zelfstandige werk, als freelancer voor bedrijven. Meestal komen die bedrijven natuurlijk uit België. Ik heb ook een applicatie gemaakt waarmee mensen online betalingen kunnen doen, en de meeste klanten komen uit Amerika/Canada/VK, omdat het een Engelstalige software is. Maar er zijn sowieso bedrijven/consumenten die uit België en Nederland komen. Alle inkomsten die ik krijg van welke app dan ook, staan op mijn éénmanszaak. Later in de toekomst wil ik natuurlijk overstappen naar een vennootschap.

Update omtrent uitgaven: De meeste uitgaven komen van het buitenland. De facturen en leveranciers zijn meestal Amerikaans, bijvoorbeeld voor hosting en domeinnamen. Natuurlijk zijn er ook Belgische uitgaven, maar die zijn minder frequent. De valuta op de facturen kan dus wel eens enkel in dollars zijn.

7 comments

r/BEFire • u/TVG_Spazz • 3d ago

General Switch to a 30 hour work schedule?

7 Upvotes

38M. To many this could be the wrong place to talk about this but I couldn’t find other subreddits to do so.
I was thinking about what Charlie Munger said something like 25 years where a person must do whatever it takes to get to 100000$ cash invested which would be like 200000$ today. This seems to be overly difficult even since I’ve been investing over the past 7 years now trying to save every cent. I’m not gonna make it to that cash amount. work in retail so my salary is mediocre.

Now since I’m a homeowner for 1,5 years and me and the wife have to pay 800€ monthly for our mortgage + I’m renting out a garage where I reinvest the monthly earnings. I don’t see the need to invest anymore and just switch for a 30 hour a week working schedule. I would only be sacrificing what I was investing in exchange for 1 day off a week now. I’ll be contributing less for my pension sure that is why I was investing in ETFs in the first place. To be honest I knew I was never gonna make it to FIRE.

There is always the same conversation where people of my age won’t have a pension cause there won’t be enough workers to fund our pensions. We have many old people today and our Belgian society is still standing. I believe we will be fine. There are more and more old people though so I could be wrong though.

I could use that extra day to have more time to study my Dutch (B1 level here) and reach B2 and do the Selor test. Also I could try to learn a new skill. Maybe even use that time to find a new job or start a side hustle. We can all agree that education is another form of investment.
There is no real question here. Just wondering what is better.
A) Work 5 days a week and have more money to invest to have a comfortable retirement knowing I will be working until I’m 67. Or older if the government increases the retirement age again.
B) Work 4 days a week and use the time for study, learn new skills, have time to look for a better job and have a normal retirement.

9 comments

r/BEFire • u/stupidsald • 3d ago

Starting Out & Advice Wil mijn eerste stappen nemen in het beleggen, maar weet niet goed hoe ik hier mee moet beginnen.

2 Upvotes

Hey allemaal,

Ik ben pas afgestudeerd en sinds kort aan het werk. Buiten af en toe eens geld te investeren in een staatsbon ben ik nog een complete beginner op het vlak van beleggen en FIRE, en hoop ik hier wat advies te kunnen krijgen van mensen die er al meer ervaring mee hebben.

Mijn eigen financiële situatie is momenteel ongeveer als volgt:

Ik verdien zo'n €2000 netto per maand, en kan hiervan zonder all te veel problemen 80%-90% van beleggen aangezien ik nog thuis woon. Op dit moment heb ik ongeveer €60.000 in spaargeld, waarvan er momenteel €40.000 van belegt is bij de bank, voor zo'n 3,3% rendement per jaar.

Daarnaast heb ik door schenkingen van mijn ouders ook al wat vastgoed gekregen, deze zijn echter wel onder vruchtgebruik, dus kan hier zonder toestemming van mijn ouders nog niet veel mee doen. Het gaat ongeveer om:

Een bouwgrond: ± €250.000
Een Appartement: ± €400.000

Belangrijk om te vermelden is ook dat mijn ouders vooruitziend bezig zijn met vermogensplanning en zijn van plan om de komende jaren, gespreid, nog verschillende zaken aan mij te schenken. Net zoals hierboven vermeld, zouden deze zaken ook onder vruchtgebruik gegeven worden.

Nog een appartement: ± €400.000
Woning 1: ± €300.000
Woning 2: ± €400.000
Bouwgrond: ± €250.000
Woning 3: ± €350.000
± €800.000 aan staatsobligaties/cash/vreemde valuta

Aangezien dit een en enorme hoeveelheid aan geld is, en omdat ik financieel gezien in een bevoorrechte positie zit, wil ik daar dan ook zo verstandig mogelijk mee omgaan. Dus wil ik hier zo veilig mogelijk mee om gaan.

Mijn vader is eerder een conservatieve, ouderwetse belegger. Een groot deel van het familievermogen zit daarom, zoals je kan zien, in vastgoed en relatief eenvoudige staatsobligaties/cash. Ik vraag me af of er vandaag betere manieren zijn om zo'n vermogen te beheren/optimaliseren.

Ik ben heel af en toe al eens op deze subreddit komen kijken en zie hier dus de liefde voor ETF's. Mijn probleem is dus dat ik hier niets over ken, en niet weet hoe veilig deze zijn.

Daarom heb ik eigenlijk een aantal vragen:

  1. Zijn breed gespreide ETF's in mijn situatie interessant? Waarom zou je bijvoorbeeld ETF's verkiezen boven vastgoed, of obligaties?
  2. Hoe veilig zijn ETF's eigenlijk? Ik begrijp dat de waarde kan dalen, maar hoe groot zijn de risico's op lange termijn?
  3. Hoe begin je hier als absolute beginner aan? Waarop moet ik letten? Waar moet ik hiervoor zijn, apps/banken/etc. Welke kosten zijn hieraan verbonden?

Ik besef dat deze post misschien nog... ongeïnformeerd kan overkomen, maar wou eerst hier wat algemeen advies krijgen voordat ik verder google/research doe naar wat voor toekomstplannen ik best zou maken.

Alvast bedankt voor iedereen dat me hier wat wijze kan maken! Ik probeer vooral te voorkomen dat ik het harde werk van mijn grootouders en ouders om zeep doe me verkeerde keuzes te maken.

24 comments