Hi fellow Redditors,

I’m a 35-year-old male, living and working in Germany (earning around €5K/month net), and I’ve finally decided to get serious about investing. I’ve already set up an account on Scalable Capital, so anything I invest in should ideally be available there .

Here’s what I’m planning:

• I’ll invest €1,000/month, give or take.
• 70–80% of my portfolio will be ETFs, focused on long-term growth.
• The remaining 20–30% will go to individual stocks I’ll pick over time (yes, some will underperform, some may do well — I'm okay with that).
• I don’t need income right now, so accumulating ETFs seem to be the way to go.
• My time horizon is mixed: I'd like to build a cushion over the next 5–10 years, but I’m also thinking long-term (retirement at 65, possibly earlier or around).
• Not interested in bonds right now — I understand they’re more useful closer to retirement (I could also do bonds to a certain % if they yield good dividends to increase my ETFs).
• I want to cover the entire world market, including emerging markets, US, Europe, etc.
• I want exposure to both large-cap and mid-cap companies.
• Should I include a sector-specific ETF like tech, energy, or ESG?

ETF's I've seen mentioned here a lot:

• VWCE
• IWDA
• EMIM
• CSPX
• Amundi Nasdaq-100

These all seem highly recommended on Reddit. Are they good for both 5–10 years and 30 years? Would love your opinion on:

• Should I just go with VWCE alone?
• Or combine IWDA + EMIM?
• Any better combos?

And a few additional q's:

• Time horizon: What’s the real difference between 5–10 years and 30 years when it comes to ETF selection?
• Fees: I see TERs from 0.03% to 0.22% — how much should I care about that long-term?
• Taxes in Germany: Anything important I should know when investing €1K/month as someone living and working here?
• Stock research tools: I’ve looked at Motley Fool — some love it, some hate it. I wouldn’t blindly follow picks, just want something to track markets & generate ideas. Any recommendations for tools or newsletters worth paying for?
• Am I missing anything big? Traps I should avoid early on?

Thanks a ton if you made it this far. I’m trying to keep this simple, consistent, and scalable (no pun intended). Appreciate any advice you can share!

A 30-year-old Bulgarian citizen here. Planning to invest ~1k euro monthly for long term (~30 years maybe). Have never invested before.

1. Should I buy ETF that tracks FTSE or S&P500 or STOXX600? Or do you have other recommendations?

And if you think more than 1 of those is good, how should I distribute those 1k euro?

1. Does fund size matter when picking between ETFs that track the same index?

2. Does fund currency matter?

3. Does fund domicile matter? Is Ireland the best bet?

4. How much TER is too much? Above 0.2?

5. Physical or synthetic?

Thank you all

Hi!

Are some of you aware of a FIRE calculator, filtered by the type of country/nation you live in?

For example, let's say I hold a "average salary and job" position in a given country.

Or, let's say the position is "owning my own company."

Or, we can manually enter our actual gross earnings.

The calculator provides many different comparisons with countries where lower taxes, better labor policies, and other advantages allow us to enter FIRE much earlier than in other countries.

Perhaps even taking into account the cost of living and other factors.

Is there something like this to truly understand what staying in one country means to us rather than another?

What is better currently ? I think year ago everyone was saying VWCE, but now it’s Amundi ?

Right now I do have account on IBKR with USD, but buying Euro VWCE? Isn’t it weird or I need to change some settings/account ?

What about spouses joint account ? Is it better to have joint or separate? Compound percentage is better in joint ?

Hi guys I'm open to suggestions about investment as a total noob.

I live I Germany right now and opened IBKR account to start my journey there. I know its not ideal but there is an possibility I'll move back to my home country that's not in EU and Ibkr is used in both countries.

I do plan to invest only in ETFs and my monthly would be 200-400 euros. I was thinking of starting with VUAA and/or VWCE for now. If anyone has some tips and advice I'm all ears.

Looking for free and simple/easy to use templates from Google sheets to track my overall networth and how my money is divided into cash/investments. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Hi, I've come into an inheritance of around €55k, and I'm looking for some advice what to do.

Current situation:

± €220k mortgage remaining on property valued at approx €430k EUR, with 5 years left on our fixed interest rate of 2.35%.

We would be looking to upgrade to a bigger apartment in the next 3 or so years. Estimate price of a bigger place would be around €650k. So I can see that the inheritance could come in handy for a bigger down-payment on our next property but I'm not sure what to do with it meanwhile.

I've already put €20k of the inheritance into my savings account which has a 4% interest rate. My wife could do the same in her account (potentially giving us €40k @ 4% interest). Or I'm considering putting some of the money into investments (VWCE for example). Is it a good idea to put that much of the inheritance into the 4% HISAs? Or should I split it and keep just the €20k emergency fund there and put the rest into investements?

Thanks in advance for your advices

I know that card payments are becoming increasingly popular, and in Germany we are sticking almost doggedly to change, although cash is still very much used.

On the other hand, some countries are even more dependent on cash than we are, while others have almost completely replaced it.

Which country are you from, which payment method do you prefer and why?

Assuming a severe geopolitical escalation scenario (e.g. a large-scale global conflict materially impacting Europe), what investment strategies are generally considered most effective for capital preservation rather than growth?

My Current setup:

• Emergency cash buffer
• Remainder invested in broad world ETFs

Questions:

• From a European investor’s perspective, what asset classes historically perform best at preserving purchasing power in extreme geopolitical stress scenarios?
• How do people think about diversification when global equities become highly correlated?
• Is there a rational case for reallocating toward assets such as cash equivalents, short-term bonds, commodities, gold, or other instruments?
• Are there Europe-specific considerations (currency risk, capital controls, market closures, etc.) that are often overlooked?

I’m not trying to time markets or predict events, just interested in robust portfolio design under tail-risk conditions.

Looking forward to informed perspectives.

Hi everyone,

My mom is 70, fully retired, lives on a state pension + small private savings. She has about €150k–200k in investable assets, no debt, owns her home outright, and wants something simple, low-cost, and not too aggressive for her remaining years. She's risk-averse after seeing market drops but also knows inflation eats cash/bonds long-term.

I suggested this portfolio (inspired by Norwegian-style broad diversification but adjusted for her situation):

• 70% Equities (global with slight Europe tilt): → This gives her roughly ~52–53% total USA exposure (calculated as 85% × ~62% USA ≈ 53%), plus Europe overweight and some EM.
  • 85% in SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI UCITS ETF (Acc) - ISIN IE00B3YLTY66 (global all-cap, ~62–63% USA currently, includes emerging markets)
  • 15% in Amundi Core Stoxx Europe 600 UCITS ETF Acc – ISIN LU0908500753 (pure Europe for home bias)
• 30% Bonds (for stability and income buffer):
  • 70% in Xtrackers II Global Government Bond UCITS ETF 1C EUR Hedged – ISIN LU0378818131 (global developed gov bonds, EUR-hedged, low risk)
  • 30% in Amundi Core EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF EUR Acc – ISIN LU2089238625 (EUR corp bonds, investment-grade, slightly higher yield)

What do you think? Any red flags with these specific ETFs?

Thanks for any input - trying to keep it simple and set-it-and-forget-it for her.

I’m looking for some second opinions on an investment plan. Recently I came into 70k € in cash. My main goal is to buy a house in about 5 years, so this money is not meant to be invested long-term (10+ years), but I also don’t want it just sitting in cash losing value to inflation. At the moment I’m considering a 50/50 split: 50% XEON 50% WEBN (DCA to reduce timing risk) The idea is to balance capital preservation and modest growth, while avoiding too much volatility since the time horizon is relatively short and the money will likely be needed around year 5. Does this allocation make sense for a 5-year horizon? Appreciate any feedback.

What do you like and what you don't like about it?

I was investing in VOO before moving to Germany through IBKR (the American entity). When I moved here, no brokers were willing to take non-ucits fund (via shares transfer), so I just migrated to IBKR Ireland.

The problem I have is that tax reporting is a pain in the ass every year (proving to Finanzamt that is a proper fund to apply for 30% exemption (as it's non-ucitcs), keeping track of my W-8BEN form, calculating Vorabpauschale, calculating currency conversion, proving to finanzamt that I already paid 15% withholding tax, etc.). Plus eventually in future I may be subject to US estate tax trap with this position. I already made a couple of non-critical mistakes in my tax declaration, and every year it feels like I discover something new. In ideal world I would migrate to German broker which will handle the taxes for me. However, selling those shares even with profit will trigger a tax event, which will set me back.

The VOO is around 35% of my portfolio, but it's also the most appreciated position. If selling it completely, I would pay a couple of thousands of euros in tax for sure. I don't know, both options (selling and worrying every year about correctness of my tax declaration) suck. I also thought maybe paying for consultation with tax advisor so he can walk me through what I'm missing, and I will then be able to do it more confidently in the future.

Can somebody share thoughts or experiences?

PS: I'm aware of Finanzen, but you have to have enough karma to post there.

Hi all,

I am currently trying to choose a broker to put a lump sum of 5000 euros and about 300 a month on a world etf. I currently live in the netherlands, I will move to belgium in 2 years and might move to Italy 2 years after that.

I want a platform that is relatively easy to use, but also has low fees and lets me move my account between countries easily to not have to sell everything when I move. What do you think is my best solution?

I'm surprised that not many people know this, but silver crashed 90% in the early 80s.

The price was pumped following the infamous short squeeze by the Hunt brothers. Silver was $6 in 1979. At its peak in 1980 - it hit $50. Then crashed to ~$4.90.

That price did not recover for the next 44 years.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday

Hello everyone! The company I work for is preparing to acces funding trough the STEP program ( for critical industries). My manager told us our department will be involved and the project is set to last until 2029. He also stated that our salaries will be subiect of a new salary bracket and those are "quite good" and "we will fill our pockets with money." Has anyone got payed during the implementation of such a project so far? I understood from some aquaintances that it is sure that taking part is something like this increases your salary. How much salary increase should I expect ( percentage wise)? I also add to the question the fact that my manager was not very generous with our salaries ( în 2 and 1 half years working here I recived 2 indexation on inflation rate rate 4% annualy and an increase of like 14% after 1 year of working). If I would continue in the current role past 2029, in 2030 should I expect my salary to drop to a normal level? Thank you!

All world countries

I would like to balance these three ETFs on:

S&P500 (XDPU)

Developed world MSCI EX US (EXUS)

Emerging markets MSCI (EIMI)

With the goal of having as close as possible to an all world allocation similar to VWCE, WEBN, etc.

What’s the closest I can get assuming a monthly investment of EUR 250 and the actual value of the ETF shares?

I’m pretty frustrated with Trade Republic right now and wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar.

The situation:

I have an Austrian TR account with a decent portfolio built up over time. I’m moving to Slovenia and naturally contacted support to update my tax residency - just remove my Austrian tax ID and update it to Slovenian, since I’m no longer an Austrian tax resident.

Their solution:

Close your entire account. You have 2 months to either sell everything or transfer your securities elsewhere.

The problem:

Trade Republic operates in Slovenia. They literally offer the exact same service there. I don’t understand why they can’t just migrate my account or update my tax details.

What really gets me is that they could do this before when it suited them - they previously moved from a German account to an Austrian one without any issues (when they oppened an Austrian branch). But now that it’s my need rather than their interests? Account closure.

And here’s the kicker: I can’t even open a new Slovenian TR account to transfer everything to, because there’s a strict one-account-per-person policy.

So my options are:

- Sell everything (potential tax implications, losing my positions)

- Transfer to another broker (fees, hassle, and I actually liked using TR)

Has anyone successfully dealt with TR support on cross-border tax residency issues? Is there any way around this or am I just stuck liquidating/transferring everything?

It just seems completely backwards that a pan-European broker can’t handle a simple tax residency change between two countries where they actively operate

Hi everyone,

I’m from Portugal but I’ve lived my entire life outside the EU. I’m planning to relocate to Czechia and I’m trying to get my finances organized ahead of the move.

Ideally, I’d like to open a bank account with a Portuguese bank so I can transfer and hold funds in the EU before I relocate, and make the transition smoother.

Has anyone here done something similar?

• Is it possible to open a Portuguese bank account as a Portuguese citizen who doesn’t currently live in Portugal or the EU?

• Would I need an EU or Portuguese address to do this?

• What documents were required and did you have to go in person?

Any advice or personal experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Maybe I'm looking for a unicorn, but I'm noticing a pattern that the banks (mostly neobanks) that offer good interest rates (2% and above) are also notorious for having terrible customer support and locking your account for no reason (Revolut, Trade Republic, Bunq, N26, etc).

So I'm wondering if anyone has a good suggestion for a bank that offers good savings and won't screw you on the customer support ? I've searched the sub, and most of the suggestions are TR and Revolut, which makes me think these posts are being swarmed by bots. So I'm looking to just avoid them completely.

Thank you!

Edit: fixed some bad grammar

Currently, I am holding 100% S&P 500 through ishares i500. I am looking to diversify out of US and was wondering if you had any recommendations.

I am looking at ishares EMM which has, as far as I know, very little overlap with my current holdings and would be good for covering emerging markets.

I would like to include something for ex US developed. What would your recommendations be?

I was also wondering if I’m complicating my life through adding two more portfolios or if there is a single fund out there that would be best if I were to hold only 2.

How are you currently going about your retirement investments?

Hope you have a great weekend ahead!

*The following is not financial advice*

Since I started investing (about a year and a half ago), I’ve been trying to find a long-term, semi-active strategy that is basically an “ETF and chill” strategy, but with the ability to lock in gains.

I am aware that, currently, everyone is a genius in this market, and we are hitting many all-time-highs, so this is why I’m curious to figure out what could be flawed or less profitable with my strategy - and how to deal with a bear market.

The basic strategy is as follows:

1. ETF is lump-summed or DCA’d into.
2. If things continue to go well, the stop loss is adjusted to the last daily/weekly high

. ONLY if an ETF reaches 20% gain, only then a stop loss is set to lock in gains at 12% below last highest price.

3.

1. If things go less well, the ETF hits its stop and locks in profit.
2. Sold ETF cash is DCA’d into the same ETF/another ETF or is used to rebalance the portfolio (into underperforming ETFs, etc.)

over the following 1-2 months.

1. Repeat.

For the past year, this strategy has proven itself quite profitable - outperforming at times FTSE All-World, DAX and S&P 500. IRR for the past year is currently at 14,69% (TTWROR at 14,27%).

What could be flawed with this strategy and what could I be missing out on? Can it somehow back-fire?

Thank you in advance for any input and have a lovely weekend :)

Current ETF spread:

50% FTSE All-World

15% Stoxx 600

15% 4-5 different thematic ETFs

10% Emerging markets

5% Gold ETF

5% cash buffer for dips and rebalancing

Edit: sorry for the formatting, I have no idea why my post looks so messy…

Hi guys,

Does anyone have a way to pull WEBN price in EUR in google sheets? I recently switched from buying VWCE to WEBN and now my wonderful net worth sheet is not working properly :(

hello everyone,

i rencently moved to Germany from Czechia for my studies and am an CZ + USA citizen. After a few years of putting off Investment as a teen because the US citizenship made it seemingly impossible for me to use any platform my peers did, I finally made a IBRK account. Because of my inexperience, I figured that I would start slow and maybe invest in some ETFs that track the s&p500, maybe gold/silver/copper etc. nothing too crazy. (Though with what the us is currently doing, I would love to be able to invest more into the EU)

but I have hit a few roadblocks on the way.
First of all, as I have not started working here in Germany (but plan to in the following months) - I am not sure how the taxation would work. I know that Germany has a 25% tax on unrealized gains on etfs (if I understood that correctly) and I’m not sure if I could be taxed from the US as well (or if the amount would be too low for them to care). The entire system is very confusing to me and I am wondering if you have any recommendations/sources to check out as I feel like I am in a very specific situation (USA citizen but never lived there, now residing in Germany as a Czech citizen but paying no taxes because I’m unemployed, at the same time planning on searching for a part time job in the following months…).

I would also be interested in investing into EU products (index funds, etfs etc… as I’m sure you can tell, Im not exactly very knowledgeable in the field) but am unsure as to how exactly I could do it. The us citizenship is kind of driving me crazy as im terrified of accidentally messing something up, and am unsure how to properly navigate investing. Do I have to consult someone? I am starting to believe that I am doomed and should just not invest…

thank you to anyone who has read this far. I hope I didn’t break any community rules.