Is it possible to do pensioensparen with fiscal benefits combined with investing in an ETF (like IWDA)? If yes, how and where can I do this?

Hello everyone

I have €50k in my bank. Right now I’m living on rent. I’m married and have one kid. My wife is not working. I can save around €1200 each month after every expense

Age: 29
Current rent: 620
Career: software engineer

I’m thinking to buying a small house of €200k.

What is best is to invest in stocks. ETF or buying a house ?

My father’s health has recently declined. My parents didn’t do a good job with succession and I’m an only child in med school (I’m not going to have a stable income in the next 5 years at least but my father might not see me graduate med school …)

It might sound egoistic to think about inheritance taxes when he’s still alive but I’m scared for him and want to prepare as much administrative things as I can before he’s gone so that it could relieve some pressure of my shoulder when the time comes. I have to sell one or two houses if something were to happen to him just for me to not drown in debt.

I have more than enough saved up in order to invest and have a good start in life but I do stress a lot about inheritance taxes. I’d have to save up every penny for the next 5 years and ask for my mother to cover up some things for me but she doesn’t have a job and I don’t want to take too much from her life long savings.

Either way I’m never going to lack money and I’m really grateful to have parents that support me financially through med school, I’m just really anxious about my future in general and med school doesn’t allow me a lot of free time to think about it and prepare things.

Thanks in advance :))

I read on different topics about it but I'm still unsure.

What would you recommend and why?

Edit: below is just "brainstorming", some ideas might be less good but that's ok. The goal of this topic is to think different together, to think outside the box. How would you do it? What do you like? What would you do differently?

Update: I updated my idea about buying real estate (like your first home): it should be 0 pct taxed. While selling would be 10 pct on profit (same treatment as stocks/ETFs).

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I wonder how you would change the (tax) system if you had a magic wand. It's just a thought experiment. No taxes is not an answer as taxes are needed for certain core things (eg. infrastructure).

If I could change things I would simplify everything with 10% flat tax as the rule among some other things:

INCOME and PROFIT:
- 10% income tax always (starting from 0, so no "vrijstelling" and no "schijven" up to 50%)
- 10% company profit tax (instead of 25%, no more vvprbis with 3 year waiting period, no more liquidatiereserve, ...) = less complexity
- no more "subsidies" to compensate high taxes: 10% tax should help every company (and person) with more breathing room

CONSUMPTION and BTW:
- 10% for everything, simple
- (no more "accijnzen" etc)

STOCKS/ETFs:
- 10% tax on dividends (instead of 30%), so same as "meerwaardetaks" (no more 833 "vrijstelling", just 10% flat)
- no more TOB
- no more "reynders tax" on bonds
- no more "1M effectenrekening tax"

REAL ESTATE: (updated)
- when buying: no tax for buyer
- when selling: 10 pct flat tax for everything and no 25 pct vrijstelling + 5% per year after 5 years none: just do 10% always (same as stocks now)
- 10% on your rental income, no complex KI calculations etc (no rent? No tax!)
- no more "onroerende voorheffing" tax on property you own (eg. Your own home)

INHERITANCE:
- you guessed it: 10% (for everyone: family, friends, ...) - no tax is better but might be difficult
- if you are married/samenwonend: no tax for your partner on your house when you die (is already the case)
- gifting something before you die: no tax

PENSIONS & SOCIAL SECURITY:
- make it flexible: if you wish to build state pension: higher amount of contributions and if you only choose healthcare protection: lower amount ( then you choose to build your own pension, eg via ETFs nest egg ). So let people choose the protection they want from the government instead of forcing it (eg. "Minimum rsz" which is high for a small freelancer)
- no more "pension categories": everybody gets the same when they "subscribed" for the (paid) pension-tier of social security.
- welfare benefits only for people who live here long enough while having contributed (!) (everyone is welcome IF they contribute with skills(jobs)/investments in our country) > no more parasites

EDUCATION AND JOBS:
- children should learn the basics of financial skills in school and also how economy works in the real world
- children/people should learn building their own pension and to keep developing skills during life
- more respect for trade skills like elektrician, plumber, woodworking, ... and care jobs as these will not be replaced by AI and are needed more
- less syndicats: striking inside a company that treat employees badly can be understandable, but blocking the whole country is to much power
- syndicats should have open books and be voted for as well: also 1 just organisation who protects employees instead of multple is fine

POLITICS:
- no more left/right thinking, instead problem-solution thinking.
- not everyone should be able to vote, people should have a few brain cells to make an informed decision. Like a "driving licence" you should have a "voting license". People who don't contribute should not be able to vote.
- let people vote for decisions (referendums like in Switzerland).
- let people vote where they want to give part of their tax money to (this can be done online with itsme login). I said "part of" because some core things should always get a chunk of the tax money (eg. Infrastructure, defense, paying back the build up country debt, ...). Voting what happens with your tax money will increase the trust in the government spending.
- government should focus on essential tasks, the private sector should take over the rest
- let people vote for expert teams who solve real problems instead of popular idiots (eg. Vote for Scientists for climate/health issues, for economists to solve debt problems), so no more populistic politicians who just want votes but don't understand the economy or real world
- by applying the 10% flat tax simplification : less fiscal government jobs are needed (less complex fiscal rules that need to be checked/controlled) and this means lower government spending/debt
- one country: no more flanders/wallonia/brussels parties. Vote for 2 things: the country-level (federal, main task should be protecting us against military attacks, pandemics, natural disasters, ... and manage the taxes on a central level) and your local mayor/town (local decisions for which you should be able to vote). This also lowers country debt.

Thoughts? What would your plan be if everything was possible (but taxes are still needed ;))

Hey everyone, I am using Re=Bel and wanting to switch from a multiple etf strategy to a single etf for simplicity and ease of mind. I did a bit of research for Re=Bel and most popular ETF.

VWCE : not ideal because of 1.32% TOB

WEBN : not ideal because only available on XETRA (on Re=Bel) which imply higher fees

ACWE : good 0.12% TOB and on Euronext Paris (lower fees). Good if you want to include worldwide companies without small caps (2000-3000 companies).

IMIE : good 0.12% TOB and on Euronext Masterdam (lower fees). Good if you want the broadest possible with small caps (9000 companies)

Let me know if you have other ones you like ;))

Hi everyone,

I have a Keytrade Visa Gold and I'm going in South America for 3 weeks. The card includes travel assistance, medical assistance and repatriation.

Has anyone here actually used the Keytrade travel insurance while abroad? I'm wondering whether it's reliable enough to rely on for a trip like this, or whether I should get separate travel insurance.

I'd especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has had to make a medical claim or needed assistance abroad. Was the process straightforward, and did Keytrade/AXA take care of things without too much hassle?

Thanks!

Yesterday's diversification thread got me curious so I ended up doing the boring version of it, basically checking what each asset class actually keeps after Belgian taxes.

The textbook allocation is stocks + bonds + some gold, maybe crypto. Bond ETFs were the first casualty. 30% Reynders on the gains, so with yields around 3% you keep about 2, before TER. The new staatsbon nets 1.93% for doing nothing.
Not sure why I'd take bond fund volatility for that difference. Then I wanted to count gold as the tax free part and turns out investment gold falls under the new 10% CGT now.
Crypto too, the goede huisvader days are over. I also ran the Mintos vs Maclear, P2P lending platforms through the same filter, since the advertised double digit yields look tempting next to all of the above.

Problem, that's interest income, so the full 30% RV, none of the 10k exemption that capital gains get, and since the platforms sit abroad nothing gets withheld for you, you declare it yourself. A 12% headline becomes 8.4% before a single default.
Between 10% on gains and 30% on interest, lending income might be the worst treated return on the whole list now.
The accumulating world ETF just sits there winning by default. 0.12% TOB (if you don't pick the wrong fund, see the Vanguard All-Cap thread from this week), no RV on dividends, 10% only above 10k realized gains per year. And apparently losses only offset gains within the same year, no carryforward, which makes volatile diversifiers even worse. Didn't know that before.

So after a whole evening of spreadsheeting I'm back at world ETF + house + cash, exactly where I started. People here who hold bonds, gold, BTC or any of the lending stuff next to the ETF, what's the actual aftertax argument?

I was tired of salary calculators that only show net salary, so I built a free tool that looks at the full value of a job offer: myofferbelgium.com

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• Salary benchmarks by job, region & experience
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I’d really appreciate your feedback:

1. Does the net salary match your payslip (within ~3%)?
2. Is any important benefit missing?
3. Does the salary benchmark look realistic?

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Thanks! 🙏

Hi everyone,

My current portfolio consists entirely of IMIE/SPYI. I’m considering adding one or more value-focused ETFs to introduce a value tilt.

Part of my motivation is to reduce my exposure to, and somewhat hedge against, the risks associated with the current concentration in the "Big 10" stocks.

Do you think this would be worthwhile, or would it unnecessarily complicate a portfolio that is already broadly diversified? Would you personally add a value ETF or simply stick with IMIE and accept the market-weighted exposure?

If you don’t think a value ETF is the best solution, what other alternatives would you suggest for reducing concentration risk while keeping the portfolio diversified?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Im thinking of switching to this ETF for future purchases due to the low ter of 0.07%.

However, ive heard that Amundi has liquidated some ETFs in the past, creating a taxable event. Online I do find that these were rather niche ETFs and not All country worldwide ETFs.

What do you guys think?

Ik merk dat veel Trusts niet te kopen zijn via Saxo, zelfs bv Scottish Mortgage & Trust (als één van de bekendste). Dat is wel zeer vervelend, want de meeste (belgische) brokers rekenen stevig door voor de Londense beurs.

Dus wat vinden jullie een goede alternatieve broker om trusts te kopen. Wel een belgische broker ivm administratie (TOB & meerwaardebelasting). Ik heb het over transacties van een 2000€.

Hi!

So I am currently investing between €500 and €800/month in VWCE on Trade Republic, now I want to change to an ETF like WEBN because of the TOB of 0.12%. I want to stay at Trade Republic if possible because I really like the fractional shares you can buy and also the 'free' repeated payments and link to my bank account are amazing.

Is there an all-world ETF on Trade Republic with 0.12% TOB? I can't seem to find WEBN on Trade Republic?

Thanks!

Is it worth if after all the deductions? I once tried, bought 1 stock at 20.38. After fees it became 23. Sold the stock at 22.5 after fees it became 25. Lost like ≈5% because of fees alone. This was also pure testing, just to see. So is it worth it? Also can anyone tell me all the fees (%) when buying and selling stocks on saxo?

Hallo,

Wij hebben een huis gekocht en gaan hiervoor 228 500 euro lenen (quotiteit 69%) op 15 jaar tijd. Beste aanbod uit 5 banken: 3,44% vast, 3,02% variabel 5/5/5, 2,92% variabel 3/3/3. We neigen zelf eerder naar vast om op safe te spelen, maar na een gesprek bij de immotheker twijfelen we weer. Zij raadde ons variabel aan en zei dat 90% van haar cliënteel dat ook doet (al dan niet met accordeon). Adviezen?

I have been investing in ETFS for quite a while but I now received a significant amount of money (essentially double of what I have invested now).

Are there any studies on what timespan is historically the safest/best to DCA over?

I dont need any advice in the lines of 'you could invest it all at once but the ai bubble will pop soon so might not be that good right now blabla'

kind regards

Goedemiddag

Ik vind nergens info terug over de registratie van de Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap Acc in België , en dus hoeveel de TOB bedraagt voor deze nieuwe ETF.

Kan iemand me zeggen hoeveel de TOB op deze ETF bedraagt?

Met vriendelijke groeten

Hi,
I will soon have a nice lump sum to start my investing journey.
I’m 37, homeowner (with a cheap loan), and I have a 25 years investment horizon.

I’m trying to decide my allocation.
Generally speaking, does a world ETF requires diversification on other assets classes, such as bonds, gold, cryptos,…?

I will focus on a MSCI World ACWI ESG etf (XMAW).

Op de 'loonfiche' van de fietsvergoeding stond dat de rsz automatisch werd afgetrokken bij werkplaats A, maar bij werkplaats B stond dat er niet en kreeg ik de volledige som. Nu vraag ik me af waarom wel bij werkplaats A en niet bij B.

Don't fall for it

Ik probeer te begrijpen hoe het voor een alleenstaande in België realistisch is om een woning van ongeveer €500.000 te kopen.

Ik heb zelf wat berekeningen gemaakt. Stel bijvoorbeeld dat je:

• een woning van €500.000 wilt kopen;
• al ongeveer €100.000 eigen middelen hebt, waarmee je ook de aankoopkosten, notariskosten, enz. moet betalen;
• dus ongeveer €350.000–€400.000 moet lenen;
• een hypotheekrente van ongeveer 3–4% hebt;
• en je de lening over bijvoorbeeld 25–30 jaar spreidt.

Dan kom ik uit op een maandelijkse afbetaling van grofweg €1.500–€2.100, afhankelijk van het geleende bedrag, de rente en looptijd.

Als ik dan rekening houd met de gebruikelijke richtlijn dat je hypotheek ongeveer maximaal een derde van je netto inkomen zou mogen bedragen, lijkt het erop dat je als alleenstaande al snel ongeveer €5.000 netto per maand moet verdienen om een woning van €500.000 enigszins realistisch te kunnen financieren.

Maar als ik naar de Belgische lonen kijk, lijkt €5.000 netto als alleenstaande toch behoorlijk hoog.

but not gonna lie, getting scared by everything I’m seeing on social media. Every other post is a doomsday take on capitalism collapsing, “the bubble” is about to pop. What I want to know is: is this collapse of capitalism a signal or is it doom content? Are ETFs safe? Is FIRE still a good plan?
Please help me get some clarity, appreciate different perspectives/sources. Thank you

I currently have €200k in savings and another €100k invested in ETFs.

The €200k is money I will need in around 4–6 years, as I plan to use it to buy a large house for my retirement.

I’ve been exploring different options for this money, but I’m struggling to find the right balance between return, stability, and risk.

So far, I’ve considered:

• Stock market / ETFs: I don’t feel that investing money I will need in only 3–5 years is stable enough. There is potentially more upside than downside over that period, but I still think the risk is relatively high.
• BNP Callable 4.75%: This seems like an interesting option, especially given the relatively attractive yield.
• Money market funds: These currently seem to offer around 2.5% gross, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve been looking at the OLO 3-month rate as a reference.
• Real-estate / private projects: Platforms such as Bricks, Lita, or Econova offer projects with returns around 8% gross. However, I would be concerned about the risk of defaults or bankruptcies. My feeling is that perhaps 20% of projects could potentially fail, so ovevrall return is quite low
• Other options: I’m also open to solutions I haven’t considered yet.

I’m therefore looking for ideas on how you would invest this €200k given that I will need the money in 4–6 years.

What options would you consider?

thanks

*** UPDATE ***
There is also the possibility to invest in a low volatility etf. For exemple the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV). On average it delivered 10,72 % CAGR (so about 60% for 5 years), and if you have a bad luck, and you were to invest all those 200k at the highest point in 2008, then wait 5 years, you would still have a positive return of about 17.5% (which is above what is currently risk free)(worst case scenario for the last 20 years)

Hi all!

I just relocated from Belgium to Singapore and I’m in the process of getting my investments in order. I currently just have VWCE and IWDA in my DEGIRO portfolio. I’m planning to move them to IBKR Singapore (no capital gains taxes) and then start investing in VALL. Does anyone have any experience on this and the lowest possible conversion fees?

Thank you!

Many of you, like me, were very excited about the new Vanguard world ETF as it was pretty much ideal: World ETF with over 10k holdings, including emerging and small caps. Basically an ideal ETF to full-port into instead of what we are currently doing.

It launched 3 days ago, and... It's already on the FSMA list? I guess this is not surprising to some, idk I'm not an expert at what ends up there or not.

https://www.fsma.be/fr/party/vanguard-funds

This should mean that you have to pay 1.32% TOR on buys/sells of this fund, which means that the currently best fund for Europeans will be inaccessible to Belgians from day one?