My wife and I are based in Germany. I earn roughly €90,000 gross annually and she currently has no income. We may buy an owner-occupied home in Germany in the future, but the exact timing is not yet fixed.

We are considering whether a German Bausparvertrag has a place in our plan. It offers a locked future borrowing rate, but comes with an upfront fee and very low returns during its savings phase. My instinct is that it is not a good wealth-building product compared with a low-cost global ETF, assuming a long enough and flexible horizon.

The difficult part is matching the investment choice to a possible home purchase. A global equity ETF can have strong expected long-term returns but could also be down sharply right when we want to buy. A Bausparvertrag gives more predictability, but seems expensive for that protection.

Would you treat a Bausparvertrag as a small insurance component for a defined future loan amount, rather than as the main house fund? How would you balance equities and safer assets when the buying date is uncertain but potentially within the next several years?

I am especially interested in views from people who have faced a similar decision in Germany or elsewhere in Europe.

Hello, for the last few years I have been running a lazy Boglehead portfolio, consisting of global stock ETFs, Polish state bonds (I am located in Poland), global bond ETFs, and gold (ETCs and physical bullion coins). The total value is around €250k. My target allocation is 60/15/15/10.

Now, I am considering increasing my stock allocation by changing global bonds to Dividend Aristocrats (15% of the portfolio).

As I think about it, I see the following pros:

1. Paid dividends would work as a buffer in case of a stock market crash. I would invest in Dividend Aristocrats, where the risk of a dividend cut is very low.

2. To me, bonds are currently dead money without any real return, potentially even for the next decade.

3. Many people say that my portfolio is too conservative, so this would be a solution to increase my stock market exposure.

Could you please share your thoughts on this idea? Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Looking back, I think it's hard to know where the right balance was when you're actually in your 20s. Putting a big chunk of your salary into investments can feel great when you watch the portfolio grow, but at the same time, there are experiences and opportunities that don't necessarily come back later. I'm interested in hearing from people who are now in their 30s, 40s or beyond. Did the money you saved early on make a noticeable difference to your life and give you more freedom later? Or are there things you skipped back then that you now wish you'd spent the money on?

As a Dutch investor, I am creating a portfolio to hold long term and help me to retired soon. I focus on a diversified mix of defensive dividend stocks (a good part of it), AI and technology growth companies, healthcare, financials, consumer businesses, and energy infrastructure, aiming for long-term growth, resilience, and passive income.

Now I am a bit saturated with all the news and do not see any company that I would like to invest in (open to suggestions).
My plan is to add more of my current positions that pay dividends or buy a ETF.

The question is, which ETF to add to my portfolio and stop chasing the next unicorn, dividend king, or next NVIDIA.

I see VWRL, EUNK, GLDV, FGEQ, VHYL, NOBL, as potential.

ChatGPT says "NOBL > FGEQ > VHYL > VWRL > GLDV > EUNK"

What's your take? and thanks for the time!

I’m curious about this because buying a home seems like it could push your FIRE plans in either direction. Once the mortgage is paid off, your future monthly expenses can be much lower, but getting there means putting a large amount of money into one property and taking on years of mortgage payments, maintenance and other costs. I’ve also wondered whether people found it harder to keep investing while saving for the deposit and dealing with the costs of buying. For those who bought a home while pursuing FIRE, did it ultimately make you feel more secure financially, or did it slow your FIRE progress more than you expected?

Many thanks to u/That_Caramel7408 for launching a well-spaced poll about the - planned or actual - consumption level of r/EuropeFIRE users a couple of days ago.

This is highly relevant as vastly different spending levels among users tend to lead to tension in some comment threads. Thus, it is interesting to see how the community aligns to the broader population in Europe concerning spending. Especially as it tends extremely towards the top of the wealth distribution. I have only deep familiarity with German numbers, which may not be on the level of Switzerland or Norway, but still on the higher side in Europe. Nonetheless, cutting it up just with the German income percentiles (source 1 below) and savings rates per income percentile (source 2 below) to get the percentile number of consumption among working singles of the 50k€ cut-off from our poll you get to the Top 8% percentile threshold in Germany. On the lower end to get below the 20k€ leads to the bottom 19% in Germany's numbers. I am not aware of such data being available for all of Europe, including the likes of UK, Switzerland and Serbia. Estimating it precisely is probably a hopelessly complex task. So just roughly estimating that the German curve has a 10% stretch-factor to the top compared to the full European one would lead to the following representation of main contributors (the more strictly validated poll group) at this sub:

• 0-19k€: Slightly underrepresented compared to the full working population
• 20-49k€: Underrepresented by around 10pp or roughly one seventh of it's strength
• 50k€: 3x overrepresented

Among all poll users the shift towards the top is even more pronounced, but still:
The majority of users is within the regular spending band, not within the luxury/(sub)-Chubby band! And the true LeanFIRE group is a clear minority, but alive and thriving.

Please keep that in mind for future discussions, where every spending level is equally welcome to contribute.

# Sources #

(1) Income percentiles in Germany, sliceable into different subgroups: https://www.iwkoeln.de/fileadmin/user_upload/HTML/2025/Einkommensrechner/index.html

(2) Savings rates by income percentile in Germany: https://www.boeckler.de/de/boeckler-impuls-wieviel-die-reichen-sparen-9353.htm

Vanguard recently launched VGLA, an All-World ETF with a 0.07% TER that also includes small caps. For European investors using EUR, this looks pretty hard to beat on paper compared with VWCE: lower TER + broader exposure.

For someone investing for FIRE over 20–40+ years, I’m wondering whether VGLA now makes more sense for new contributions, assuming liquidity, tracking difference and fund size aren’t major issues. This is specifically for European/EUR investors, not US investors.

For those currently contributing to VWCE, would you start putting your new contributions into VGLA instead, or is the difference too small to justify changing? Also, which European brokers already have VGLA available? Is it available on IBKR, Trade Republic, DEGIRO, etc.?

Currently I'm investing MSCI looking for better options

I’m 24, and I want to think more seriously about the systems behind building wealth.

I’ve unexpectedly had several conversations with people who work in and around family offices. I expected the focus to be investment returns, but I was struck by how much attention went into taxes, liquidity, risk, and long-term decisions.

It made me wonder which of those practices scale down to someone pursuing FIRE, and which only matter once wealth becomes complex. For those further along, what did you set up early, and what did you keep simple?

Curious what everyone's planned/actual annual withdrawal amount is once you hit FIRE, per person.

If there's more than one person in your household, take your total annual spend and divide it by the number of people — we want the per-person number so it's actually comparable.

In the comments, feel free to share your country, the number, and how you've got your housing sorted.

I'll start:

Country: Czechia

Annual withdrawal per person (€): 28,000

Housing: own with mortgage

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for participating! Here are the processed results, adjusted by country using PLI (Price Level Indices).
Median and average FIRE numbers across EU countries

Hello everyone,

Update of my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeFIRE/comments/1vl9k7i/wanted_to_leanfire_but_the_housing_cost_doesnt/

I think I found a middle-ground solution: After talking to several banks in both countries, decided to buy a plot near the sea and build a small house on it over the next 3-4 years.

This way, the bank agrees to fund the project on a percentage of completion basis, I don't tie up much capital immediately for downpayments, etc. and it will end up even cheaper than purchasing the same house right away.

So, My leanFIRE plan stays intact, as i will have a grace period paying interest only while building. I will perhaps stay in my job for another 1-2 years to save up more cash and wait until my house is at a stage where I can move in and leanFIRE, and that's it. I am willing to make this compromise, as it gives me flexibility, something "mine" to wait for and anticipate, and to have as a side project for the next years.

Thank you to everyone who provided good advice on the comments and DMs. Cheers!

I am a 26-year-old primary school teacher from Tunisia with four years of experience. I have a degree in Education and Teaching, and I am currently completing my second degree in English Language, Literature, and Civilization, which I will finish this year.
My ultimate goal is to move abroad because the working conditions and salaries in Tunisia are unfortunately not very attractive. I want to work abroad, earn and save enough money, and at the same time pursue a Master’s degree and eventually a PhD. My long-term plan is to invest in Tunisia and eventually return and settle there with a PhD and enough financial security to live comfortably.
I would preferably like to live in Europe, but university tuition and living costs can be quite expensive in many European countries. I am also concerned about how difficult it might be to work full-time while studying. At the moment, I am considering countries such as Portugal and Hungary because they seem relatively more affordable.
I am also considering Canada through Express Entry. Based on my age, work experience, and proficiency in both French and English, I believe I may have a good chance of being accepted. However, I would need to improve my profile further and meet all the requirements. From what I understand, permanent residence can eventually lead to Canadian citizenship after meeting the required residency conditions.

My main priorities are:
A good salary and the ability to save and build wealth
Reasonable living costs
A realistic path to permanent residence and citizenship
The possibility of working while pursuing a Master’s and eventually a PhD
A strong quality of life and good working conditions
The ability to eventually return to Tunisia financially secure and possibly invest there

Given my profile and goals, which countries would you recommend? Would you choose Canada, Portugal, Hungary, or another country entirely?
Also, are immigration agencies worth using, or is it generally better to handle the immigration process yourself? If agencies are recommended, how can I find legitimate and trustworthy ones?

I've thought about this quite a bit because where you live can make a huge difference to how quickly you reach FIRE. Moving somewhere cheaper could lower your housing costs and day-to-day expenses enough to shave years off the journey. But then there's the other side of it - being close to friends and family, enjoying the city you're in, having a lifestyle you genuinely like, and not having to start over somewhere just because it's cheaper. I can see the financial argument for moving, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend my working years somewhere I don't really want to live just to reach FIRE sooner. Has anyone here faced this choice?

Something about me:

Born and raised in Brazil, hold German and Italian passports through family. Came from an absolute broke family, first one to go to university, rough start - worked manual jobs to support myself during studies, and I'm still periodically relied on by family back home when things get (even more) difficult financially for them.

No financial education growing up whatsoever. I'm quite risk-averse, partly after seeing my father spent (and still spending) every spare penny on lottery tickets.

Moved to Germany in my early 20s, eventually started a master's degree, and only started earning enough to actually save something starting in 2021. Learned about FIRE during the pandemic. Moved to the US for a job in 2022, came back to Germany in 2024, and have been here since.

From all of that, I've managed to save around €120k total so far.

I am looking for a gut-check from people who've navigated multi-jurisdiction FIRE, because I think I've been paralyzed by complexity for longer than I should've been.

The setup:

• Currently tax resident in Germany (work for an international org).
• End goal: FIRE in Brazil.
• Not planning to keep ties to Europe long-term - once I leave, I want a clean break from German bureaucracy, not another anchor.

Current numbers:

• ~€110k sitting in a US normal savings account at 3%. I'm a non-resident alien there now, which is part of why it's stayed parked instead of invested (opening a proper brokerage account as an NRA felt like a maze - high minimums, estate tax questions, etc.)
• ~€3.5k in a Brazilian fixed-income deposit earning roughly 11.5% net annually in local currency, taxed on a sliding scale that drops the longer you hold it (liquidity/access there is limited too, since I'm not a tax resident in Brazil either)
• Started sending ~€3.5k/month to Brazil recently (roughly half my net salary), building toward the eventual move

Why the US cash sat there this long:

• Rates were meaningfully higher when I first parked it (closer to 5%), so at the time "just leave it in savings" wasn't as obviously wrong as it looks now at 3%.
• I've never been taxed on it - not in the US (non-resident aliens generally aren't taxed on US savings account interest), and not in Germany either, since my main employment income is tax-exempt and my personal allowance effectively absorbs capital income up to a certain threshold each year that I have not reached so far. So there was never an urgent tax reason to move it.
• Mostly, it felt like the safe/liquid option given how mobile my job can be - being able to access it instantly from anywhere felt more valuable than optimizing the return. That calculus has shifted now that rates dropped and I have a clearer target (FIRE in Brazil specifically), so I'm looking for something with better long-term return instead of just parking it.

Where I've landed after a lot of back-and-forth:

Since right now I'm taxed on worldwide capital income in Germany regardless of where the brokerage sits, the plan is to open an Interactive Brokers account now (as a German resident, so it lands under the Irish entity), invest the US cash into a broad accumulating UCITS ETF (thinking VWCE), and treat the account as "portable" - update the residency when I eventually move to Brazil instead of closing and reopening everything.

What I'm second-guessing:

1. Is IBKR actually the smoothest way to handle this, or is there something better suited for someone who's going to relocate outside the EU eventually?
2. Single global ETF (VWCE) vs. something more deliberate given I'll eventually be spending in BRL, not EUR?
3. Anyone actually gone through the "EU resident to moved to Brazil" transition with IBKR or similar and can speak to how painless (or not) the entity switch really was?
4. Am I overthinking the US estate tax angle given the US-Germany treaty, or is that still worth structuring around?

Not asking for a full financial plan, just want to know if this reasoning holds up or if I'm missing something obvious that people who've actually done this cross-border shuffle would catch immediately.

A bit more context, since I know these usually come up:

• My income is largely tax-exempt due to my employer's specific status, which is part of why the savings rate looks high in absolute terms - it's not translating 1:1 from a typical post-tax salary.
• I can only save about half of it because my partner lives abroad (regular overseas travel baked in), plus I support family back home, as mentioned above.

When you first set a FIRE target, it can be tempting to aim high just to feel safe. You add a bigger buffer, plan for every possible expense and keep pushing the number up as your income grows. But at some point, I wonder if the extra years needed to reach a much larger target are always worth it. Maybe the lifestyle you originally imagined changed, your actual spending turned out to be lower than expected, or you realised you didn't need as much financial security as you thought to feel comfortable. Has anyone here looked at their FIRE number later on and realised they were working towards more than they genuinely needed? What made you rethink it, and did you actually lower your target?

Hi everyone,
I’m 34M, living and working in Germany. I’ve recently started thinking much more seriously about building wealth and eventually reaching financial independence, and I’d appreciate some advice from people who have been doing this for longer.

A bit of context: I started my career relatively late due to a long period of university education/training, so I haven’t had the 10+ years of earning and investing that some people my age have. I’m therefore essentially starting to build my investment portfolio properly now.

My current situation:
-34 years old
-Net income: around €4,000/month
-After my regular monthly expenses, I currently have around €1,600-1,800 left
-Savings: around €15,000
-I don’t yet have a properly structured long-term ETF/investment strategy
-No children currently
-My income should increase over the coming years
-I enjoy travelling and living comfortably, so I don’t want FIRE to mean sacrificing everything enjoyable during my 30s

My goal isn’t necessarily to retire extremely young. What appeals to me more is reaching a point where working becomes optional, or where I could substantially reduce my working hours without having to worry about money.

Given that I’m effectively starting serious investing in my mid-30s, how would you approach this?
In particular, I’d be interested in:
-How much of the €1,990 left each month would you invest?
-Would you simply use one or two broad global ETFs and keep it boring?
-How large an emergency fund would you maintain?

-Is buying property in Germany worthwhile from a FIRE perspective, or would you favour renting and investing?
-As income increases, would you invest most of every salary increase to prevent lifestyle inflation?
-What FIRE number would you roughly target for a comfortable lifestyle in Germany/Europe?
-Are there any Germany-specific tax or investment considerations that are particularly important?

I know I’m starting later than many people in FIRE communities, but that’s largely the consequence of spending my 20s in education/training rather than earning a full-time salary. I should hopefully have a good income trajectory over the next couple of decades, and I want to make sure I use that properly from here onwards.
If you were 34 and starting from this position, what would you do?

Thanks!

My wife and I are US/French and German, living in Germany, probably close to CoastFIRE. Starting a family soon too. I moved to Germany 7 years ago and it is now home, but the long tail of taxation stuff and hurdles was the „pleasant“ surprise I never anticipated in spite of an otherwise great experience career wise and culturally. It is all quite complicated and often overwhelming.

I have done a lot of research, reading into articles or trying to find experts, but always encounter that they only cover one side. So US tax people don’t know German implications, German advisors don’t know FATCA or PFIC stuff, and the few people who actually understand both charge a lot of money for basic questions or literally turn me away. Very frustrating.

Therefore, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I have been following this community for a while and found many interesting posts that brought some level of clarification for me. I don’t care much for stock tips/crypto investing etc but much more about lifestyle, tools and tactics that fit in the unusual DE/US context. Some of the things we are into are: HomeExchanges, sports/mobility across countries, night trains, and the LunchMoney app

I’m trying to find a handful of people dealing with the same stuff to just have a bit more community: Roth vs FTC/FEIE, pensions across countries, property and rental taxes, inheritance across borders, starting a business and that kind of thing to swap notes with in a small Telegram group. If you’re dealing with any of this and want in, comment or DM me.

The implementation of the Osobiste Konta Inwestycyjne (OKI) framework—signed into law in August 2026 and launching on January 1, 2027.

While it mimics the structural freedom of Sweden’s highly successful Investeringssparkonto (ISK), its tax costs (after free-tax threshold) are significantly lower:
OKI: assets * free risk rate PLN * 0.19
ISK : assets * (free risk rate SEK + 0.01) * 0.30

Hey Dutch investors, welcome to Poland 😂

Hi everyone,
As I already mentioned, I’m 18 years old from EUROPE and currently have around €10,000 in savings, which is all the money I have. I don’t have any savings account or anything similar set up by my parents.
I’d like to start investing mainly for the distant future (25+ years), rather than for a specific goal within the next 5 or 10 years.
My investment direction would be ETFs, mainly VWCE and/or WEBN (yes, another VWCE sheep, as some of you might say). I’m planning to invest through Interactive Brokers (IBKR).

Since I’m only getting started with investing, I’d like to hear how you would allocate the money in my situation and whether you think my general approach makes sense.

**My situation:**
-I’m 18 years old and expect to be studying until around 25.
-€10,000 is all the money I currently have.
-I currently have no investments.
-I live with my parents and will almost certainly continue living with them until I finish my education, so I currently have no rent, housing, utility bills, etc.
-I will receive around €150–200 per month in a scholarship while I’m studying.
-During my studies, I’ll also try to work, mainly during holidays, to earn some additional money.
-Luckily, I already have a cheap, older car, so I don’t currently need to set aside money to buy a car. However, I will obviously need money for fuel, servicing, registration, insurance, the road toll vignette, repairs, etc.
-I hope I won’t have to replace the car unless it becomes necessary. If I do eventually need another one, I would also look for a cheap used car, rather than buying something new or expensive.
-In general, I don’t spend a lot of money. I especially don’t have major expenses on things like McDonald’s, expensive clothes, clothing brands, concerts, clubs, etc., so I should be able to save a significant portion of my future income.
-As mentioned above, I want to invest primarily for the long-term future, not with the intention of needing the money within 5 or 10 years.

**My questions are:**
•VWCE and WEBN – am I even thinking in the right direction with these?
•How much of my €10,000 would make sense to invest immediately? And should I invest it as a lump sum or gradually?
•Does it make sense to invest, for example, €20–80 per month while I’m studying, even though the amount is relatively small?
•What should I do with the money I don’t invest in ETFs – keep it in a regular bank account, a savings account, a money market fund, or something else?
•If you were in my position, would you do anything differently? What would you do?

I’m not necessarily looking for specific financial advice in the sense of “buy this and that”. I’m mainly interested in hearing how you would allocate the €10,000 in my situation and why.
Thanks for any advice :)

Hi folks.

One year ago I posted

https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeFIRE/s/vOqQrHlQLo

And I thought it would be interesting to post a yearly update, just to see how things evolve over time.

M35, renting, Italy. Wife doesn't work. No kids but planning to have one soon. Current NW ~ 350 k, of which 300 k in an 80/20 portfolio. The rest is in an emergency fund, another fund for taxes, a complementary pension fund and some cash. Yearly expenses still at 35 k of real spending + 20-25 k in taxes.

Still working in the public sector (~ 75 k gross per year, so a net of around 3,4 k per month) and running my private business (probably 100 k gross this year, a consistent upgrade since last year, that increased my DCA to 6-8 k per month).

I understand that considering a SWR of 3 - 3,5 k I would need ~ 1,2 - 1,4 m to safely fire. A very long way to go. That's why I still consider coast fire as a more realistic option.

Due to burnout and other reasons, I am considering a part time offer in my public job, something like 20 hours per week (half of what I work now) and keep my second job. Because of taxation in my country, it could be even better to slightly decrease the revenues of my private business in order to pay less taxes (yes, this is Italy).

In this scenario I would probably have to lower my DCA to almost half of what it is now or even lower, but I would gain more free time for family and in general a better WLB.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Let's say I move to Denmark for 5 years and I keep trading so my portfolio grows from 200k to 280k in 5 years.

If I was in US i didn't get tax at all since because of capital tax system, but in Denmark I have to pay unrealized gain tax every year so I cannot invest heavily, so instead of 280k, I could end up with 300k.

Beside they got exit tax, so when I move back to US, I get tax again!

Therefore maybe I shouldn't declare them? and move my portfolio to some brokers that don't sell/give customer's info easily? and it is still legal move btw, that's how the rich stay rich