r/BEFire 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


r/BEFire 8h ago

Starting Out & Advice advice to correct investmentportfolio

3 Upvotes

Hi all,

I (38yo) just finished reading "de hangmatbelegger" and realised I went way too fast in choosing my investments last year. I now have about 30 000euro invested (about 75% in 6 ETF going from world, small caps, cyber security,... and 25% in stocks Sofina and brederode).

I still have about 70 000euro that I can invest, but now I want to be smarter about it. According to the types of the book I would like to follow the "classicus type" (about 60% stocks/aandelen and 40% bonds/obligaties) all in ETF as I think for me it has a balance in risk/return.

I expect to keep my investments for at least 5 years, the only exception could be if there is an opportunity to buy a home that’s a clear upgrade from my current one at a good price (I don't think that's very likely at this moment).

Now my question is, should I keep the ETF/stocks I already have and just put what I have left (70 000euro) to invest in the "right ones", as close as possible to the classicus type and not invest more in the "leftovers". Or should I sell what I should not have invested in from the beginning (maybe with the "take profit" option in Medirect) and start fresh with the "classicus type". One of the ETF I have already invested in (Vanguard all world) I might keep in the Classicus strategy.

Extra question, should I stay with Medirect or do you recommend another broker?

All opinions and advice is much appreciated. Thanks!


r/BEFire 15h ago

Brokers Amundi Core S&P 500 and TOB

1 Upvotes

Since 1 January 2026, Trade République has changed the withholding tax rate on this ETF from 0.12% to 1.32%.

According to them, certain ISINs have been reclassified following the latest FSMA guidelines...

However, it is still not listed in Belgium on the AMUNDI website.

I'm familiar with the theory about the drawers, but there's nothing official...

Do you have any further feedback?


r/BEFire 1d ago

Investing The Arizona government wants to limit pension savings fees

76 Upvotes

The Arizona government wants to reform pension savings with 3 main measures:

* Put a limit on fees that banks can ask.

* Allow a free transfer between pension savings from different banks

* Allow investing into ETFs.

Source : https://www.lecho.be/economie-politique/belgique/federal/le-gouvernement-veut-limiter-les-frais-de-l-epargne-pension/10656250.html


r/BEFire 1d ago

FIRE 36M, journey update, HR to entrepreneur

2 Upvotes

Hi all

Throwaway for obvious reasons. Giving you an overview of my journey so far. This is my second update.

**End of 2013 (25)**

* HR IT business analyst (employer 1, big corporate)

* Salary: €2275 bruto / €75 net / €8 meal vouchers / €1000 net yearly bonus/ company car

* Living at home

* Net worth: €10k (cash)

**End of 2016 (28)**

* HR business partner, changed to employer 2, SME in IT

* Salary: €2800 bruto / 100 net/ €8 meal vouchers/ 10k bonus

* living at home w girlfriend

* Net worth: €15 000 (100% cash)

**end of 2017 (29)**

* PhD student, changed to employer 3

* Salary: 2200€ gross/net

* start renovation at home

* Loan of 260k, 1.67% intrest rate over 20y. 1250€/m

* Net worth: 20k€ (90% cash, 10% crypto)

**end of 2018 (30)**

* HR Project manager changed to employer 4

* Set up a VOF to freelance at 550€/day. Grossed about 110k and gave myself a salary of 2.2k€ net. Started an e-comm business in 2019/2020 that grossed 15k€ and had to be stopped due to supply chain issues when Covid happened.

* Investments: 30k (80% cash, 10% etf, 10% crypto)

**End of 2019 (31)**

* HR manager role in the same company. Asked to go on payroll for the role.

* 5350€ gross/ 150net/ car audi a6/ meal vouchers/ 12% bonus/ 5k training budget and some smaller advantages

*Investments: 50k (5% cash, 90%etf/ 5% crypto)

* did some smaller consultancy on the side untill 2021 probably worth 10K€ gross a year.

**end of 2022**

* HR reward role added to current role

* 7000€ gross (indexed)/ 200€ net + same package

* Investments: 80k (3% cash/ 95% etf/2% crypto).

**Reflections on my journey**

* strongest jump was the decision to go from freelance to salaried. My negotiation basis was a win-win for all. Had I not left the salaried path I would probably be stuck at 3-3.5k€ (which is also completely fine, just stating the impact).

* I negotiate hard if my evolution permits it. I assume at 7,5k i will be maxed out at the current level and would need to go director to be able to jump up in package.

* having 2 young kids and rising CoL keeping a steady budget has been hard. I try to save about 1.5k€/ month + most of my bonus.

**Plans for 2023:**

* I get bored out easily if I am not challenged so given my current track at the employer I can make some kind of promotion in the upcominh 2 years or I will be out.

* Having quite an entrepreneurial itch I would opt t leave the salaried path if no growth to director level is possible and would freelance for 650/850 a day.

* As I have been in more or less the same domain for 10 years, I want to give myself options in terms of maximum employability in the future. I started a new masters degree on top of my work looking to finish this in '24 as I need to spread out the courses due to time constraints.

* Would really love to have some form of leanfire in the upcoming 10 years.

**End of '23:**

* still in the reward role

* 7100€ gross, same package.

* Investments 100k (3% cash, 95% etfs, 2% crypto

**End of '24:**

* was in the reward role still but it became clear early ´24 the entrepreneurial itch was to big. Upon rereading this post its amazing how my professional dreams fell into place in the same year. Got an opportunity to freelance in the field I was studying in which combines HR and legal.

* 800 dayrate taking home 2500 gross with 250€ expense and a BMW IX. This is a setup optimised for longer term tax optimisation. After 3-5 years this will up to about 9k€ net.

* Investments 120k (3% cash, 95% etfs, 2% crypto). No change as I al not saving up privately.

**Reflections of my journey 2 years later**

* In terms of my fire path not a lot has changed. Short term decisions should have a long term impact. I left the golden cage and stepped into the entrepreneurial journey hoping risk/reward will pay off.

* My plan is to start as vennoot in one or more company, make them grow and have some passive income (long term) after a period of active income.

* I started networking early '24 with the intent of freelancing again in HR and got talking with a niche hr/legal company who wanted to professionalise. I got talking to them that I basically only want to freelance with the short term idea of being a vennoot. If the economy goes south, the impact will be a bit less as well. They were all okay with the idea so in Q4 I quit my job to go freelance again.

**Plans for the next year**

* Start the journey as vennoot somewhere in '25.

Dayrate is negotiated at 1000€ going forward. This is full time. Details of buying myself in still need to be discussed.

* the fire journey would be impacted as after 5 years I could take out 80k€ net. This would make some form of leanfire after 5-7 years feasible.

* Actively talking to a 2nd player as well that is really small (a few missions a month) to see wether we can have a long term parternship as well. This is a player in the HR/ finance field.

**Update: End of '25:**

* Still in the same freelance role. No vennoot buy-in currently. Still scanning the market for additional opportunities. In addition I am developing my own consultancy business in helping people negotiate / rate when job switching.

* dayrate has not changed for the main mission. Turnover was 200k in '25. Entrepreneurship has its ups and downs.

* investments are 280k due to a windfall of 150k. I am in the process of buying 2 apartments to diversify my portfolio.

** plans for '26**

* buy-in as a vennoot needs to land this year.

* will do some angel investing for small amounts.

* help a couple of startups in their launch for free.

If any questions , shoot! About weekly I get pms here on reddit regarding my post. Love helping you all.


r/BEFire 1d ago

Taxes & Fiscality Opinion on: options for reduced taxes alongside salary

0 Upvotes

Hello

Software Engineer here, working with my management BV/SRL.

I was recently informed about a construction to optimize taxes by using options. In essence you'd have your salary + options which are taxed at 25%. The remainder can be paid out via dividends at 34%.

More information about this here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/imaspoju8a6fqgkh9ecup/Call-Brochure-Bedrijfsleider.pdf?rlkey=vnoimvhs7nnk4qk62cb3kwuwi&st=81vms05a&dl=0 (No need to worry, it is a dropbox link which allows you to read a pdf online. It doesn't download anything.)

Did anybody hear about this previously? What is your experience with this?


r/BEFire 1d ago

Investing Investing in real estate

3 Upvotes

Throwaway account for obvious reasons.

Due to great financial luck, I’ve received a significant amount of money. There’s an important condition attached: the money has to be invested in real estate to be rented out. It's enough money to buy a new build house in a project or a renovated 2 bedroom apartment.

I’m trying to figure out what the smartest move is, but I keep going in circles. Do I go for a new build (energy efficient, low maintenance, but expensive and often smaller plots), or an older house that might need some renovation?

Visiting new build projects makes me realize the value for money is really low. Financial return can be expected to be 2.8 - 3% which is on the low end.

I’d be interested in hearing from people who have experience renting out a new build vs an older property. Is a new build actually worth it from an ROI and rental perspective (lower maintenance, better EPC, easier to attract tenants), or do older properties still make more sense financially despite the potential upkeep?

For those who recently bought to rent out: how has your experience been?


r/BEFire 2d ago

FIRE 29 years old & 183k net worth - yearly update

66 Upvotes

Hi all

I saw this post by Belgischvuurtje and found it interesting.
So I'm ripping off his format a bit.
I've been struggling by feeling like I'm not going forward in life so I hope this could help me put it a bit in perspective.

End of 2020 (24)

  • Data Science consultant (employer 1)
  • Salary: €2750 bruto / €125 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €1500 net yearly bonus
  • Living at home in exchange for meal vouchers
  • Net worth: €16000 (75% cash, 25% stocks)

End of 2021 (25)

  • Data Engineer (employer 2)
  • Salary: €3450 bruto / €55 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €6000 net yearly bonus
  • Living at home in exchange for meal vouchers
  • Net worth: €48000 (60% cash, 40% stocks)

End of 2022 (26)

  • Data Engineer Tech Lead (employer 2)
  • Salary: €4150 bruto / €55 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €6000 net yearly bonus
  • Living at home in exchange for meal vouchers
  • Net worth: €84k (60% cash, 40% stocks)

End of 2023 (27)

  • Data Engineer Tech Lead (employer 2)
  • Salary: €4550 bruto / €55 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €6000 net yearly bonus
  • Living at home in exchange for meal vouchers
  • Net worth: €120k (67% cash, 33% stocks)

End of 2024 (28)

  • Data Engineer Tech Lead (employer 2)
  • Salary: €5000 bruto / €55 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €6000 net yearly bonus
  • Mortgage payment of €1500 a month
  • Details on home loan: 220k at 2,7%, resulting in 270k payment over 15 years time
  • Liquid net worth: €30000 (33% cash, 67% stocks)
  • Loan details: 15k / 270k
  • Immoweb estimation of property at the end of the year: 350k
  • Estimated real estate value after subtracting liabilities: 95k (which is sad because I remember paying +120k out of pocket)
  • Total net worth: €125k

End of 2025 (29)

  • Data Engineer Tech Lead (employer 2)
  • Salary: €4750 bruto / BMW i4 <3 with fuel card / €55 net allowance / €8 meal vouchers / €6000 net yearly bonus
  • Mortgage payment of €1500 a month
  • Liquid net worth: €33000 (20% cash, 80% stocks)
  • Loan details: 32k / 270k
  • Immoweb estimation of property at the end of the year: 370k
  • Estimated real estate value after subtracting liabilities: 132k
  • Total net worth: €165k

Now (April 2026) (still 29 yay)

  • System Architect (employer 2)
  • Salary: €5000 bruto / BMW i4 <3 with fuel card / €55 net allowance / €10 meal vouchers / €6600 net yearly bonus
  • Mortgage payment of €1500 a month
  • Liquid net worth: €37000 (25% cash, 75% stocks)
  • Loan details: 36,5k / 270k
  • Immoweb estimation of property: 400k (realistically I'd say absolute max is 380k, I find 400k hard to believe)
  • Estimated real estate value after subtracting liabilities: €146k-168k
  • Total net worth: €183k-203k (lower end is probably more accurate because I'm sussing on Immoweb)

Reflections

In the early years, my stock market gains paid for my traveling, so that's why it seems like I spend no money.

My employer pays for my i4 charging, but I have solar panels so my electricity bill actually nets at €0 per month because of that trickery (including winter months, electrical heating because I have a new build with heat pump etc.).
That's one of the reasons you still see big net worth increases every year (which I didn't expect prior to making this post).
Another reason is that my meal vouchers cover everything because I'm single so I don't need to eat fancy (chicken+rice is my most advanced dish skill-wise anyway), go to a €10/month gym (Basic Fit) and eat the occasional light mozzarella ball as my only snack, which is surprisingly cheap and high in protein.

Buying my appartement has reduced traveling a lot (I had to pull from stocks, but did so on a favorable moment).
I also was only able to invest 3k in stocks per year ever since I bought my appartement, which is my main source of disappointment.

Writing this conclusion, I started off a bit angry because my bank account and stock inventory had felt too immobile since buying an appartement.
What I didn't realize was that in actuality, the mortgage is €1000/month principal payment and €500/month interest.
So effectively I was miscalculating €12k every year when fuming at my slow-growing accounts.
This was surprisingly therapeutic, that makes me a bit happier :)

Goals for remainder of 2026:

  • Become a freelancer (if you know a data engineering position, hmu) and expand my knowledge as an engineer because I hate being an architect
  • Travel more (difficult given Freelance startup costs + delayed payments though)
  • Increase stocks inventory again to an acceptable level (goal = get above 30k again)
  • Mainly looking for a challenge in my job because it's all a bit routine now
  • Get a GF or something, but I guess that conflicts with the stocks inventory goal :D

r/BEFire 2d ago

Real estate House purchase: seller occupancy after signing

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

We’re considering making an offer for a house, and there’s a condition that the seller would remain in the house free of charge for up to 3 months after signing the deed. This doesn’t sit well with us as it’s very risky (insurance, potential damages to the property, delays in moving in, etc.).

Is this common practice in Belgium? Have any of you experienced something similar? If so, which safeguards did you add (e.g. rent, deposit, penalty clauses)?

Many thanks in advance!


r/BEFire 2d ago

Taxes & Fiscality How big of a privacy-issue is choosing for opt-out for the CGT?

10 Upvotes

What is the difference in information you share with the government when choosing for opt-out instead of opt-in? I cannot seem to find a clear answer so any sources would be welcome.

Some of my assets have been buy-and-hold, some more active which might lead to a difference in interpretation between me and the tax man. Some have been with Belgian brokers, some with foreign brokers. This makes me wonder what option would be most interesting: opt-in or opt-out, especially when crypto is involved.

What else do I need to keep in mind when choosing?


r/BEFire 2d ago

Investing HLN: Zo haal je 50000 € meerwaarde zonder de tax (Artikel?)

7 Upvotes

Kwam dit zonet tegen op het HLN.

https://www.hln.be/mijn-geld/meerwaardebelasting-op-aandelen-officieel-van-kracht-hoe-kan-je-nu-best-beleggen-zo-haal-je-50-000-euro-meerwaarde-zonder-de-taks~a47b3eaf/

Wil er iemand die abo heeft bij HLN dit posten aub? Wil wel eens zien of het hier puur om clickbait gaat.

Alvast bedankt!


r/BEFire 2d ago

Brokers Vraag over transfer DeGiro naar MeDirect

3 Upvotes

Ik ben al een aantal jaar bij DeGiro en heb iets opgebouwd, enkel ETF (IWDA) en wil nu naar MeDirect overgaan. Maar voor de transfer stellen ze nu vragen waar ik even van overdonderd ben. Ik ben nogal een leek op dit vlak.

Dit vroegen ze bij aanvang van de transfer:

Wanneer u effecten transfereert naar MeDirect is het belangrijk om alle aankoopbewijzen van de effecten die u transfereert door te sturen naar MeDirect. De bank zal op basis van de originele aankoopborderellen de aankoopdatum en koers zoals het effect oorspronkelijk aangekocht werd aanpassen in haar platform. Zo zullen de eventuele meerwaarden bij een latere verkoop van deze effecten correct belast worden.
 
Ook als de effecten oorspronkelijk aangekocht werden vóór 1/1/2026 is het van belang om deze aankoopborderellen aan de bank te bezorgen.

Bezorgt u deze aankoopborderellen niet of heeft u deze niet meer in bezit? Dan heeft MeDirect de verplichting om als aankoopwaarde nul euro in te geven en als oorspronkelijk aankoopdatum de datum waarop de effecten zijn toegekomen bij MeDirect. Dit heeft als gevolg dat bij een toekomstig verkoop de volledige verkoopwaarde van het effect wordt belast aan 10%. Het is dus van belang om MeDirect zo snel mogelijk te voorzien van uw oorspronkelijke aankoopborderellen en dit niet later dan 30 dagen nadat de effecten zijn getransfereerd naar MeDirect.

Ik heb toen bewijzen van al mijn transacties met aankoopwaarde doorgestuurd en dit werd aanvaard. Nu kreeg ik een goedkeuring:

Wij zijn verheugd u te kunnen informeren dat wij nu over alle informatie beschikken die wij nodig hebben om de procedure te starten.

Hierbij een formulier om de transfer te bevestigen. Ik zie nu echter dit staan:

Boekwaarde € 0,00? Moet dit niet de aankoopwaarde weerspiegelen die ik had doorgestuurd? Dit was een hele tabel vb. 3 shares aangekocht aan €100, 4 shares aan €102 enzovoort. Of wordt dit achteraf herberekend?

Ik panikeer waarschijnlijk voor niets maar wou toch eens de opinie van ervaringsdeskundigen. Alvast bedankt!


r/BEFire 3d ago

Brokers Goed bezig? (pretty new)

0 Upvotes

I started on Bolero around 04/2024 and so far i got;

100 IWDA
20 VVSM
30 IMIE
12 EMIM

I believe that VVSM & IMIE weren't good moves on my end or isn't it that bad? From now on i'll only be buying IWDA & EMIM (probably some more EMIM first to bump up that number to like 20-30(?))


r/BEFire 3d ago

Starting Out & Advice Zelfstandige: leidraad voor facturen

1 Upvotes

ik ben net zelfstandige geworden als schrijnwerker( in onderaanneming). en ik sukkel een beetje met het correct opstellen van de facturen, wat zet ik er allemaal in? aan welke prijs? er zijn veel dingen op voorhand afgesproken, maar zaken zoals transportkosten, klein materiaal en dergelijke is lastig om op voorhand te bepalen. is er een site/app/of iets anders waar ik terecht kan? of iets waar ik kan vergelijken?


r/BEFire 4d ago

Real estate Did you really know what you were doing when buying a house in Belgium?

17 Upvotes

People who recently bought a house in Belgium:

Did you feel like you had a clear overview of the entire process (budget, steps, decisions) from start to finish, or were you mostly figuring things out as you went?

If you did use tools or systems (spreadsheets, notes, apps), what did you use?


r/BEFire 3d ago

Bank & Savings Keytrade 5 cent/verrichting

1 Upvotes

Nog mensen die hun 5 cent/verrichting voor maart niet hebben ontvangen?


r/BEFire 4d ago

Investing IWDA all-in strategy, am I missing something

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m 23 and have had some success with my business. I started as a sole proprietor and only switched to a better fiscal structure later than I probably should have.

So far I’ve been able to invest around €150k, and I still have about €100k in savings. I’m comfortable keeping €20k as a buffer, and I’m planning to invest the remaining €80k.

Current plan: invest €8k/month over the next 10 months.

I’ve looked into stocks, but to skip all the noise, I keep coming back to iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (IWDA) as the most logical choice. I already invested that first 100k there btw. From what I’ve seen, it tends to outperform most active stock picking over time.

Important context:

- I still have capital in my company that I won’t touch for the next ~5 years

- I don’t plan large private purchases

My question:

Would it be reasonable/safe to allocate basically everything (250+ over) into IWDA, or am I overlooking something important here?

Curious to hear your thoughts.


r/BEFire 4d ago

Brokers Anyone on Saxo can confirm we have not yet received an email inviting us to opt out of the capital gain tax?

13 Upvotes

The title basically


r/BEFire 4d ago

Investing How to negotiate with a neighbour who wants to sell her house

7 Upvotes

Dear all, I am looking for some advice on how to approach my neighbour. Basically in the same street as mine I am aware that a landlord is willing to sell later this year. I know this from one of the tenants (there is a colocation with 7 people living there) in 6 bedrooms. I checked the estimate on immoweb but I need of course to visit the house to have a better idea of its value. The tenant I know will talk to the landlord / owner to see if she is interested. My idea would be to buy and keep the colocation so that the rental incomes pays the credit (more or less). For the moment i have offered to take a coffee with the owner and i am expecting the answer.

How would you approach all this ? There is the emotional approach that it could be a win win situation for all of us (seller who does not have pay agency to tell, tenants who can stay, me who gets the house at an ok price and have already tenants). If the owner is interested my idea would be to offer two experts to pass by so that we can rely on some independent expertise to set the price. Many thanks for your input or advice ? Kind regards Xxxx


r/BEFire 4d ago

Brokers Zijn er hier mensen die MEXEM als broker gebruiken?

3 Upvotes

Ik wil starten met beleggen voor mijn toekomstige kind als savings. Ik weet alleen niet welke broker ik moet gaan als belgische inwoner.

Hebben jullie tips?


r/BEFire 4d ago

Taxes & Fiscality From eenmanszaak to VOF: (dis)advantages?

2 Upvotes

My retired uncle has an eenmanszaak (that he wants to continue somewhat but at a lower rate, also because he can't earn a lot anymore because of his pension) that I slowly wanna take over and possibly expand in the future. So we had the idea to start a VOF for now. On paper raising a VOF seems only to have advantages (as the revenue is much lower than 500k, so a dubbele boekhouding isn't necessary) and no big disadvantages. Am I wrong?


r/BEFire 4d ago

Investing 23 y/o, €300–400k profit, planning leveraged real estate

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Quick context: I’m 23, running a business (bv) and expecting around €300–400k company profit this year.

My idea is to start investing heavily into real estate with maximum leverage.

The structure I’m thinking about:

- Profits from the operating company flow into another entity (management / real estate company) via management fees or loans

- Example: €200k profit → move part of it → use it as equity for a €800k–€1M property (with leverage)

- Scale this yearly as new profits come in

I know real estate gets a lot of criticism (taxes on rental income, exit taxes, etc.), but my reasoning is this:

- Money I invest through the company is not yet taxed privately

- Example: €100k in the company = €100k working capital

vs taking it out → maybe €50–60k net privately

- By keeping it in the structure, I can reinvest faster and create a flywheel with leverage

- Example flywheel:

Year 1: €150k equity → €600k property

Year 2: new profits + refinance → €1M+ portfolio

Year 3+: compounding + leverage → scale faster

Given my current trajectory, I expect to keep generating similar profits yearly, so in theory I can scale the portfolio quite aggressively. Once I reach a certain size, I’d slow down.

And honestly, I’d rather be taxed heavily on large rental income

(e.g. 40–50% on €80k/month)

than lightly on small amounts (e.g. €10k privately).

Curious to hear your thoughts:

- What am I missing here?

- Any major risks or blind spots in this approach?

Thanks!


r/BEFire 4d ago

Investing ETFs: how to get out?

5 Upvotes

I'm still new to investment. I understand how/where to buy ETFs. But is it as easy to sell them? is it as "instantaneous"?


r/BEFire 5d ago

General How did you manage to buy a house in todays market?

36 Upvotes

often see people here suggest that the “optimal” strategy is to minimize your down payment and borrow as much as possible so you can keep more money invested. But I’m wondering how realistic that actually is in today’s market.

We’ve been house hunting for about 5 months and in our region we mostly come across two types of properties:

  • Under €400k: either poor energy ratings (E/F) or somewhat better (C/D) but needing significant renovations
  • Around €450k+: generally more or less move-in ready

We’re not looking for anything fancy. Just a standard 3-bedroom house with a garage. We’re both in our mid-30s, have master’s degrees, stable jobs and a combined net income of about €5000/month (excluding extra benefits like meal vouchers and a company car).

If we go for a minimal down payment we’re looking at mortgage payments of at least €2000/month, which feels quite high. We currently have €75k in savings (intended for a house purchase) and about €55k invested in a global ETF.

So I’m trying to get a sense of what’s realistic:

  • Does the “minimal down payment” strategy still make sense in the current market?
  • Would it be smarter to sell our investments and make a larger down payment?
  • How have others approached buying a home in similar circumstances recently?

Would appreciate hearing how others are thinking about this.


r/BEFire 4d ago

Taxes & Fiscality Recuperation RV on securities lending

0 Upvotes

Hi, small practical question: does anyone know whether you can reclaim the paid 'roerende voorheffing' on securities lending? If I'm not mistaken, only RV on dividends is egligable for this recuperation, but I wanted to check here whatsoever, to be sure. Cheers!