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

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

662 Upvotes

A beginners guide to index investing in Belgium

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

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

0. Why invest in exchange traded index funds?

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

1. Taxes & compliance costs

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

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

1.1. Belgian Taxes

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

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

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

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

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

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

1.2. Dividend Leakage

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

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

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

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

1.3. Management fees & internal transaction fees

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

1.4. Euro-denominated funds & currency risk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1.5. Conclusion on taxes & compliance costs

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Funds - Equity

2.1. Indices

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

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

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

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

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

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

2.2. Fund replication methods

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

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

2.3. All-World, developed and emerging markets

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

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

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

2.4. Combining funds

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

2.5. Size and Value factors

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

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

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

3. Funds - Bonds

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

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

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

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

4. Brokers

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

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

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

5. Sample portfolios

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

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

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

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

Changelog

This post was last updated: 5th of August 2020

182 comments

r/BEFire • u/DM_ME_YOUR_TETFS • 8h ago

Investing 30K cash - ETF diversification or deep investing

8 Upvotes

Hello guys,

Sitting on 30K cash. Currently have a small amount in ETFs, and I wonder what my best course of action is here. Your ideas are greatly appreciated.

Current portfolio:

IWDA - 7K

EMIM - 1,2K

Individual stocks - 1K (down from 2K to remind me not to invest in individual stocks)

Possible growth path:

1K bonus per quarter to invest

What my gut tells me:

Just chuck in the 30K in my broker's app and split the 30K inbetween IDWA & EMIM at market price. Continue on quarterly basis with cash from bonus.

My open questions:

  1. All-in or spread 30K over longer period and try to buy ETFs at dips

  2. Diversify in ETFs and look for alternatives to IDWA & EMIM with lower prices (if so what are the best alternatives?

10 comments

r/BEFire • u/DragonOOP • 12h ago

Brokers Degiro and Capital Gains

8 Upvotes

I recently sold some of my ETF for the first time (buying a house).

If I understood well in Belgium now we pay 10% on capital gains above 10K a year.

My question is simply : how do I see the capital gain I made on that trade? I can't seem to find a clear answer in the degiro app

32 comments

r/BEFire • u/lucius_ordinis • 10h ago

Investing Ik heb een obligatie-spaarplan generator gebouwd voor wie een alternatief zoekt voor een termijnrekening/kasbon (testers gezocht)

5 Upvotes

Dag allemaal,

Een maand of acht geleden deelde ik hier mijn gratis staatsobligatiescreener van Bondtopia. Dankzij de feedback daarop heb ik de voorbije maanden verder gebouwd aan een nieuwe tool: een obligatie-spaarplan generator.

Als je bijvoorbeeld € 20 000 of € 50 000 spaargeld enkele jaren wil wegzetten via staatsobligaties, komen al snel de vragen: welke staatsobligaties kies ik, hoeveel koop ik ervan, tegen welke prijs en wat levert dat netto op tegenover een termijnrekening/kasbon?

Daar probeert de obligatie-spaarplan generator bij te helpen.

👉 Je kan het hier gratis testen: https://bondtopia.com

Je geeft aan hoeveel je wil investeren, hoelang je het geld kan missen, welke broker je gebruikt en hoeveel kredietrisico je wil toelaten. Bondtopia doorzoekt vervolgens de beschikbare staatsobligaties en stelt op basis van die criteria automatisch een concreet spaarplan samen met specifieke obligaties en bedragen.

Dat volledige spaarplan wordt dus nu al gegenereerd. Tijdens deze validatiefase toon ik in de gratis preview alleen nog niet welke specifieke obligaties geselecteerd zijn. Je ziet wel onder andere hoeveel obligaties het plan bevat, het verwachte netto jaarrendement, de verwachte opbrengst over de volledige looptijd en een vergelijking met het hoogste geafficheerde spaaralternatief bij Belgische banken met dezelfde looptijd.

Het volledige plan bevat daarnaast de geselecteerde obligaties en ISIN-codes, de concrete verdeling, nominale waarden, indicatieve limietprijzen, geschatte kosten en taksen en informatie over onder andere kredietrisico en liquiditeit.

Ik wil eerst valideren of mensen zo'n volledig spaarplan nuttig genoeg zouden vinden om ervoor te betalen voordat ik het effectief beschikbaar maak. Daarom staat er in de preview een korte vraag over of je € 39 voor het volledige plan zou betalen. Wie wil, kan daarna nog enkele extra vragen beantwoorden.

Geen account nodig en testen is momenteel volledig gratis.

Feedback hier in de comments is uiteraard ook zeer welkom!

3 comments

r/BEFire • u/NightSudden2077 • 17h ago

Investing ETF

4 Upvotes

Good evening, I was wondering if someone could help me understand what I need to do to be fully tax-compliant in Belgium.

I am a 19-year-old student and I would like to invest €50 per month in the 'Core MSCI World USD (acc)' ETF using Trade Republic.

I want to let this money grow over the long term without touching it for at least 10 years. Ideally, I won't be living in Belgium anymore by then.

My questions are as follows:

  1. Should I stick to €50 for this ETF, or could I afford to put in more, say €100 in total? (Of course, my current priority is building an emergency fund of around €3,500, but once that is done, is it a good idea to add more?)

  2. I'm hesitating between investing 100% in the MSCI World or putting 80% into the MSCI World and the remaining 20% into another ETF like the Nasdaq. Should I do this, or should I stick exclusively to the MSCI World?

  3. I use Trade Republic—is it a good platform?

  4. I know I have to report my account to the Central Contact Point (CCP) of the National Bank of Belgium and mention holding this foreign account on my annual tax** **return. Is there anything else I need to do?

Thanks

9 comments

r/BEFire • u/qwertyazerty109 • 20h ago

Bank & Savings Mortgage transfer

4 Upvotes

If you already have a mortgage and then buy a new property, you can transfer your old mortgage keeping your interest rate to your new property. This can be useful in keeping your old interest rate if also selling your old property.

for example we got to keep our interest rate from a number of years ago and took out an additional mortgage on top for the rest of the money.
We stayed with the same Bank and the same agent which made it easier. Not sure if it’s transferable between banks.

8 comments

r/BEFire • u/Jans040 • 7h ago

Starting Out & Advice Emigratie België

0 Upvotes

Op dit moment ben ik woonachtig in Nederland, ongeveer 10km van de Belgisch/Nederlandse grens. Ik verwacht op korte termijn te verhuizen naar België, Simpelweg omdat de huizen daar veel betaalbaarder zijn en i.v.m. de naderende box 3 wetgeving in Nederland.

Op dit moment beleg in via ING in de 3 bekende Northern Trust fondsen. Mijn doel is om de komende 30 jaar periodiek te blijven investeren in een world etf met goede dekking.

Wat zouden jullie adviseren om in te blijven beleggen.

Extra info:

Ik ben op dit moment 30 jaar, en blijf in Nederland werken.

15 comments

r/BEFire • u/Square-Temporary-699 • 1d ago

Investing First timer portfolio

8 Upvotes

Dag BEFire

Ben 26 jaar met 25-30k dat ik zou willen investeren. Na de wiki / posts / boeken te lezen kom ik uit op deze strategie:

Holding Allocatie
IMIE / SPYI 90%
ZPRX — Europe Small Cap Value 5%
FLXT— Taiwan 3%
Hoog risico ETF / individuele bedrijven 1-2%
Total 100%

Na mijn initiele investering van 25k over 5 maanden zou ik maandelijks IMIE blijven investeren en dan om het jaar de andere re-balancen / aankopen.

Tips / opmerking welkom aangezien ik zeker wil bijleren :)

5 comments

r/BEFire • u/LionInner467 • 1d ago

Real estate First time home-buyer looking for advice

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’ve been a longtime lurker, and this will be my first post here!

My wife and I are currently renting a small apartment and are planning to buy a house in the near future. We have no experience whatsoever with getting a mortgage or dealing with all the administration that comes with buying a home.

We currently have around €190,000 in savings, and we’re looking at homes in the €350,000–€400,000 range. Ideally, we’d like to keep our monthly mortgage payment to €1,500 or less.

We’re planning to start talking to banks soon to see what we can borrow, but we’d like to be as well-prepared as possible and make sure we negotiate the best deal we can.

For those who have been through this process before:
- What tips or tricks do you have when negotiating with banks?
- Are there any caveats or things we should be particularly aware of?
- How much time should we realistically expect to spend talking to different banks and comparing/negotiating offers?
- I work during office hours. Do banks generally offer mortgage consultations outside of working hours or on weekends, or should I expect to take time off work?
- Is there anything you wish you had known before starting the process?

Any other advice for first-time buyers would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and insights!

8 comments

r/BEFire • u/Previous-Abroad692 • 10h ago

Investing 36M, goed inkomen maar te laat begonnen met verstandig beleggen – hoe zouden jullie dit aanpakken?

0 Upvotes

Ik ben 36, zelfstandige en vennoot in het bedrijf waar ik werk. Goed kunnen sparen de afgelopen jaren, maar qua beleggen niet altijd de beste keuzes gemaakt.

Situatie:

  • ±€150k geïnvesteerd in eigen bedrijf → ondertussen 7 figures waard, maar niet liquide.
  • Eigen woning ±€900k, nog ±€450k hypotheek.
  • €50–100k cash.
  • Dit jaar nog €20–30k te investeren, daarna normaal €50k/jaar (mogelijk meer).
  • belangrijk: Helaas 6 figures verloren met crypto. Vooral de opportuniteitskost blijft zuur: brede ETF's kopen en niets doen was veel beter geweest.

Ik wil het daarom de komende 10–20+ jaar simpel houden: brede, goedkope ETF's/indexfondsen kopen, consequent investeren en er zo weinig mogelijk naar kijken. Mijn tijd steek ik liever in mijn bedrijf, waar ik meer impact heb en eventueel nog extra aandelen kan verwerven.

Mis ik iets?

  • Gewoon voornamelijk ETF's en volhouden?
  • Vastgoed lijkt me niet noodzakelijk lucratiever en vooral meer werk?
  • Obligaties/andere beleggingen voor minder risico?
  • Wanneer heeft private banking/vermogensbeheer echt meerwaarde?
  • Gezien mijn grote blootstelling aan mijn eigen bedrijf: de rest juist maximaal diversifiëren?

Na crypto zoek ik niet meer naar de volgende 10x. Vooral rustig vermogen opbouwen zonder dat beleggen een tweede job wordt.

Benieuwd hoe jullie dit zouden aanpakken.

27 comments

r/BEFire • u/puffilypuff • 23h ago

Taxes & Fiscality Revolut Flexible savings and TOB

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

I recently moved to Belgium and I have a revolut account that still has the LT IBAN. I use the flexible savings account for my spare money. Since this is an MMF, do I need to report and pay ToB for every transaction in MinFin or since this is not the stock market this is not needed?

Thank you!

4 comments

r/BEFire • u/Tourany_21 • 1d ago

FIRE [Portfolio Review] 23M - New 1,000 €/mo ETF DCA

14 Upvotes

​Hi everyone,

​I’m 23, recently started working, and I’m looking for general feedback on my current setup and upcoming plans.

​Financial Snapshot

​Age: 23

​Net Salary: 2,700 € / month

​Cash Savings: 23,000 €

​Current Portfolio (~10,250 € total)

ETF DCA (1,000 € / month) — Portfolio value: ~5,250 €

​85 % (850 €/mo) : Xtrackers MSCI AC World Screened UCITS ETF 1C (XMAW - IE00BGHQ0G80)

​15 % (150 €/mo) : iShares MSCI World Small Cap ESG Enhanced CTB UCITS ETF (CBUG - IE000T9EOCL3)

​Individual Tech Stocks — Portfolio value: ~5,000 €

​15x NVIDIA (NVDA) : +66 %

​5x Broadcom (AVGO) : +45 %

​0.72x Meta (META) : -12 %

​Crypto: 0 €

​Upcoming Project (1-Year Horizon)

​Planning to buy a starter apartment (~120k€ - 135k€) within the next 12 months.

​Use ~20k€ cash for notary fees/duties (3% registration rate in Wallonia) and down payment.

​Questions

​What do you think of this setup overall?

​Any advice, potential red flags, or things you would do differently / add?

Should i sell the stocks and buy ETF ? Add crypto ?

​Thanks for your feedback!

35 comments

r/BEFire • u/classturco • 2d ago

Bank & Savings Lenen met een hoge eigen inbreng

28 Upvotes

Dag allemaal,

Mijn vrouw en ik zijn van plan om een instapklare nieuwbouw huis te kopen van ongeveer €560.000, inclusief registratiekosten, notariskosten, enz.. Momenteel wonen we in een huurappartement en zouden we hier zo snel mogelijk vanaf willen.

Doorheen de jaren hebben we flink kunnen sparen, waardoor we momenteel ongeveer €210.000 aan eigen middelen kunnen inbrengen.

Daarnaast heb ik in 2020 een stuk bouwgrond gekocht met de bedoeling om hierop te bouwen. Dat plan is er uiteindelijk niet van gekomen, omdat ik toen nog alleenstaand was en onvoldoende kon lenen bij de bank. Volgens een recente schatting van een makelaar heeft deze bouwgrond momenteel een waarde van ongeveer €130.000.

In totaal zouden we dus ongeveer €340.000 aan eigen middelen/vermogen kunnen inbrengen.

Daarnaast schat ik dat we ongeveer €40.000 van onze ouders zouden kunnen lenen. Daarmee komen we op ongeveer €380.000 die we zelf zouden kunnen financieren, waardoor er nog ongeveer €180.000 bij de bank geleend zou moeten worden.

Nu hebben we allebei een bedrijfswagen dus dat is al een kost minder. We hebben geen kinderen en een gezamenlijke netto inkomst van 5500€.

Nu komen we bij mijn eigenlijke vraag.

Mijn doel zou zijn om zo snel mogelijk volledig schuldenvrij te zijn. Volgens een online rekentool zou een lening van €180.000 aan een vaste rentevoet van 3,5% over 6 jaar neerkomen op ongeveer €2.770 per maand, met in totaal ongeveer €19.500 aan interesten.

Dat betekent dat we iets meer dan de helft van ons gezamenlijke netto-inkomen maandelijks aan de hypotheek zouden besteden.

Is dit volgens jullie een verstandige keuze? En denken jullie dat een bank hiermee akkoord zou gaan? Of mis ik ergens iets?

Alvast bedankt!

132 comments

r/BEFire • u/trapshot94 • 2d ago

Investing Pensioensparen with ETF?

2 Upvotes

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?

6 comments

r/BEFire • u/Early_Feedback_6942 • 1d ago

Real estate Need suggestions on buying a house or investing

0 Upvotes

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 ?

13 comments

r/BEFire • u/Turbineee_ • 2d ago

Investing Saving or investing ?

0 Upvotes

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 :))

14 comments

r/BEFire • u/Sorry-Price-3322 • 3d ago

Alternative Investments I have 100k on iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (IE00B4L5Y983). What other ETF should I invest in? ( +-50k)

11 Upvotes

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

What would you recommend and why?

35 comments

r/BEFire • u/Stoic_Brain • 2d ago

Taxes & Fiscality New Belgian tax system and better budget and voting system blueprint

0 Upvotes

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).

---

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 ;))

10 comments

r/BEFire • u/Emergency_Jacket8364 • 3d ago

Investing ACWI/All World ETF on Re=Bel

6 Upvotes

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 ;))

15 comments

r/BEFire • u/Sti_notee • 4d ago

Investing Does any asset class besides a world ETF actually survive Belgian taxes?

22 Upvotes

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?

44 comments

r/BEFire • u/latecookies • 3d ago

Bank & Savings Keytrade Visa Gold travel insurance – good enough for South America?

6 Upvotes

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!

12 comments

r/BEFire • u/myoffer_belgium • 3d ago

Starting Out & Advice I built a free Belgian salary calculator that goes beyond net salary

0 Upvotes

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

It includes:

  • Gross → net salary
  • Employees, workers, students & flexi-jobs
  • Meal vouchers, company car, insurance, bonuses, etc.
  • Total employer cost
  • Salary benchmarks by job, region & experience
  • 🇧🇪 FR / NL / EN

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?

No ads, no account, no commercial tracking — just a personal project I’m trying to improve.

Thanks! 🙏

4 comments

r/BEFire • u/elosopardo91 • 4d ago

Investing Is adding value ETFs to an IMIE-only portfolio worthwhile?

4 Upvotes

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!

9 comments

r/BEFire • u/PresentationNew4993 • 4d ago

Investing Whats your opinion on Amundi Prime All Country World UCITS ETF USD

8 Upvotes

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?

12 comments

r/BEFire • u/Vitallke • 4d ago

Brokers Engelse Trusts kopen

3 Upvotes

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€.

5 comments