Mr. FightToFIRE

Aedifica Vs Cofinimmo: a comprehensive comparison

Cofinimmo vs Aedifica: Which Belgian healthcare REIT is better?

The health care sector is at the center of the Corona pandemic. Especially in Belgium where during the first wave, elderly care centers got hit hard. Luckily, after a bit of delay, the situation stabilized and the worst was over. It also didn't impact the rental payments too much as both healthcare REITs Aedifica and Cofinimmo kept receiving rent. So, both healthcare REITs seem to be solid amidst this continuing chaos but are either one of them better than the other?

Buying a first home: pay attention to these costs

Having gone through the process of buying my own home I wanted to share all the costs that came with this crazy adventure. There are a lot of costs associated with getting your first home, whether it's a house or apartment. I was quite honestly a little surprised by all the paperwork and meetings that come with it. This overview should cover the majority of costs, both recurring and one-time for both the notary and the bank.

Quarterly Portfolio Report - growing stack of coins

Quarterly Portfolio Report – Q2 2020

USD rate used: 1 USD = 0.885514 EUR

-EUR

Total portfolio worth (all in)

+EUR

Total portfolio worth (Savings & Effects)

Quarter two was just as much of a thrill ride as Q1, but in reverse. We went from a bear market to new highs in a matter of weeks instead of months or years. The question is though, is this move sustainable? For the moment the sharp recovery results in an excellent recovery of my portfolio across the board.

My monthly Savings Rate report: June 2020

After a live-changing May, June was a lot less crazy. That is not to say that nothing happened in June. I actually invested quite a bit in the site. These investments made my SR drop but thanks to my holiday pay, I was able to keep the damage to a minimum.

Paying too much taxes? My Belgian pay slip explained

My full pay slip — This is my most recent full pay slip with of course, sensitive data redacted.

In 2020 (and beyond) Belgium is still the country with the highest average income tax and tax wedge in the world (OECD, 2020a). I’m willing to bet Americans’ blood would boil seeing my payslip at the end of the month. 52.2% of what my employer pays for me ends up in the hands of the government. For comparison, the US tax wedge for a single with no kids is 29.8% (OECD, 2020b). So, where do these taxes come from? and are there any benefits to paying so many taxes, besides the typical usage such as firefighters, roads, public buildings, etc.?