stocks Archives - Fight to FIRE

What type of investor are you?

At the beginning of every year, I get a letter from the bank I have an investment portfolio with to review my investment and reevaluate…

Portfolio update: new savings account & stock purchases

We are only the second week of January and I can already give a major update on my portfolio and milestones progress. This is in part due to the decline we saw at the end of 2018 and the opportunity it offered me to enter at a lower price for quite a few stocks.

9 dividend-paying stocks I’ll buy in 2019

Dividend-paying stocks? As a Belgian? Am I going mad, paying 30% to get cash instead of having it accumulate? Hear me out. Getting money…

Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) On A Stack Of Coins

ETFs: size doesn’t matter, kinda

In my article about PRIIPs, I briefly mentioned that the European alternatives to the now unavailable US-based Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) more often than not are…

PRIIPs Regulation Printed On The Side Of A Ring Folder

PRIIPs: Why Europeans can’t buy fancy US funds anymore

Most retail investors that trade on their own already noticed since the beginning of 2018. As a European, it’s not possible to buy US Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) anymore. If you were trying to find out how to buy US ETF in Europe, I hate to burst your bubble but there is no straight forward for this after a new regulation (no, options aren’t straightforward). The main culprit? One acronym: PRIIPs.
PRIIPs stands for Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products. Phew, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it? No wonder the abbreviation is used most of the time.

My preferred brokers as a small retail investor

When trying to reach FIRE you can’t get around brokers. I’m no different. I have two brokers I use for various reasons and means.…

A thrilling transfer to my actively managed portfolio

A cold breeze is passing through and Halloween is right around the corner. Yep, it’s October. So it’s time I do something frighting. Why don’t I deposit an additional 10,000 EUR to my actively managed portfolio?

Active funds aren’t popular in the FIRE community or with anyone looking into investing themselves and who know of ETFs.
There is a reluctance to use these funds and with good reason given their entry and management fees. Even Warren Buffett is dismissive about them.

There is a disturbance in the market

October is shaping up to be one for the bears. This month seems to resemble August 2015 in terms of market movement. The beginning of August was even the start of market turbulence that lasted until the end of 2015.
What both periods have in common? China. A few years ago, the bearish sentiment held the global markets in its claws in wake of a slowing Chinese market and the devaluation of the Chinese RMB. This time China also plays a role, but there are more worries: