FIRE Belgium - Personal Finance and Investing

20/08/2026

Aspiring freelancer friends! This is for you!

🚀 Kickstart as a Freelancer in Belgium

On 27 August, Freelancers in Belgium is organising a free virtual seminar covering everything you need to know to get started:

📚 Resources Future Freelancers Should Know
📋 Registering, Social Security, Startup Costs, Professional Cards and Legal To-Do's
💰 Freelance Financial Basics
🧭 Freelancing Readiness Check: Mental, Financial, Practical
💼 How to Get Your First Clients and Set Your Price

Everything organized by Jenny Björklöf and the team at Freelancers in Belgium!

📅 27 August 2026 (Online)
🎟️ Free

📌 Learn more and register:
https://freelancersinbelgium.be/event/kickstart-as-a-freelancer-in-belgium-free-virtual-seminar-3/

11/08/2026

If you missed the event on “How I invest for my kids”, last week, here is the replay and template!

If you're saving money for your children, nieces or nephews, where you put that money can make a huge difference over 10 or 20 years.

Leaving it in a savings account means letting it die to inflation and losing purchasing power.

Investing via bank funds or insurance products means paying excessively high fees (entry and ongoing) and giving up on the majority of the returns!

So what can you do instead?

In this episode, I show you the simple system I use to invest for multiple children, and let them benefit from full market returns:
One low-cost, globally diversified stock-market ETF + one simple spreadsheet to track each child's investment.

No complicated investment products.
No separate portfolio for every child.
No unnecessary high fees.

And I've made my Google Spreadsheet template available for you to copy and use for your own kids, nieces or nephews, right away.

In this episode:
- Why I don't use traditional savings accounts for long-term investing for kids (disaster no. 1)
- What's wrong with many of the investment products offered by Belgian banks (disaster no. 2)
- How to invest for multiple children using a single portfolio
- How to get broad stock-market exposure while keeping costs low
- How I selected the ETF for this strategy
- How to track each child's contributions and investment performance
- How to turn investing into an educational tool for your children
- What to think about before eventually giving the investment to the child
- How to use the spreadsheet to create an annual investment statement for each child
+ EXACT STEP-BY-STEP DEMO for you to use the template and start investing for your kids, optimized for Belgian taxes.

Get the free spreadsheet template
You can copy it to your own Google Drive and use it to track investments for up to 10 children.
👉 Get the template here:
https://firebelgium.com/investing-for-kids-template-demo/

Watch the episode, get the full understanding of how to use the tool and get started.

If you're going to invest for your kids for years or decades, keeping the strategy simple, diversified and low-cost matters enormously.

In the case of my 7 year old son, investing in this way has made 60% more gains than going with a bank product, for a total of 2766 €.
And I want to make sure your kids get the same benefits.

This episode reflects my personal approach and is for educational purposes only. It is not individual investment, tax or legal advice.

You can find the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/klJs-u8kXGo

But also as a podcast episode on most podcasting platforms:
➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7
➡️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120
➡️ YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjq4nLwZXKEAcJOwy3B4BCSsMozx_6RIr

If you think this episode could be useful to someone that you appreciate, please share the links with them!

31/07/2026

🔥ETF investing for kids + TEMPLATE

I have been investing for my sons, nephews and nieces since 2016.

But I didn't open a brokerage account for each of them. That would be too many things to manage (and fees to pay).

Instead, I created a spreadsheet that I use to track each child's investment as part of my own portfolio of index ETFs. We contribute to each child's account each year, and for their birthday, we print an investment report that we give to the child (and his/her parents).

Join us on 6th of August for a presentation of my method, and to get access to the template I have developed so that you can start similar investment plans for your kids, nieces and nephews :-)

REGISTRATION REQUIRED via Zoom.
Sign up for free here:
➡️ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lSub-DSKSp6kb7czJzIdgQ

28/07/2026

The 4% rule is one of the most famous concepts in the world of financial independence.

It is simple: build a portfolio worth 25 times your annual expenses, withdraw 4% per year, and you should be able to retire without running out of money.

But the problem is that the 4% rule could make you retire too early… or too late.

Too early, because you might underestimate the risks and misunderstand the assumptions behind the rule and believe you are financially independent when you’re not.

For example I’ve seen people say: well the 4% rule works because on average the stock market returns 7 to 9% per year. So taking 4% is safe. This is, of course, completely wrong.

But also too late, because you might be saving and investing for years longer than necessary because you are using a rule that does not fully match your situation as an investor living in Belgium.

In this episode, I am joined once again by Toon Cuypers. We are going to break down the research behind the 4% rule and show you how to adapt it to your own situation.

You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ouGmF5A5-Y

Here is what you'll learn:
- how much money you really need to achieve financial freedom,
- why the 4% rule is only a starting point and not a complete retirement plan,
- the hidden assumptions that can change your answer by hundreds of thousands of euros,
- how Belgian investors should think about their portfolio, pension, and withdrawal strategy,
- and how to build a simple, evidence-based plan that gives you confidence about your financial future.

By the end of this episode, you will have a much clearer framework to calculate your own freedom number and build a realistic investment plan based on evidence — not just a simple rule of thumb.

By the way, if you’re new to index investing and you would like to get my blueprint on how to build wealth on autopilot, using evidence-based investing optimized for Belgian taxes, make sure to watch the free workshop on the FIRE Belgium website. It’s the best way to start and it’s my gift to you.
🎓 Free Interactive Workshop: https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop
Also, towards the end of the episode, we use the Financial Independence Calculator, to help you estimate your time to FI, including Belgian taxes, such as the new tax on capital gains. You can find it here:
📊 FI Calculator (free): https://firebelgium.com/ficalculator

Other important links:
📖 Beginner's Guide: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide
🌐 FIRE Belgium: https://firebelgium.com
👥 Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120

🎓 Free Interactive Workshop: https://firebelgium.com/investingworks...

14/07/2026

What are the best brokers for ETF investors in Belgium?

What is the best broker for you?

In this episode, we do a deep dive and compare 12 brokers, across 35 criteria so that you can select the best broker for your situation and your needs.

You can find the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zFiKf0HNdM

I am joined by Toon Cuypers, financial coach at FIRE Belgium for this episode as he just spent 2 months updating the FIRE Belgium Comparison Table.

And you can download it for free here: firebelgium.com/brokers.

In this episode, you will learn about:
The cheapest broker for Belgian investors,
The most convenient brokers
And the new automatic investments plans offered by the various brokers.

If you’re looking to find the best broker to start investing with or to move your portfolio to, then this episode is for you.

And if you’re new to index investing, then I recommend you watch the free interactive workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

___

You can find the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zFiKf0HNdM

But also as a podcast episode on most podcasting platforms:
➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7
➡️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120
➡️ YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjq4nLwZXKEAcJOwy3B4BCSsMozx_6RIr

If you think this episode could be useful to someone that you appreciate, please share the links with them!

23/06/2026

David invests €2,500/month - half his household salary- into index ETFs. Automatically. Without stress. 💰

Here's the exact 4-step system he used to get there. ➡️ Swipe to see each step.

👉 Watch the full case study:
🔗 www.firebelgium.com/show

📊 Calculate your own FI date (free):
🔗 firebelgium.com/ficalculator

10/06/2026

If you keep doing what you're doing today, when will you become financially independent?

In 10 years? 25 years? Or never?

Most Belgian investors have never answered this question with real numbers.

And most FI calculators give them the wrong answer, because they ignore Belgian taxes and fees.

I built a tool to fix that.

Based on evidence-based investing principles. Built for Belgium. Used by over 500 professionals I've personally taught.

In this video, I walk through exactly how to use it.

Here's what you'll see:

→ Your financial independence number

→ How long it will take at your current savings rate

→ What you can do to get there faster

→ The real cost of robo advisors and bank funds vs index ETFs

→ What not investing at all actually costs you

The impact of fees alone can be years, if not a decade, on your FI date.

📊 Download the free FI Calculator: https://firebelgium.com/ficalculator

🎧 Watch the tool demo: https://youtu.be/CA66qGiAAmI

➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7

➡️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120

---

*When you run the numbers, what surprises you most? Drop it in the comments.*

01/06/2026

€0 invested at 35. Now investing €2,500/month at 37, and on track for financial independence at 53.

What changed? One phone call.

---

David had been living in Italy for years.

€1,300/month salary. €600 in rent. Nothing left to save.

Not lazy. Not irresponsible.

Just stuck in a system where the math didn't work.

---

Then a recruiter called from Brussels.

The European Commission. €280/day.

He thought it was a scam.

Then he saw it was serious, so he said yes.

---

Once in Belgium, he moved up fast.

Today: €550/day net. €5,000/month household income.

But here's what most people get wrong:

**The income increase alone didn't change his life.**

Learning what to do with the money did.

---

He built a 6-month emergency fund.

Then started investing €2,500/month into a simple ETF portfolio:

- 70% global equities (SPYY/ACWE)
- 30% bonds (GOVA)
- Brokers: MeDirect + Bolero

Two ETFs. One simple plan. Full autopilot.

---

According to the FI Calculator:

If David keeps this up, he reaches financial independence at **53**.

That's 14 years before the official retirement age.

Not to stop working.

To **choose** whether to work.

---

> "That freedom to quit a job I don't like, take a gap year, travel, this is the ultimate thing the portfolio gives me."
>

---

I shared David's full case study in the latest episode of the FIRE Belgium Show.

Real numbers. Real portfolio. Real plan.

🎧 Full episode: https://youtu.be/4XTx_VO-98Q

You can also listen to the episode as an audio podcast:

➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7

➡️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120

He was earning €1,300/month in Italy. Rent alone was €600. Saving f...

29/05/2026

Many people invest to build a nest egg for retirement, or to stop working sooner than planned.

But, how much do you actually need to retire?
A popular tool for this is the well-known 4%-rule.

In this article, Toon Cuypers, financial coach at FIRE Belgium, takes a critical look at this rule of thumb.

This standard rule can be too limited and, depending on your circumstances, the appropriate withdrawal rate could be meaningfully higher or lower.

Toon explains the key variables you need to consider and the crucial questions you should ask yourself to determine which withdrawal rate may be appropriate for your situation.

Curious to know? Check out the article.

A Critical Look at the 4% Rule Many people invest to build a nest egg for retirement, or to stop working sooner than planned. A popular tool for this is the well-known 4%-rule. In this article, Toon Cuypers, financial coach at FIRE Belgium, reviews this rule of thumb with a critical lens. “The sta...

15/05/2026

What actually happens to your money, your investments, and everything you’ve built… when you die in Belgium?

For most people, the answer is simple: a large part of it disappears in taxes. 30%, 40% and up to 80% in some cases. Because of non-existent or poor estate and inheritance planning.

My name is Sébastien and I teach busy professionals living in Belgium how to build wealth on autopilot with evidence based passive investing, optimized for Belgian taxes.

And in this episode, I want to help you keep more of the wealth you’re building when it passes on to the next generation.

To help me do this I have invited Marc Quaghebeur, an expert in international tax and estate planning from the law firm Delsol Avocats. Marc works with entrepreneurs, expats and cross-border families in Belgium. He is the author of « Rest in Peace, A Guide to Wills and Inheritance Tax in Belgium ».

In this episode, you’ll discover the key mistakes that can cost your family tens of thousands, how Belgian inheritance taxes really work, and the strategies that can bring that tax rate down dramatically.

We’ll walk through what happens step by step, and the practical actions that you can take to protect what you’re building.

Since the recording, I have started several things that could save my family hundreds of thousands of euros. And I am sure you’ll benefit as well.

Full biography and contact details of Marc Quaghebeur:
https://www.delsolavocats.com/Marc-QUAGHEBEUR

You can find the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WGpm2bsStqw

But also as a podcast episode on most podcasting platforms:
➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Pn2Gu1kSM5xtOgH3osjU7
➡️ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fire-belgium-show/id1632972120
➡️ YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjq4nLwZXKEAcJOwy3B4BCSsMozx_6RIr

If you think this episode could be useful to someone that you appreciate, please share the links with them!

What actually happens to your money, your investments, and everything you’ve built… when you die in Belgium?For most people, the answer is simple: a large pa...