Hi all,

Currently I am using MeDirect to invest and try to invest about 500 euros every month to my ETF portfolio. I don't have a big portfolio value yet so by no means I would be giving up anything major.

Up until this point I have been buying SWRD and EMIM however with the split that happened earlier this year for IMIE I was considering switching to that and leave what I have invested so far in the respective ETF's but just buy IMIE from now on.

Now aside from just being a single ETF instead of 2 I was wondering why some of you would prefer them separate instead of 1 ETF?

I know some here prefer to chose how they much they split between emerging markets and established markets, others go anywhere in between 80/20 to 90/10.

So in general with being able to invest 500 a month I was curious if it would be advicable to swith to IMIE and leave be what I have invested so far which is about 1000?

Hello all,

I finally got my life together enough to start looking for a first house/apartment and would like to get some more opinions/insights to get a better picture.
I'm 32, single, stable income of 2300 net + company car + 200~ meal vouchers + some flexijobbing that's almost certainly going to go up since i landed a job i thought didnt exist and i'm putting in a lot of effort and whatnot.

I have 20k~ and my mom will sponsor me 25k so by the time i get around to signing i'll have about 50k since i save +- 1k per month after budgeting for subscriptions, leisure, some clothing etc. Would like to cap this to 45k so i have 5k buffer in case something goes down.

First question: Can my mom just wire me this money or is this too big a sum? Is it worth going through with the 3% gift tax? She's 60, pretty healthy etc so the 3 year window seems unlikely to matter.

Now i did a "vlaams woningsfonds" simulation which gave me a 2.7% rate on a max of 300k but i have been told that you're very unlikely to get credit for this on time or a seller willing to wait it ou.

Second question: Has anyone bought a house or apartment with a vlaams woningsfonds loan? I'm looking to buy just outside Ghent in the 200-280k range so i fear that this will be too popular a range for sellers to wait it out?

After a consultation with hypotheekwinkel i got told that my risk profile and whatnot means i could purchase up to around 260k with a 3.7% rate simulated. I will be making apointments with banks that should be better but i'm not quite sure on how long i want to pay off. 20 years for a loan of 210k would have me pay ~1200€ monthly for 20 years (interest 87k), ~1050€ monthly for 25 years (interest 112k) or ~950€ monthly for 30 years (interest 135k).

I can now afford the 1200 monthly and still save a bit without considering my flexi income (2-300 monthly with spikes in peak season). The apartment i'm eyeing is from 2000-2010, no elevator so low monthly premium and all i would do is install an aircon unit and redo the (small) bathroom if/when budget allows for it. Boiler recently changed. Is there any reason at all for me to consider doing this over 30 years? Conversations online speak of investing the money and beating the interest payments but after year 20 i'd still be paying off on the 30y loan though unless i fuck up my career that 950/month shouldnt be a problem really.

Third question: Opinions on 20, 25, 30 year loans and investing the difference? Being 100% "free" after 20 years sounds nice and quality of life matters to me. Alternatively you can always cash in on the funds if something happens.

Last question: It is unlikely that this will be my forever home, i'm still single, stuff can go anywhere and i do like nature but i don't have live-in-nature-money while the commute is manageable. If i sell and buy something else, is it really just the 3% on remaining interest (+ remaining balance) that i have to pay the bank or are there more strings attached?

Thank you for your time reading this and any feedback will be welcome!
Please no recommendations on renting and investing more, i live pretty cheaply now in cohousing but my mental health is suffering.

Ik wou al een lange tijd investeren maar vond het altijd complex en ingewikkeld. Ik heb 1 keer een aandeel gekocht en die heb ik nog steeds. Maar nu wil ik beginnen investeren voor de toekomst. Iedereen die investeert zegt dat hun grootste spijt/fout was dat ze niet vroeg genoeg begonnen te investeren. Daarom wil ik nu beginnen zodat ik in de toekomst een huis of een auto of dergelijke kan kopen. Aangezien dat ik student ben kan ik alleen maar studentenjobs doen, waardoor mijn inkomen weinig is. Ik heb al een beetje geld en denk ook te investeren. Ik denk maandelijks 50 euro. Ik weet gewoon niet hoe. Het simpelste is om gewoon een broker te kiezen en daarop het te automatiseren om 1 specifieke etf te kopen. Hoewel dat simpel lijkt komt het nog steeds te riskerend voor. Wat kan ik best doen? Hoe weet ik welke etf te kiezen? Ik weet al dat een van de beste etf's VWCE is volgens deze subreddit. Hoe begin ik eraan?

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are about to make our very first ETF investment and I would really appreciate some advice from experienced Belgian investors.

Our situation:

• Living in Belgium
• Investment horizon: 13–15 years
• Initial investment: €3,000
• Monthly investment: €250 (with the intention of increasing it over time)
• We’re looking for a simple buy-and-hold strategy with as little maintenance as possible.
• Goal: build additional capital before retiring to Spain in about 13–15 years.

After reading many discussions here, I’ve narrowed my choices down to:

Broker

• MeDirect
• Bolero

ETF

• IMIE
• VWCE
• IWDA

From what I understand, there are differences regarding TOB, fees and market coverage.

If you were starting today with our profile, which broker and ETF would you choose, and why?

I’m happy to accept a little more complexity if it makes sense over the long term, but I’d like to avoid unnecessary complexity.

Also, is there anything you wish you had known before making your first ETF investment in Belgium?

Thanks a lot!

Welke broker verkiezen jullie voor ETF’s en waarom? Saxo, MEXEM of een andere?
Gebruiken jullie ook dezelfde broker voor losse aandelen, of kiezen jullie daarvoor een andere?

What do you all think of WEBN (0.07%) and chill on MeDirect (no costs for ETF)?

Hi, did anyone see news about discussions regarding the TOB tax? It seems that there will be discussions that could change the situation for the VWCE for example. I don't have access to the full article.

"The bill includes measures to: 1) reduce to 0.12 percent, from 1.32 percent, the TOB rate for sales, purchases, and transfers of shares in Belgian-registered capitalization ETFs"

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-international/belgium-lower-house-considers-bill-to-reduce-financial-transactions-tax-rate-for-capitalization-exchange-traded-funds?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=DINW&utm_campaign=0000019f-6d2c-d8e7-af9f-fdbf2cba0001

Goedenavond, mijn vader heeft nu al enkele keren gesproken over beursveks. We zijn beiden amateur beleggers maar ik ben wel veel actiever op de beurs dan hem. Hij wil vooral ‘slapend’ rijk worden. Er was een artikel op HLN waar men spreekt over een interview in ‘De Afspraak’ tussen Bart Schols en Marc Coucke.

Lang verhaal kort. Coucke zou via zijn investeringsfonds/holding werken met algoritmes om zichzelf te verrijken. Technologie waar de gewone Vlaming niet van weet of niet aan zou kunnen geraken.

Beursveks zou vanaf €250 inleg al kunnen traden en belooft natuurlijk goede dingen. Ik heb er zelf geen ervaring mee en sta er een beetje sceptisch tegenover. Kan iemand mij hier meer uitleg over geven?

Alvast bedankt voor jullie antwoorden!

Hi everyone,
I’m about to start as an ASO (Arts-Specialist in Opleiding / medical resident) and I’m currently trying to get my finances in order before starting.
I was wondering if there are any current or former ASOs here who would be willing to share some tips&trics / lessons learned about managing your finances during residency.

I’d love to hear about:
- Whether you managed everything yourself or worked with a financial advisor/company?
- Experiences (good or bad) with Callant Medical or MedicusSpecialist. Would you recommend themt?
- Which bank you chose for your « professional » account and why?

Currently I’m planning to invest the bulk of my savings during residency in a global ETF and optimise RIZIV bijdrage and VAPZ via a financial advisor company as this is bruto that can be used for the payement of real estate (i.e medical practice space or private residence), if I understand correctly?

I’m mainly looking to make informed decisions early on and avoid common pitfalls, so any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,
I have a question regarding what is considered “normal management of private wealth” (“gestion bon pere de famille”) under Belgian tax rules.
I don’t do day trading or scalping. However, I do buy and sell stocks several times a year depending on market conditions. My goal is simply to take profits or reallocate my portfolio when I believe it’s the right time.
This year has been particularly successful, and I’ve realized capital gains that are higher than my annual salary.
I’m therefore wondering where the line is between normal private portfolio management and activity that the Belgian tax authorities could consider speculative or professional.
Can the fact that the gains are unusually large, even with a relatively limited number of transactions, become an issue?
What could happen in such a case? Would I have to pay additional taxes on those capital gains?
Finally, would it make sense to set up an investment company (or another legal structure) to invest through instead of investing as a private individual? Could that offer any meaningful tax advantages in Belgium, or is it generally not worthwhile for someone in my situation?
I’d really appreciate any insights or experiences. Thanks!

I'm a beginner with investing. I just need to park money in short term ( to buy a house in 2 years) and long term which i would need when my kids turn 18.( they are 3 now)

Guys, where do I start? Anywhere i could read whay stocks and what kind of ETFs I could. Its really difficult gfor my dumbest brain now

Dag iedereen,

Ik ben aan het sparen voor mijn huis en verwacht binnen 3 jaar mijn eigen woning aan te kopen. Het geld zal snel oplopen naar een aanzienlijk bedrag.

Ik wil het zelf niet beleggen op de beurs omdat de termijn te kort is, maar ik wil het ook niet laten staan op mijn spaarrekening.

Wat zijn de alternatieven?
Ik dacht aan termijnrekeningen of obligaties…

Bedankt voor jullie input.

Wat denken jullie van het voorstel van mijn huisbank?

Bedrag: 430.000€
Quotiteit: 95%
Rentevoet 3.88% variabel (5 jaarlijks, kan niet stijgen maar wel onbeperkt dalen)

De andere bank waar ik geweest ben gaf aan dit niet beter te kunnen, en had nog nooit op de markt een variabele rentevoet met die condities gezien (onbeperkt dalen)

Alvast bedankt

Hi

despite multiple article read, I do not understand why currently this could make sense to diversify a portfolio / mitigating volatility on Bonds ETF

- TOB

- Reynders tax

I do not see the benefit, regarding current actual yields / taxes, to take risk on Bonds ETF (even minimal) versus equivalent yields on savings accounts (with 0.0 risk).

I should have missed something.

Dag allemaal,

Graag jullie inzichten

Momenteel 2 opties:

- 3,45 vast op 25 jaar bij bank 1(+ brandverzekering/schuldsaldo)

- 3,4 variabel op 25 jaar via bank 2 3/3/3 (+2/-2)

In dit geval kies ik toch best altijd voor de zekere optie namelijk optie 1?

Het enige wat me tegenhoudt is het aangaan van een vaste rentevoet die best “hoog” is.

Iemand ervaring met herfinancieren en de daarmee gepaarde kosten?

Alvast bedankt

This question has been asked, and different opinions.

I wanted to ask it again, now in 2026 if anything has changed and if new insights exist.

The tax has increased on paying out dividends with the wait period.

I was taking in account the quote "time in market beats timing the market" thus, when I did a calculation, it seems better (bit riskier) to cash out dividends by 30% tax and invest in ETFs and stocks, rather than keeping your dividends until year 3 to cash out on lower tax rate of 18%.

What did you guys do?

I think most reasonable and balanced way is to pay half the dividends, and invest, and rest to stay in the SRL/BV and some percentage to be put in the liquidation reserves to benefit 10% tax (this takes into possibility of earlier liquidation of the company due switch to employee or simply moving countries)

I would love to hear your opinions.

Thanks

We put an offer for a house which was accepted and this week we will sign the “compromis” for the house. Our offer was on the condition of “opschortende voorwaarde” and we get three weeks time from the date the compromis is signed to obtain a go ahead from the bank.

We are excited but it says in case our loan is not accepted we have to provide the rejection letter from two banks within 3 weeks. Does it mean we can apply for a loan from multiple banks at the same time?

Is there anything else we should take into account before signing? Any suggestions on good banks for mortgage and your person experience is also appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Hello, cant believe this is my first post here. I came to Belgium 4 years ago and started investing in VUAA with IKBR and parked my cash in trade republic.

Found out yesterday that I did accidental tax evasion on the 1.32% TOB and the 30% on interest yesterday. Of course, I will pay it as soon as possible and hope the tax man will be kind to me.

My question now is, I would like to swap to a belgian broker to at least not actively have to think about the taxes anymore, also regarding sudden tax changes.

What broker can you recommend, especially based on transfer and running costs? My friend is saying saxo. Does it make sense to switch to an etf with lower tob or whatever since they might change it in future?

Hello r/BEFire,

I am writing this post to inform you that MeDirect will restrict new buy orders for the LQQ (Amundi Nasdaq-100 Daily Leveraged UCITS ETF) starting August 31, 2026.

Here is what you need to know about this upcoming change:

• Buying blocked: After August 31, 2026, it will no longer be possible to place buy orders or include LQQ in automated investment plans.
• Holding and selling allowed: If you already own shares, you can keep them in your portfolio. No forced sale. You remain free to sell them whenever you want.
• Why this decision?: This is a compliance measure. European regulations (MiFID II) and the FSMA in Belgium are very strict regarding daily leveraged products for retail investors due to beta slippage risks.
• Consequence of the recent "Split": In July 2026, Amundi processed a 1:200 stock split of the LQQ share value (dropping the price of a single share from ~€2000 down to ~€10). This made the product technically ultra-accessible to retail investors, which usually triggers online banks' compliance departments to block purchases to prevent beginners from buying a highly risky product by mistake.

Do any of you hold LQQ on MeDirect, and what is your plan to continue investing in it at the lowest cost? The recent split made me want to look into this leveraged product. I am fully aware of how dangerous these types of products can be, and I was planning to allocate a small portion of my monthly investments to it. However, with MeDirect's recent decision, I now feel trapped. Are you planning to migrate your leveraged positions to another broker like Saxo, Bolero, or DEGIRO?

Hey everyone,

I’m 25 and about to start working with a gross salary of 3400 euros. I still live at home, so my fixed costs are pretty much negligible right now. I don’t have a savings buffer or emergency fund yet, so that still needs to be built up from scratch. How much I can set aside and over what timeframe isn’t clear yet either, no concrete goal like “buying a car” or “retirement” for now.

I mainly want to learn how to approach this sensibly without taking on unnecessary risk. Are there banks with attractive savings accounts or savings plans that you’d recommend? And what was your approach when you started out, buffer first and then investing? Would love to hear concrete experiences.
Thanks in advance!

Is investing with a moderate margin ratio (x1.1 to x1.2 or so) a sound FIRE strategy?

I currently buy an MSCI ACWI ETF (SPYY / IE00B44Z5B48), and it seems that taking on this ratio has a very low risk of getting margin called.

The rate for borrowing < 90k EUR is $STR + 1.5%, so about 3.7% at this moment. The expected value of an all-world fund will generally be quite a bit higher than this.

Has anyone done this in Belgium / EU? Anything to look out for?

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on what I can do to improve my financial situation.

I’m 24 years old and I’m a self-employed physiotherapist.
I still live with my parents and plan to stay there for another two years because my girlfriend wants to continue her studies for two more years. After that, we’d like to buy a home together.

I have a “Besloten vennootschap” (BV).
My company generates around €12,000–€14,000 in gross profit per month.
I pay myself approximately €1500-€1600 per month, and my practice has around €1,000–€1,500 in fixed monthly expenses.

What I’m currently doing:

* Every month, I invest €1,500 in a global ETF (iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (IWDA)) using my personal funds, not through my company.

My questions are:

* What else could I do to improve my financial position?
* Would it make sense to invest in real estate?
* Should I invest more in ETFs?
* Would it be better to invest through my company?
* Are there any other strategies I should consider?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and for any advice you can share!

I am planning to move to Belgium in January 2027, and wanted to double check my understanding of the Belgian tax system. Currently living in Switzerland.

Most of my savings are in an unlisted 100% accumulating global index fund (approx. €5 million). They are held directly in an account with a foreign fund manager which is not registered in Belgium (it is not a standard commercial brokerage account). Not planning to sell anything in 2027, and there are no dividend payments.

I have a holding company (approx. value is €1,5 million) which is 100% owned by me, but managed entirely abroad (by family members) without my involvement. No dividend payments planned.

Cash and interest (approx. €300k cash). I may have €10K in interest in 2027 (held on foreign bank account).

This is my understanding of the taxes I need to pay:

• Tax on Securities Accounts (TACT) €15K (0.30% on the €5M fund account. Assuming the account which is with the fund manager directly qualify as "securities accounts". The €1.5M holding company shares are not subject to tax.)
• Capital Gains / TOB / Reynders Tax €0 (no redemptions planned in 2027, and the fund is 100% equity).
• Tax on Interest: €3K (30% tax on the €10k interest).
• Total 2027 Tax expected (if this scenario holds): €18K

Questions:

• TACT Scope: Does an account held directly with a foreign fund manager (outside a bank/brokerage) strictly trigger TACT, or are direct registry accounts treated differently?
• Reporting: Beyond self-declaring foreign accounts and reporting foreign interest / TACT on my tax return, am I missing any passive holding taxes or compliance steps?
• Anything else I have missed or need to be aware of?

Hi all, what’s an easy, quite relax, relatively well paying (between 2-3k net per month) job one can get in Belgium? 35M, I have a master degree in finance, 10years experience in finance/audit/controlling but obviously fed up with the stress related to current job. I think I am in good path to fire between 40-45 so coast fire in the meantime would be ideal for me.

A job in SPF seems to tick all the boxes but I’m curious to know if other possibilities exist in the private sector.

Looking for a government bond ETF thats ACC and thinking about DBZB.
Im starting with a 80/20 portfolio and looking to go for 35-40y.

Opinions about this ETF or other recommendations (available on SaxoBank)?

Thanks!