Category: Investing
VWCE and Chill is Unnecessarily Expensive
VWCE won the hearts of many European investors due to its suitability for: A one-fund portfolio Global diversification Set-and-forget investing – no rebalancing, no tracking asset allocation. That’s all great. However, $VWCE has a TER of 0.22% (plus internal transaction costs and dividend leakage). Many beginners still consider this low-cost. And it is, but not …
Why You Can’t Create “The Next Bitcoin” (The Network Effect)
Every cycle, there are people that claim that their favorite crypto project will be “the next Bitcoin”. Usually this is because their choice is faster, cheaper, more private, or better in any arbitrary parameter that they value. This is unrealistic and misleading. I won’t debate whether those attributes make a blockchain “better” or not. Let’s …
Not Everything is a Short Squeeze
Short Squeeze is a term that’s often misused since 2021. In this post, I’ll explain exactly what it means and how to correctly describe various market phenomena. Let’s start with the basics: What is Shorting? Shorting or short selling is a strategy where a trader bets on an asset’s price going down. In other words, when you “short” …
SPYL vs SPY5 – What to Choose and Why?
If you’re a new European investor, you’ve probably researched SPYL and SPY5 for your US exposure. In this post, I’ll explain exactly what’s the difference between the two and give a recommendation. SPYL Ticker symbols: SPYL, SPXL, SPSA; ISIN: IE000XZSV718 SPYL (SPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc.)) is an ETF tracking the S&P 500 – an …
Cold Wallet vs. Hot Wallet (Hardware & Software Wallets)
I keep getting questions whether it’s worth it to buy BitBox02 or Keystone 3 Pro if they already use MetaMask/Exodus/TrustWallet and have written the seed phrase on paper. Yes, it’s absolutely worth it. In this post, I’ll explain a few benefits and protections you gain with hardware wallets that hot wallets don’t offer. But first, …
Bitcoin Mining Isn’t “Solving Difficult Math Problems”
The common way content creators explain Bitcoin mining to their audience is: “… Miners are solving difficult math problems…” This is false and misleading. Nobody is “solving difficult math problems” or the even cringier version “difficult mathematical equations“. Please share this post with anyone claiming to be an educator and using such terminology. What is …
CSPX vs SPYL – What is The Best US ETF
A US ETF is usually the core of most investors’ portfolios. I’ve already covered the most popular UCITS ETFs (CSPX, VUSA, IUSA), but since late 2023, we have a new contender: $SPYL. In this post, we’ll analyze whether SPYL can dethrone CSPX as the best US ETF. CSPX Ticker symbols: CSPX, SXR8, CSP1; ISIN: IE00B5BMR087 …
Recover Accounts on Different Hardware Wallet
Although I regularly cover hardware wallets and the seed phrase management on my blog, there is one concern that I’m often asked about. I’d paraphrase/summarize it as: “If my hardware wallet malfunctions after the company goes bankrupt, will I lose my money?” And the answer to that question is: no. As long as you have your …
Can Bitcoin Reach One Million Dollars?
Can Bitcoin reach million dollars? Undoubtedly! Probably not this cycle, but why am I so sure that it’ll happen at all? Well, let’s forget about Bitcoin for a moment. Let me take you on an eye-opening journey… And by the time you’re done reading, you’ll be as certain as I am. House Prices in 1963 …
Receive Tax Free Dividends in The Netherlands
If you’re a long-term index investor residing in the Netherlands, you can receive dividends tax free. Although I’m not a big fan of dividend investing, I still want to share some strategies that ETF investors can utilize without much effort. Basically, you’d leverage the tax treaties and tax codes of different countries to legally avoid dividend …
Why I Don’t Like the Term “Hardware Wallet” – Signing Devices and Keychains
As most of you know, hardware wallets are devices that give users total control over their digital assets. I cover this in detail in my security posts and in the self custody manual for beginners. So let’s start with a quick recap: What is a Hardware Wallet? In an oversimplified summary, a hardware wallet is …
Real Diversification – Banks, Passports, Residencies, Driving Licences, Assets
As investors, many of us understand the role of diversifying our portfolio across assets and asset classes. However, if you’re pursuing a free and abundant life, handling the financial aspect is just the base layer of the pyramid. In this post, I want to give examples of diversification that most people don’t consider – but …
My Hardware Wallet Recommendations: BitBox02 & Keystone 3 Pro
I write about self custody and security a lot on this blog. The holy grail of securing digital assets is using a hardware wallet. And I’ve compared most with each other: Trezor, BitBox02, Ledger, Coldcard or the Keystone 3 Pro review. In this post, I’ll give my summary and recommendations: BitBox02 & Keystone 3 Pro …
How to Cash Out Millions in the EU Tax Free
EU has a reputation of imposing oppressive tax rates. While this is true in general, investors can make use of the different treatments of investment profits to significantly lower or even fully avoid paying capital gains taxes. If you’ve made significant profits in the past years, this post will save you a lot of money. …
Bitcoin Exit Strategy (Cycle Based Rotation)
If you were smart and accumulated Bitcoin during the bear market, you’re sitting on a massive gains so far. Of course, most of us understand the benefits of being a long-term holder. You get Bitcoin’s inevitability and that it’s an antidote for inflation and the money printer. Still, some of us are also aware of the …