The Money Mustache Community

Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: schoenbauer on February 03, 2019, 06:27:43 AM

Title: ETF investing in Belgium
Post by: schoenbauer on February 03, 2019, 06:27:43 AM
Dear MMM community,

I have recently moved to Belgium and I'm now familiarizing myself with the investment opportunities. Can some kind soul who knows the system better than me give me a pointer on those two questions:

1. What is a low-cost broker in Belgium to invest ca. 1.5k/month in ETFs? I saw that other Mustachians are using Binck, but paying 8 Euro per 2500 Euro investment doesn't seem overly cheap to me (coming from Germany where you pay 0-3 Euro for a similar amount). I prefer a Belgian broker to a foreign broker because I hope it is more hassle free in terms of taxes.

2. On the Bogleheads wiki ("Investing in Belgium") I read that dividends are taxed 30%, but accumulating funds don't tax the re-invested dividends and capital gains are also not taxable (when the fund is held for more than 6 month). Is that still true? It seems incredible to me that capital gains are not taxed, when labour is taxed so heavily here (am I missing something?). Therefore an Irish, accumulating ETF seems to be the best choice for Belgian investors...?

Thankful for any feedback :)
Title: Re: ETF investing in Belgium
Post by: MrSal on February 03, 2019, 03:26:45 PM
Dear MMM community,

I have recently moved to Belgium and I'm now familiarizing myself with the investment opportunities. Can some kind soul who knows the system better than me give me a pointer on those two questions:

1. What is a low-cost broker in Belgium to invest ca. 1.5k/month in ETFs? I saw that other Mustachians are using Binck, but paying 8 Euro per 2500 Euro investment doesn't seem overly cheap to me (coming from Germany where you pay 0-3 Euro for a similar amount). I prefer a Belgian broker to a foreign broker because I hope it is more hassle free in terms of taxes.

2. On the Bogleheads wiki ("Investing in Belgium") I read that dividends are taxed 30%, but accumulating funds don't tax the re-invested dividends and capital gains are also not taxable (when the fund is held for more than 6 month). Is that still true? It seems incredible to me that capital gains are not taxed, when labour is taxed so heavily here (am I missing something?). Therefore an Irish, accumulating ETF seems to be the best choice for Belgian investors...?

Thankful for any feedback :)

Check DeGiro broker. They have a big free list of ETFs and even if not free they have cheap fees like 1 dollar per trade. They are based off of NL so they should have presence in Belgium as well.
Title: Re: ETF investing in Belgium
Post by: Polaria on February 05, 2019, 09:40:53 AM
Join the fun here: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/meetups-and-social-events/belgian-moustachians/
Title: Re: ETF investing in Belgium
Post by: schoenbauer on February 09, 2019, 03:43:10 AM
Will do :)

Thanks for the recommendations!