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500 expats learning about Financial Independence – now you can too!
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Saving Made Simple
Learn how you can save and invest quickly, cheaply and flexibly, so you can get on with living a fantastic life.
Saving requires a bit of discipline, which is much easier when you know why you are saving and how much you will need. Investing sounds complicated and an entire industry wants you to think it is. But investing sensibly can be very simple, especially in the age of global index funds.
The hardest thing will be investing regularly while ignoring all the chatter from your mind and the media. Your brain wasn’t designed to deal with stock market swings, so get it out of the way and stick to the rules. We’ll show you how to do that too.
If you’re bored by personal finance books and numbed by numbers, this is the place for you.
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Blog: latest posts
Could inflation be good for you? Or hit you harder than others?
Is there any silver lining when it comes to inflation? For some people, maybe there is. Let’s have a look at who will benefit and who will get squeezed…
How to plan for a recession so you survive inflation and the cost of living crisis
I do not have a crystal ball but there could be challenging financial times ahead in the next 18 months. How should you adjust your planning, saving & investing?
The Unbiased Guide to Expat Investing
Discover how to invest in stock and bond funds (ETFs) as an expat – cheaply, quickly and sensibly. Maximise your saving power while you work abroad!
Blog: Investing (funds, ETFs, brokers, currencies & transfers)
How Crypto Can Make You A Better Passive Stock Investor
Last week, I bought some crypto. I’m going to skip a lot of the how to, use cases, risks & FI community reactions to focus on what’s important: the psychology.
New Vanguard stock fund worth a look for expats
On 25 March, Vanguard launched a new set of all-world exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are highly relevant for any expats or people living in developing countries. One of them could become the only stock fund you need in your portfolio.
Update on brokerage protection limits
Interactive Brokers is by far the cheapest brokerage for people living in developing countries. I use them myself (and I don’t have any further affiliation with them). They are large, well-capitalised and secure. The extra capital protects them against shocks, unlike Robinhood which had to scramble to raise money in January. But what would happen to your money if IB failed?
Blog: Planning (mindset, current situation, future needs)
The 7 Phases of Expat Life – Are You Financially Mature Yet?
There are 7 phases of expat life. Most people skip the real money-making stage and go straight back to being an ex-expat. Don’t be like them! You need to reach Financial Maturity.
The Ultimate Guide to Buying Life Insurance for Expats (Say NO to Whole Life)
Whole life insurance plans have always been controversial globally. They exist mainly to make the insurance company and their sales ‘advisor’ lots of commission. You must avoid them, escape from them and warn other people. Here’s what to buy instead and how to do it.
Unplug From Work: Your Money Must Work Harder Than You Do
If you’re someone who can never switch off from your phone / work / checking your stock portfolio then you are not doing yourself any favours.
I went on holiday for a whole week and decided a FULL unplugging was required.
Blog: Saving (income, expenses, debt, cash)
3 smart ways to survive January
What is the point of your life? Do you really exist to provide food and money for your partner and kids? Or to help the country you live in produce more aluminium? Or to sell more widgets to companies? No you don’t. You may find yourself doing these things, and that’s ok. But they have to be part of a broader purpose.
💔 Love & Money
Can you really have love and money? Will your other half chew through all your cash? Money is the number one cause of breakups, but really it is poor communication about money. This post is about finding a balance in you relationships with the significant other and your money.
Should you have a monogamous relationship with your bank?
It’s usually painfully obvious that banks are not really on your side. Here are some thoughts on how to make interaction that little bit easier.
Blog: Troubleshooting & terrible savings plans
What to do if your nest egg is locked up in a savings plan
Reader question – what to do if you find yourself trapped in a long-term savings plan.
Having invested into equity and bond funds over the last two years I can no longer put money regularly into my savings plan. I have some US$100,000 invested. What should I do?
Expert opinion: is it safe yet to get a savings plan in the UAE?
This is a great article from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence featuring us and many other voices of reason in the UAE market. It discusses some of the problems with the selling of personal savings plans here and why there is reason for cautious optimism about the future.
5 reasons why you should never invest in a long-term offshore savings plan
Financial advisors are often trying to get expats to invest in long-term savings plans. They sound good in theory but 99% of the time they are completely inappropriate. You will probably either make unimpressive gains or lose money. So just say no and tell your friends to say no too. Here’s why. Almost no financial advisor on commission is going to tell you this, which is why I have to.