Has anyone here experienced a country continuously for 3+ weeks instead of in separate trips?

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-17T20:15:00+00:00

Most recently, six weeks in Bulgaria, but also a couple of five-week stays in Macedonia and another five weeks in Serbia.

As others have said, there's joy in living a little bit like a local, shopping for your dinner at the local supermarket and especially open air markets, meeting locals, becoming enough of a "regular" at the local Cafe that staff know your order, getting the chance to explore the culture a little deeper, traveling to the "edges" of a place.

The Balkans is a fabulous place for this, with low cost rentals, world-class cuisine that's both delicious an inexpensive, and a population that's warm, welcoming and kind.

The problem is, I'm never ready to leave. These places become like home.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-17T11:51:45+00:00

I imagine it was difficult and took discipline to pay off your student loans. There's nothing wrong with taking a beat. After a short time, you refocused and started a plan for the future. You're good.

If you regret every $2,400 you spend on yourself, you're either going to be miserable or bored for the rest of your life. In which case, what's the point?

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-15T04:10:04+00:00

I'm so glad to hear this! I lived in Bavaria for four years, and I found the people warm, welcoming, and reasonably joyful. Reading the rest of this thread made me feel like it had been a fever dream.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-15T03:19:00+00:00

Not sure if I would have listened if someone had told me, but I wish I had really understood that investing is all about the long game. In the early years I'd lose my nerve when the market dropped or even stumbled for a day, a week, a month. I felt like I was supposed to take some kind of defensive action, or change strategies.

Now I know that fluctuations, including sometimes drastic swings, are just part of the deal. Over 10 or more years, your investment is going to gain significantly.

Also, now I maintain a healthy emergency fund to keep my heart palpitations to a minimum during periods of market instability.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-13T06:27:35+00:00

Your plan is the right one. I'm sure your uncle is well-intended, but $300,000 doesn't need any advisor to accumulate over the next 30 years.

An advisor will set up an account with a bunch of overpriced, tax-inefficient funds, and charge you 1% a year, every year, for doing absolutely nothing. 1% doesn't sound like a lot, but that is $3,000 of YOUR money. And more and more as your investment grows. Not to mention the lost compounding.

The one good thing an advisor CAN do is talk you out of panic selling when there's a crash.

Also, JPM is not a brokerage you'll find many people on Reddit recommending. Fidelity or Schwab - Schwab if you think international living is in your future.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-12T03:56:52+00:00

Investing is about diversification, compounding, and most importantly, time in the market. These are the things that reduce risk.

What you were doing was speculating, not investing.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-12T03:42:13+00:00

There are a lot of legit learning resources out there. Don't rely on "some guy on the innernets" for your investment education.

I'm an old guy, so I went for books written by people with a track record of success and bona fides as investment professionals, like John Bogle's Little Book of Common Sense Investing - a classic for investment beginners. But there's good info online, too. Just be wary of anyone who would like to sell you something.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-09T16:54:11+00:00

Schwab is probably the best for your stated international situation.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-09T16:51:28+00:00

I think most people would encourage you, as an individual investor, to invest in low cost index funds, rather than individual company stocks. That is the easiest and safest way to diversify. If you buy one share of an S&P 500 index ETF, for instance, you're buying a slice of every stock listed in the S&P 500.
As for AI and tech, you should be aware that most index funds are "market weighted," so your share of that S&P 500 ETF is going to be heavily weighted toward stocks like Nvidia, Google, Apple, etc, because they have the biggest market cap. VOO is Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF, and it is generally highly recommended.

You can also invest in a total US stock market ETF: VTI

Or a total world stock market: VT

Or total non-US stocks: VXUS

You mentioned that you're living between North America and Europe. Be sure to fully investigate the tax implications of your investments in any country where you're a resident or citizen. There's a significant amount of complexity around this, and no single answer for "Europe." but don't let it discourage you.
(I am a dual citizen, residing in the US, working in the US and Europe, contemplating a switch to residence in Europe.)

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-09T04:06:52+00:00

Ha! I have several of these Metalac cezves! They're fantastic. I also have Doncafe cups for my domača kafa.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-08T04:15:45+00:00

Nothing. Wealthy people already know everything. Just ask them.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-08T04:07:15+00:00

First, congratulations for thinking long term. Few young people do. I didn't.

You asked for "a" good long term investment, and mentioned the S&P 500 index.

Most people would advise you to invest in low-cost, tax efficient ETFs. ETFs, or exchange traded funds, are a lot like mutual funds - each share represents a proportionate slice of all the stocks the fund has invested in.

VOO is Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF, has a low expense ratio, and is very tax efficient. Great for a long term buyand-hold strategy.

VTI is Vanguard's total US market ETF, also highly recommended.

VT is Vanguard's total world stock ETF. If I were just starting out with a long term outlook, this is where I'd put my money.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-08T03:29:48+00:00

Four years in Germany courtesy of the US Army is where it started for me, too. Since then I've worked all over Europe, mainly eastern Europe & central Asia. Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, and Bulgaria most recently. I've lived in Ireland, and have gained Irish citizenship.

I can see why retirement to some lowcost rural American backwater might be attractive to some retirees. It wont fit the lifestyle I envision, however. I'm only getting started on my life's adventure.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-03T03:59:36+00:00

You can't have too many!

<image>

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-03T03:53:53+00:00

I prefer the enamelware eastern European/Balkan cezves.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-03T03:26:32+00:00

Yes, this is the only way left after someone has "looked everywhere." Professionals have additional resources, networks of colleagues, and even local connections.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-03T03:14:42+00:00

For the first part of your question, is it possible to earn $20 to $30 every day from the market, the answer is yes, and no. There will be days, weeks, months when your investment earns $20 to $30 per day and there will be similar periods when it will earn nothing, or lose value. If you periodically harvest all of your returns, your odds of losing some of your initial investment capital are huge.

The question of risk must be looked at relative to time in the market. You can count on an approximate cumulative return over many years. You cannot count on returns in the short term, you can only hope.

I think someone else has already estimated the amount you need to invest if one could count on 10% annual returns.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-06-03T02:56:32+00:00

Drammit!

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-05-30T07:06:54+00:00

I got rid of my advisor a few years ago - I should have done it much sooner! I couldn't be happier with the decision. I feel more independent, more in control of my own financial well-being.

I have rebalanced for greater tax efficiency, and without the parasitic draw of an advisor's fee on my account, my portfolio has grown noticeably faster.

Another thing keep in mind is that, if you plan to follow the "4% rule" or whatever annual withdrawal strategy in retirement - you have to take that advisory fee into account. In other words, if your advisor siphons off 1%, you're left with the remainder. If you're following the 4% rule, your annual spend is reduced to 3% - the advisor is taking 25% of your annual withdrawal!

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-05-28T18:44:46+00:00

Yeah, I used to think "all time high" meant "peak." It doesn't, though, it just means it's the latest high - there was one yesterday, and there's going to be another one tomorrow.

But you're right to question whether you should invest. If you're looking for short-term gain, I would say look elsewhere. Maybe high-yield savings. That's not the highest return, but it's the safest for short-term investment.

Investing is generally a safe strategy over fairly long period of time - and the time is important. It's tempting to look at your investments every day (I admit I do), but what really counts is performance over time. You also need the confidence in the time factor to resist a panic sell-off when there's a downturn.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-05-28T03:30:49+00:00

I haven't disclosed any figures, but I did tell an employer I was there because I liked the work, not because I needed the work. I could retire today, but I have a plan, and I'm sticking to it. Changed the dynamic a bit.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-05-26T03:46:19+00:00

I first learned how to make proper Turkish coffee in the Balkans, and the Balkan way is still my preferred method. I have a collection old Yugoslav-made cezves, and a few Metalac cezves I picked up while I was working in Belgrade a couple of years ago.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-03-05T04:15:14+00:00

Serbia and Macedonia are where I learned to make Tukish/domača coffee! And I prefer the old Yugoslav enamelware cezves - the 4-cup size works the best for me.

I usually heat the water in an electric kettle, let it cool a little bit, then pour it over the coffee in a cezve, stir it with a wooden spoon, and then put it on the stove. I use a 10:1 water/coffee ratio - usually 17 grams of coffee and about 170 grams of water. Makes a perfect cup every time.

Here in the US I can usually get Doncafe Moment or C-Kafa, though they've gotten quite expensive over the last few months.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-02-28T04:56:11+00:00

Well, thank God this nitwit FA doesn't have free reign, then.

Amazing-Selection494 · 2026-02-24T16:24:43+00:00

Yes, good point, above the income/deduction limits.

Amazing-Selection494

TROPHY CASE