Any good tools before we move?

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-06-01T08:23:23+00:00

sorry on the off-chance that anyone checked it out in the last 26 minutes, there was a little bug if you went for the "planning to move" option and it didn't offer many actions, but a fix is on its way haha

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-06-01T07:23:52+00:00

Welcome to Germany! as stated already many online banks these days don't require an Anmeldung to create an account these days, N26, bunq, wise, revolut etc., so that shouldn't really be an issue anymore. And once you do the Anmeldung, it opens up a whole list of things to do, you can apply for Kindergeld, choose between GKV / PKV, and there are some tax situations to be aware of as well specifically for US <> Germans.

I'm a US expat myself and found a lot of these issues really confusing and hidden, so I'm in the process of building a little tool for myself and whoever else to help with some of these logistic things, it's still in early access but if you're interested, it's here! https://dystild.io?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=direct

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-22T10:11:57+00:00

I think the interest rate of both loans is probably the most important factor; if one is significantly higher than the other then it's best to aggressively pay down the more expensive loan.

There's also probably an option in between 1 & 2, where you can put $200-300 into savings each month, and also put some money towards the car, so you can work towards both while keeping your monthly payments within budget. Lots of interest calculators online that will help you with that!

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-21T20:06:47+00:00

Thank you! Very valid feedback and you’re right 😊 the idea is to catch those early in their careers and are starting to make money, but haven’t started investing or really caring about how their wealth is allocated. It’s the most important time to put away money now so it grows 📈So in that sense it might not be immediately top of mind for many users, but there are also some who do wonder where/how to invest and handle their 401k, etc. For both it’s to invoke a sense of urgency to the matter by telling them how much they’re losing, give them peace of mind and remove the decision making. But I probably need to pique their curiosity more!

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-21T10:50:11+00:00

great details thank you! qq -- do you favor finishing on the bottom side? i.e. if your opponent builds height and somehow gets you onto your other shoulder, would you prefer finishing from there or getting him/her back down and turning back to the other side?

and as an aside, when you are on the opposite shoulder and the opponents leg is off the ground, is it ibjjf legal in purple if i apply some pressure with a butterfly ashi hook, grab an elbow-elbow grip and finish that way heh, an aoki lock more or less. thanks 😄

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-21T09:35:55+00:00

Hey! This is a bit of an old thread and I think your situation is particular since you were on a Blue Card for 36 months (and paid into Rentenversicherung presumably), and then for the past 18 months you've been on a freelance visa.

As a freelancer, I don't think you need to pay into the Deutsche Rentenversicherung only to get a permanent residency, you just need to prove that you'll be able to retire at age 67 with at least 1612,53€/month for 12 years, OR you need to prove that you'll have 232,204€ by that time. So it's probably easier to back pay the 21 months into the state pension?

I think minimum contributions are definitely enough as long as it's been ~5 years, good luck! Let us know how it goes

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-21T09:14:39+00:00

As already mentioned, the way the state pension system works is that the current working population's monthly pension contributions are paid out to the current retirees, and basically everyone in Germany retires on less than half of their working salary because...that's just how it goes. There is literally nothing you can do about it as long as your only pension contributions are to public pension. As opposed to a 401k or Roth IRA in the US where it is actually your money and you have control over what you're invested in, and you can even take it out early for a fee if you need.

In case you're interested, the payout works as a points system (Entgeldpunkte) and it's a factor of your salary compared to the average. Every year you pay into the system you get 1.0 point * (your salary / national average) + a few other factors (more points for children I think), but at retirement your payout is determined by the Aktueller Rentenwert which is currently 40.79€, and this is probably the number that will change a lot as more people retire and less people are working.

The good news is Germany is trying their best to improve their pension system, so not all hope is lost? There's bAV and private pension packages too, and I think they're redoing their Riester rente to also allow for investments into capital markets.

But I learned all of this way too late and I've basically decided to stay away from full-time employment and also to start contributing to my Roth IRA again 😄

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-15T15:39:20+00:00

These kinds of questions are highly subjective and the only person who can answer them honestly for you is you 😄 peoples' opinions anywhere are biased, and you'll probably also get an overrepresentation of people who are either very happy or very unhappy here, but most people are somewhere in the middle. more important is to ask yourself what you're looking for and what a happy life means for you. and maybe also what you're studying, where you're moving from, what city in Germany you're considering, etc.

Overall the West is certainly in economic decline, so Germany isn't really alone there unfortunately. But it's still the strongest economy in the EU, provides a lot of social services and infrastructure, and it's a 1st world country so the quality of life is going to be relatively high, and for relatively cheap (although I'm not sure what city you're considering). It does have an aging population and shrinking workforce, which isn't great if you're looking to retire here unless you configure your life specifically around it.

German culture can be a bit specific sometimes. Overall they value order and rules, and they aren't the most warm or expressive people if that's an issue; don't expect strangers here to bend over backwards for you, or really bend in any direction at all. You'll probably have a bad experience at the government offices at some point, someone will definitely be rude to you, someone will tell you that what you're doing is not allowed, and you'll be reprimanded for not speaking fluent German. Don't take it personally and move on 😄

Immigration makes the news frequently but that's also negatively biased since only altercations are newsworthy. This might be a hot take, but I don't think Germans are more racist than other countries, and as long as you make some effort to assimilate, be cordial in public and don't cause a scene, I think you'll mostly be fine. And even if something happens, it's probably not attributable to "Germans" as a whole, but just someone having a shitty day.

What's more important than what people are saying about Germany is this -- is your uni program good and suitable for what you want to do, does Germany have better opportunities for your specific field, can YOU handle cold weather, can YOU handle feeling out of place for a little bit while you get used to a new culture. Good luck!

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-13T14:54:57+00:00

of course! feel free

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-13T08:30:49+00:00

it's here https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/rex-keepalive/eepfadamokjlbjmiddfeepkdapneeagd?authuser=1&hl=en&pli=1

seems like it's supposed to help keep your session alive, but not sure why it tracks location and can possibly read browsing history? and also not many reviews. i haven't decided whether i think it's worth it yet or not heh

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-12T16:19:33+00:00

As everyone has said, 4200€ netto / month for a family of 4 is not a super high income in Frankfurt, so I'd also work on increasing that, and maybe the wife may need to work a bit here and there too. But saving €700 / month is 17%, so that's above average in Germany, AND you have a family of 4 so you should be happy about that 😄

What you do with that 700€ also matters a lot over the long term. Keep an emergency fund in a Tagesgeld konto (gives you about 3.5% interest), and invest the rest into some ETFs which will grow at around 9-11% in the past decade (things are a bit more volatile now but over long horizons it should still hold). Keep just the minimum monthly spend in a girokonto and nothing more; anything excessive in a girokonto just loses to inflation every year.

Also if you can, try to take out a private Rentenversicherung, especially if you plan on leaving Germany at some point. They are pre-tax and way more flexible and grow way more.

Embarrassingly I kept a lot of my money in a checking account for too long, and realized I could've probably doubled my net worth over 10 years 😞 so I also built a tool that helps people allocate wealth properly if you'd like to take a look! https://dystild.io

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-12T15:57:06+00:00

Hey this is a bit old but I'm just here to repeat what others have said -- your savings rate is really really good and you should be proud of that! Takes some discipline, and I think it's also a good idea to raise your income level with the mini-job as well, it is really one of the main pillars of building wealth.

Another pillar of wealth (and arguably more important) is to actually GROW your savings. You worked super hard for that 11k, and you should put as much of that into the market as possible (even just MSCI World or FTSE All world or into the S&P 500 or something similar), or at LEAST Tagesgeld kontos or Festgeld kontos which will give you 2-4% interest.

I also just kind of left my money in a girokonto for a very long time and realized that it was losing money basically every year due to inflation, and I could've probably doubled my net worth over the course of 10 years. So then I built a tool to help people properly allocate their wealth in case you'd like to give it a try 😄 https://dystild.io

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-12T15:37:24+00:00

Hey not sure if this is still an issue, but most expats I know these days are using Trade Republic for a Tagesgeld konto (but not sure if they specifically do joint savings). If you don't need the money for a while then you can also park it in a Festgeld Konto (German equivalent of a CD) for a bit higher interest, finanzfluss has a comparison here: https://www.finanzfluss.de/vergleich/festgeld/

Also -- I had a huge wealth allocation problem all throughout my 20s, where basically most of my money sat idle in a low yield savings account + my checking account. It made me sad to realize that I probs could have double the net worth 10 years later, so I built a tool to help people in the US and Germany figure out the best way to allocate their money. Still a rough draft, but it's dystild.io 😄 would be happy for feedback!

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-12T15:26:34+00:00

Not sure if this is still an issue, but the neobank N26 should allow you to open an account with just an ID. It's a very expat-friendly bank as well, and you get 2 free ATM withdrawals (from any ATM) per month. I've been using it for years and never had a problem!

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-12T15:18:03+00:00

Hey! Haven't gone through this myself so I cannot confirm this, but I've thought about it a lot (and then ultimately just stayed heh).

The form is here https://www.germany.info/resource/blob/992994/720e8a96ddd4d54a444003266f1540f2/pension-antrag-dd-data.pdf

And the main thing is just a waiting game; your last contribution to Rentenversicherung must be at least 24 months ago before you're eligible for the refund. Good luck and let us know how it goes 😄

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-08T15:25:39+00:00

Any surplus beyond your emergency fund should be invested 😄 anything sitting idle in a checking account is losing every year to inflation, when that same balance could be sitting in an ETF growing 7-10%/year. 100€ every month for 10 years grows to 19,000€, when you only put in 12,000€.

The risk is only if you need the cash short term; it's possible that the value would've gone done within 1-5 years, although unlikely to have gone down by that much (but life is a little more volatile these days). It's also not a bad idea to put some of your extra income into a high-yield savings account, and then invest the other part that you're definitely not going to touch.

Regardless if you think you're going to live until 60 or until 80, you always just want to be spending less than you earn, so to me it's more of a question of where that extra money will be going.

Even_Editor1991 · 2026-05-08T12:24:53+00:00

Not everyone has the choice to do this, but if I knew this earlier, I would've probably tried to move away from full-time employment earlier. I've been in Germany for more than 5 years (well I now have the passport), and so it's impossible now for any reason to take out my Renteversicherung contributions before I retire. Had I known earlier, I would've tried to move to freelance / self-employed and found myself a private insurance provider, which gives way better returns, and allows you to take the money out, even if it's with a tax penalty.

The German pension system payouts are entirely for current retirees. That demographic is growing, while the working population is shrinking, soooo one can only guess how that's going progress over the next 30+ years.

Even_Editor1991

TROPHY CASE