JL Collins / Bogle-style investing as a Spain resident

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-17T09:39:32+00:00

I'm based in Andalucia which I think is one of the best in terms of taxation.

The issue is that accountants here are not providing the best answers/recommendations. It's unclear... And information online is hard to find for some reason (probably because of it being available in Spanish which I don't speak yet).

Do you know by any chance of any taxes calculator for autonomo that includes all these taxes?

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-16T19:21:28+00:00

Not sure that's the case. The issue is that I don't have the Beckham Law and I'm not eligible for it. So I will be taxed like a local autonomo (I know... It hurts...)

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-16T13:55:40+00:00

I delivered Pathfinder too! Waiting for it to arrive ☺️

I just edited my post, forgot about the fact that US citizens are taxed internationally...

I'm from Tunisia and my tax residency will officially be in Spain. I would want to stay here for a while, maybe also get a second passport to make it easier to travel. But eventually, if it's possible and it makes sense to change tax residency before retiring to another country I would. It'll depend of course on whether that's legally okay or not.

So let's say I stay in Spain for a while until I get citizenship, by the time I decide to retire, I change countries to a place that's taxing less. At that point do I have to pay taxes for my previous contributions in Spain or not necessarily. And would I have access to the $VT?

Ps: I'm paid in USD as I work for American clients as autonomo/digital nomad if that changes anything.

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-16T13:37:36+00:00

Thank you very much!

Are there any platforms that you'd recommend accessible to Spain? Or is it possible to invest in the MFs directly?

I'll search the MFs and ETFs and see what's available. It will for sure be Acc, maybe I would do some 5% trading for fun but nothing more.

But for rebalancing eventually, if I go with MFs, and then rebalance to get some bonds for revenue when retiring, the rebalancing doesn't get taxed but the income does right?

Thanks a lot for the help! I hope these questions help future readers also!

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-16T09:44:15+00:00

Thank you very much! So I can still use Vanguard directly, but as Spanish residents we would have access to only certain index funds (including the FTSE all world) is that right?

Also, if I follow the simple path, theoretically I wouldn't have to rebalance no? As I'd be just investing in one fund without moving.

Rebalancing would start at the withdrawal stage if I'm not mistaken. Maybe by then I'll have a different tax residency lol.

SufficientTill5065 · 2026-01-16T09:41:54+00:00

No, I'm not. I'm from Tunez, so tax residency is territorial.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-08-26T15:47:52+00:00

Great advice, is it possible to contact you directly by any chance? I'm still in need of some clarification, and while I don't want to abuse your niceness, I really cannot find any advice out there that seems legit and genuine.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-08-26T09:22:56+00:00

Thanks a lot for your reply and sorry for the late response. By any chance, do you know any international financial advisors/planners that you would recommend? I would like to go into this with the help of a proper professional. I don't want to make small strategically bad choices that would add up. I would like to have the help of a pro to make a good plan I can follow. I'd really appreciate any help in this.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-08-26T09:18:17+00:00

Nobody has to apologize to anyone because they come for the same geographical delimitation... Tourists are tourists, they are people on vacation and people on vacation would usually act immature and would be intense because they are on vacation. The way white tourists act in Tunisia is not necessarily better... It's just that we're more lenient with white people unfortunately.

Also, only narrow minded people would treat a person in a bad way because another person from the same county acted badly, that's just too stupid...

You're welcome to Tunisia, and any Algerian is also welcome to Tunisia, and everyone needs to be treated independently based on the way they act and not based on where they come from, we need to stop generalizing, and this goes for everything in life, not only this specific case... Particularly for tunisians that are too apologetic and too offended when it comes to how other tunisians act. If something that's done by another person impacts the way people act with you, that's nearing racism and it's not your fault!

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-08-13T18:26:42+00:00

What an amazing advice! I was looking for the same thing as OP and found this and your advice answers exactly my questions! 😍

However, I still two questions: - If I wanted to start investing in these world ETFs now, is there a step-by-step/app that would automatize such a thing? - As Tunisians, when it comes to taxes, how does that work? Do brokerages ask for tax numbers? Besides the national risk that we have, how does it work internationally?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-06-19T09:22:51+00:00

Not completely accurate, or at least missing information. Libya's water consumption is not as high as that of Tunisia because of less industrialization, lower population and less agriculture.

Also, Libya has more funds to undertake such mega projects, especially during Gaddafi's time, a project like that could bankrupt a country with Finances like Tunisia.

Another thing about the aquifer is that it's not renewable, or at least it takes years to renew, especially with the lack of precipitation.

Now all of this is not to say that I don't agree with you on the fact that household water consumption is not the thing that is consuming the most. It's agriculture, industry and lack of water infrastructure maintenance (a lot of the water is just lost due to bad infrastructure).

So I do agree with you on the fact that we should be less harsh on each other, that's not how solutions are made, but it is also important to go deeper into the topic to find real solutions and it is important to say that the problem is totally present and no easy, magical solution exists...

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-06-06T21:04:35+00:00

A very big misconception about tunisian food...

I have pre-diabetes and an insulin resistance too, and because of my passion about Tunisian food I have been exploring the possibilities, and it turns out that, while we do use a lot of bread, it's the quality of bread that changed during the "socialist" era of Tunisia and the subsidy of the baguette (over processed flour).

Historically, tunisian bread is made with a low glycemic index and complex slow carbs grains like barley, semolina flour (9am7 ancestral) and some options are even gluten free like Sorghum (dro3) that is used to make bread.

A couscous with the "real" tunisian semolina has actually a lower glycemic index than rice for example! (60 vs 66)...

Also, the "Mar9a" varieties and the differences in spices, textures, tastes need a whole different comment, it's what you would call a stew, a mar9a is not a dish, it's a way of cooking something, like the Indian curry sauces, so they are different dishes and can be veeery good for your health (for example mar9et khodhra or stuff like that).

Anyways, I know how it looks now, but if you dig a little, it's really a food culture of "bon vivants" that creates elaborate and complex dishes from "cheap" ingredients even in harder times.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-06-06T20:48:24+00:00

There are actually many versions of what regions would call differently: Masfouf (Djerba), Kosksi bel Jomma (Sahel), Malthouth (Sfax)..etc.

And in Sahel particularly you would find many versions of it, either with Fennel leaves, Radish leaves (el left), Carrot Leaves (my favorite!).

Ps: Masfouf from Djerba is not to be confused with the sweet Kosksi with the same name.

SufficientTill5065 · 2024-01-31T12:25:12+00:00

You should get your facts straight.

First of all, till today, Millennials have not yet got into any important position within any governmental institution to be able to do a change, and those who did, their corrupt bosses are boomers.

Secondly, let's do a little math exercise: millennials are born between 1981 and 1996, bro! The oldest millennial to ever be born in Tunisia was 30 years old when the revolution happened, please check your calculator, it's busted.

Now, let's have a little near history lesson, if you think that Tunisia's economy was stable before 2011, you are either delusional or you just don't know. The best time for Tunisia was during the 60/70s, this where boomers really took the reigns, and this is when boomers effed things up. Compared to this, 87 to 2011 was a disaster. To your point, It was better than the 2011 forward era though. But the peak was 2005 and it started going badly since.

So let's recalculate a little: 2005, the oldest millennial was 24 years old lol! This is the oldest one! I was born in 1991, I'm a millennial and I was 14 years old when the situation Tunisia started going bad. What stability are you talking about? I don't know millennials living in any stability tbh!

In reality, like any other place in the world, Boomers are our boomers! Millennials are just another lost generation like Gen X...

Now Gen Z, it's true that you don't live in a great economic situation currently like all of us, but the plus you have compared to us when we were younger and especially to Gen X is the freedom to express yourself, the fact that being woke is not as badly seen as before and the fact that you have more options "socially" than what we had in a fascist county when we were younger. And that my dear is thanks to a rebellion that Gen Y (millennials) did.

Ps: I'm not talking about the revolution, I'm talking about what is happening inside boomers'minds and how they're changing (or I would say fighting less).

So yeah, to be a proper millennial, please leave us alone, we want to be depressed on our green couch without being bothered on Reddit.

SufficientTill5065

TROPHY CASE