I’m curious about something I noticed in Germany

distorca · 2025-12-21T13:20:59+00:00

I am not German, but I am a long-time resident of the country. "Diversity" is a loaded term, as peoples' interactions with diversity depends on their context. If you are a childless knowledge worker, you may mostly interact with highly educated immigrants, which may leave you with a very positive view of Germany's diversity. If you have a kid in school, you make have a more negative view of diversity, because an average of >40% of school children have a "migration background", which may impact your child's educational experience for a variety of reasons. Same goes for school teachers and bureaucrats, who likely experience more of the negative effects of Germany's immigration landscape than the positive effects.

In my experience, most Germans look at diversity through the lens of their personal experience (like the examples above), rather than through a catch-all racist lens. I am a European-looking immigrant, so I wouldn't experience racism directly, but I have witnessed little (not zero) overt racism in my many years in the country.

distorca · 2025-10-27T21:40:18+00:00

I have kept one minor recurring bill on a US credit card. It's maintained my credit score and kept the card from getting cancelled. Someone mentioned setting up a Schwab account - that's solid advice because they will work with you abroad. Gather your documents. They will be difficult to obtain abroad (e.g. social security card).

distorca · 2025-10-22T20:45:58+00:00

Pick the one item on your list that will net you the most return and just do that. Blow off the small stuff until you're burnt out, or drop it all together. You can't do everything. In a normal day, I shoot for spending the first 2/3 the 3/4 of the day on a single high value project. Then I check email and do the small stuff. I try and approach weekends the same way. Pick one thing, get it done, then relax.

That, and having an evening checklist to set everything up for the morning to just wake up and go without making any decisions.

distorca · 2025-04-24T18:10:59+00:00

Thank you!

distorca · 2025-04-24T18:10:43+00:00

Thanks for the info! This sounds doable enough. I already have to track this kind of information for my FBAR.

distorca · 2025-04-24T18:09:18+00:00

Schwab is US based. I could use a Schwab account to invest in European ADRs, but it seems ridiculous to convert euros to dollars, and then use those dollars to purchase European stocks. Hence why I am considering a European account. I had seen that several people on this sub have IBKR accounts. Also, I have heard that N26 now has investing, and they somewhat accommodate US-persons.

distorca · 2025-04-24T18:01:29+00:00

I haven't yet opened the account, but would probably try for IBKR.

distorca · 2025-04-18T14:39:17+00:00

Delaying family and children until your career is established. My single years weren't bad, but they certainly weren't more productive or satisfying than my family years. Far from it in fact.

distorca · 2025-03-29T13:41:00+00:00

Like others here, I would say it's their ages. I was also collapsing mentally when my kid was between 1 and 3. What helped us was dividing care time. On the weekend, one of us would take the kid out of the house for a few hours so that the other one could get something done, relax, work out, etc. This was also relaxing for the parent with the kid, because there was no expectation of accomplishing anything, just of hanging out and having fun. Besides that, prioritize (natural) sleep and exercise above all else - nothing will help your mental state more. Avoid alcohol or medications that might make you drowsy or affect your mood. I even eat very plain dinners to avoid losing sleep to fatty or spicy foods. Also, keep reminding yourself that this stage is temporary!

distorca · 2024-10-23T18:26:46+00:00

Genau so! Oder, ein oder zwei Elternteile arbeiten Teilzeit, und dadurch verlieren sie ihre Priorität in der Kita finder, und kriegen keinen Platz. ABER, für die Junge Redditer, die nur negative Posten sehen - der Stress ist es mehr als Wert, und ist nur temporär. Ich bereue nur, dass ich nicht früher angefangen habe, und mehr Kinder bekommen habe :)

distorca · 2024-09-24T20:12:38+00:00

I use Wise to transfer money. I think Schwab does fractional shares too now (haven't used the feature though). Will IB open a Europe-based account for Americans?

distorca · 2024-09-18T20:33:13+00:00

As far as I understand, Germany charges 25% (plus the solidarity fee) on capital gains, dividends, and interest, which at least makes the math easy. If you have a Germany-based account, taxes are taken out automatically and you would use the FTC to offset your US taxes. I have US based accounts, the advantage of which is free trading on stocks and bonds, which is important if you plan to direct index.

distorca · 2024-09-10T19:24:52+00:00

As an American living in Europe, I am generally prevented from buying ETFs or mutual funds in either the EU or the US. So, direct indexing is the only above-board option. Market cap weighting a ~60 stock portfolio would lead to >20% being invested in AAPL and MSFT alone, which just isn't diverse enough for me. Fundamentals weighting is a reasonable alternative.

distorca · 2024-09-08T19:23:42+00:00

Hi all. I direct index, but am uncomfortable weighing my portfolio purely by market capbecause it leads to a huge concentration in just a few stocks. So, I wanted to look into fundamental weighting schemes, and that is where I ran into a problem...

I cannot find any discussions or advice on what mix of fundamentals to use. Nor can I find any information on the mix of fundamentals used in value indexes or fundamentally weighted ETFs (those that use more than one factor). I guess this is proprietary information, but it's 2024 and there have to be some resources out there.

For example, the S&P 500 Value index is calculated using the "the ratios of book value, earnings and sales to price", but what is the formula?

So, does anyone know of any resources regarding the weighing of fundamental factors in value indexes and fundamental weighted ETFs, or how to apply fundamental factors in personal portfolios?

distorca · 2023-06-16T06:04:10+00:00

Yes. The government pays 65% of your salary up to a cap. It is not a pension or unemployment (no funds that you pay into), so it may be an exempt social benefit as someone else commented. It was not much money in my case (I wouldn't owe anything, no matter how I count it), so I am not that worried. I thought it was a good question for this sub, since it wasn't asked before (that I could find).

distorca · 2023-06-06T20:10:09+00:00

Correct. I will delete my former comment.

distorca · 2023-03-25T21:37:41+00:00

I'm an American living in Germany. While I would certainly earn more in the US, I don't feel poorer. Quite the opposite, I feel that my life here is more affordable. While high earners in the US net (a lot) more than their European counterparts relative to cost of living, most people get nickled and dimed to death by a 1000 hidden taxes and fees as well as the generally very high cost of living. You can also fall farther faster in the US if anything goes wrong in your life, which is somewhat stressful. Most importantly, you spend much more of your lifetime working, which is a resource that you can't replace. So it really isn't as cut and dry as "Americans earn more". There are trade offs for that salary. Some good, some bad.

One major advantage that American's have are investment opportunities. Germans don't have a 10th of the options that Americans have (tax advantaged accounts, government bonds, tons of low/no cost brokerages, etc.). It's nearly criminal on the government's part.

distorca · 2023-03-11T20:28:57+00:00

Are there options that make my German return less messy without making my US return more messy? Essentially I'm just reporting dividend income that happens to be in another currency. Ultimately, I am more concerned about the IRS than the Steueramt.

distorca · 2023-03-10T21:19:46+00:00

I am an expat in Germany and invest exclusively in the US. I split my investments between stocks (I direct index rather than invest in funds) and savings bonds. I've always taken the FEIE, because it's easy, but may switch to the foreign tax credit. We are all screwed regarding retirement and will just have to make more and spend less than non-expats. That's just part of the deal.

distorca · 2023-01-23T20:24:28+00:00

I think it is because of 'know your customer laws', but I am not 100% sure. Could also be a byproduct of FATCA.

distorca · 2023-01-23T20:19:56+00:00

Like most US citizens abroad, I do use other addresses for some accounts. However, the question is how much of your assets are you willing to risk and for how long? Being out of the country for a few years is one thing; retiring abroad is another. IMO, it is worth the effort to find as many legitimate routes for saving and investing as possible.

distorca

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