Most Belgians are leaving thousands of euros on the table every single year. 

Why? 

Because they’re still stuck in savings accounts or paying high fees on underperforming bank funds. 

In this episode, I’m showing you how to take control of your financial future by investing in global low-cost index ETFs, in a simple and effective way.

It’s simple because all you really need is a couple of well selected index funds, and then you invest in them each month in just a few clicks, without the stress and work that trading and stock picking requires.

It’s effective, because it’s based on decades of academic research that proves that this approach provides better returns than actively managed funds sold by banks, while costing less in fees and taxes.

In fact, investing effectively is much simpler than what the industry wants you to believe.

And this is the approach I have used to build my 1 million € portfolio and reach financial independence at 33.

Which is why I am sharing the full process of how to invest in ETFs in Belgium in this episode/guide.

I also include a concrete example of a popular optimized portfolio for illustration. That way you have everything you need to get started with index investing with just this episode.

Here is what we cover:

00:00 Intro

01:27 Table of Content

02:03 What is an ETF

03:13 Why invest in ETFs (for investors in Belgium): 4 reasons

03:41 Index ETFs perform better than active strategies

04:53 Index ETFs are generally much cheaper

05:41 Index ETFs can be very tax efficient in Belgium

07:15 Index investing can be done in less than 1 minute per month

07:49 How to select an ETF

09:39 How to buy an ETF in Belgium

10:54 How much should I invest in ETFs

12:47 How often should I invest in ETFs

14:54 How to build your portfolio

18:33 Practical example of investing in a simple and effective ETF portfolio, optimized for Belgium

21:15 How to Build Wealth on Autopilot

22:30 How to get started faster and without the beginner’s mistake

Don’t miss it!

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

How to optimize your pension as self-employed in Belgium? In this session from Money Week 2025, I speak with Karel Van den Eynde, Public Affairs Manager at Liantis.

He specializes in advising entrepreneurs on optimizing their pension strategies, including government schemes and additional pension options such as the VAPZ/PLCI, POZ/CPTI and IPT/EIP. 

We dive deep into these pension products, breaking down the rules and constraints for each of them. 

We also discuss the optimal way to use the pension products, comparing their fiscal advantages, but also discussing their expected returns. 

And this is something important for me. Most tax and pension specialists in Belgium will advise products based on their fiscal advantages. 

But I think they’re wrong. Instead of looking at the tax deductions, we should compare our options for building our pension based on the expected returns, net of taxes. Because in the end, what matters is that we optimize how hard our savings are working for us, not how little taxes we’re paying.

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

Do you know where your pension money is going? It’s your money, you should know!

In this episode, I speak to Ann Verlinden, CEO of PensioPlus, the Belgian Association of Pension Institution. It’s a recording from Belgium Money Week 2025.

This was a fascinating conversation, where I learned a ton!

In this episode, you will learn about pension funds, what they are and how they work. How they are very different from life insurance products and how well they’ve performed in the past few decades.

I asked Ann about the cost of pension funds, their performance and whether or not it’s possible to have index funds in them. And I was in fact quite surprised by her responses!

We also talk about what you can do to make sure you get the best pension products through your employer.

So if you’re interested in optimizing your pension income, this is a great episode, which complements really well the other replays from Belgium Money Week 2025.

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

Will you afford to retire? 

How good (bad?) is the Belgian Pension System, compared to other systems in Europe?

This is the second talk of Belgium Money Week 2025, where I interview Sébastien Commain, co-author of the report  “Will You Afford to Retire".

Every year, BETTER Finance, The European Federation of Investors and Financial Services Users publishes the report "Will You Afford to Retire".

It’s  a detailed analysis of private retirement savings plans in the various EU Member States including Belgium. The report highlights the charges, taxation, returns and other key parameters of pension savings to determine whether (or not) they are really helping to achieve pension adequacy for individual, citizen contributors. 

The report stands out as the sole publication that calculates real net returns, and tackles the question of purchasing power for retirees.

In this talk you will learn about the challenges faced by our system, with a special focus on pension products of Pillars 2 and 3. You will learn about their net returns and why they are so low.

You will also learn about one striking example of a pension product in Europe that delivers very high returns and completely dwarfs the performance of all other examples in Europe.

And finally, you will learn about what you as an individual saver and investor can do to invest better and better prepare for your pension.

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

What is wrong with the Belgian pension system? Is it broken?

With rising life-expectancy, shrinking working force, budget deficit and erosion of trust in the pension system, it’s time to raise the alarm.

This is what we do in this episode with Pierre Devolder. 

Pierre is an emeritus professor of mathematical finance and actuarial science at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL). He has published 6 books and a lot of papers in various academic journals on pensions. He was member of the official Belgian “Conseil Académique des Pensions”.

In this episode, which is a recording of the first talk of Belgium Money Week 2025, Pierre explains in plain language the pension system and demystifies its challenges. 

We cover the 3 main obstacles faced by Pillar 1 of our pension system and for each of them he provides practical solutions. 

Pierre also explains what the current government is doing, how it’s going in the right direction but also why it will not be enough.

At the end, you’ll also hear Pierre’s opinion of my pension investing approach, including its drawbacks.

If you’re worried about your pension (as most people should be), or simply curious about its challenges and how to fix them, then his episode is for you.

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

What are the best brokers for investors in Belgium?

Which ones are the cheapest?

Which ones are the safest?

Which ones handle all Belgian taxes?

Which ones are the easiest to use?

In this episode, we analyse and compare the 12 main brokers used by investors in Belgium, so that you can pick the best one.

We cover the following brokers: Bolero, Degiro, Keytrade, Saxo, Re=Bel, Mexem, MeDirect, ING Self Invest, Lynx, Trade Republic, Bux and Interactive Brokers.

Over the past 13 years investing in the stock market, I’ve changed brokers several times. And because I have a portfolio of index funds of over 1 million euros, it’s important for me to pick the best one.

I have also helped thousands of investors (from very beginners to advanced) select their brokers. To do so, I’ve developed a comprehensive research and comparison framework, which we explain in this episode. For this 2025 version, Toon and I have spent 3 months reviewing all brokers information, emailing them and calling them to fill the gaps. 

It’s a ton of work. Huge thanks to Toon for doing the heavy lifting for this 2025 update.

The FIRE Belgium Broker Comparison Table used to be for the participants of the Index Investing Online Course only, but I’m making it available for free so that everyone can benefit from the research. I also hope this will help brokers improve their services over time.

If you find this helpful, please subscribe, hit the like button and share the episode (or this email) with a friend. They’ll thank you later.

To get the full value of this episode, make sure to download the full FIRE Belgium Broker Comparison Table for free on the FIRE Belgium website: http://firebelgium.com/brokers 

What’s next?

Brokers are an important part of index investing. But it's only one part of the system you need to setup.

You also need to understand taxes, pick the right ETFs, determine your asset allocation 

build your personal investment plan, and then figure out all the practical stuff.

It can feel overwhelming.

And to help you I invite you to watch the Free Workshop on the FIRE Belgium website: 

How to Build Wealth on Autopilot: Evidence-based Investing, optimized for Belgian taxes.

In the workshop you will learn:

• How to invest to get better results than banks and professional fund managers – while doing 0.1% of the work and paying 10 times less. Proven by 50 years of academic research.

• How to minimize Belgian investment taxes and optimize returns

• How to invest well with 100 euros (you don’t need much to get started!) in less than 5 minutes a month

• How to get started with index investing in Belgium in just a few weeks – my practical roadmap to learn everything you need to know and start investing with confidence.

Watch the workshop on demand at http://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop 

And if you want quick responses to your questions, Toon (who is the special guest on this episode) and myself are also available for 1-on-1 consultation calls. You will find those details on http://firebelgium.com/1on1 

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Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

How to level up at work?

Do you feel like you’re not fully using your potential at work?

Or that you are not recognized and rewarded for the work you do?

Have you ever wondered how to fast-track your career, climb the professional ladder, and earn more?

Wherever you are in your career, there are ways for you to level up at work.

Judith is a Certified Executive Coach and Leadership Training Coach at Creciendo.

She has coached hundreds of people in Belgium across all levels, and provides training for professionals in many industries, including Fortune 500 companies. She specializes in helping people perform better in all areas of their life, unleash their full potential, and reach their personal and professional goals.

Here are the key topics we discuss in this episode:

Judith provides so much value in the episode!

I wish I knew about all this at the beginning of my career.

At the end we take questions from the audience and Judith’s responses are so helpful!

How to work with Judith: https://creciendo.be/

Connect with Judith on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/judithescalier

Connect with Sébastien on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastienaguilar/

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

Could freelancing be the key to your financial freedom?

Are you currently an employee thinking about becoming a freelancer? Or Have you recently started as a freelancer and are looking to level up?

Compared to traditional employment and its many constraints, freelancing offers a flexible approach to work with the potential to make more money.

But how do you start?

How do you avoid beginner’s mistakes?

What are the challenges that you could face and how to overcome them?

And what are the strategies to increase your income, grow as a freelancer and scale your business beyond your dreams?

That is what we’re discussing in this episode with 2 rockstar freelancers: Jenny and Jeff.

Jenny Björklöf escaped the golden cage a few years ago and started as a marketing freelancer. Today she is the Community Leader of Freelancers in Belgium (https://freelancersinbelgium.be/), a thriving community of more than 13 500 freelancers. In this conversation she shares both her personal experience and what she has learned from her incredible community.

Connect with Jenny: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybjorklof/

Jean-François Bodart (we call him Jeff) is a Business Development Specialist and Sales Trainer (https://www.bizdev.be/). With over a decade of freelancing experience and with deep knowledge about all things sales and business development, he’s the perfect guide to help you navigate your freelance journey (to-be).

Connect with Jean-François: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanfrancoisbodart/

In first part of the episode we discuss mostly with Jenny about what it takes to become a successful freelancer

And in the second part we talk with Jeff about how to grow, develop, scale your freelancing activity and your income! 

We talk about the various ways we can disconnect ourselves from exchanging time for money, create more value for our clients and for ourselves.

We cover at least 4 or 5 different paths to scale. Fascinating!

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

Are you looking to invest in Real Estate in Belgium?

You’re exploring the potential for a first real estate investment, or you’re already made one or more investments.

But you’re wondering what it takes to be successful with real estate?

How to find good deals?

What are the strategies that improve investment returns?

What are the key elements to pay special attention to when you invest for the first time?

That is what we discuss in this episode with Joris Van Briel.

Joris is part of the FIRE community and a real estate investor in Belgium. He’s 32 and owns 4 units in Antwerp and is looking to invest in Brussels. 

He started at 26 and with a combination of luck, good financing, smart strategies (also known as house hacking), and a lot of hard work, he got a return on investment of 60% in the first year!!!

I didn’t know this when we started the conversation. But I gradually discovered his journey and achievements. And while there was some luck involved, we also uncovered many important strategies that you can replicate to improve your investment returns.

As I am not a real estate investor myself, I certainly learned a ton from this conversation, so a big thank you to Joris.

If you want to connect and learn more about Joris, check out his website (https://arphenion.com/) and his YouTube channel “The Money Network” (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMQr3k4PCAIrhybceVKDenQ)

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium

Are you a business owner looking to optimize your investments?

Your business is making money and you’re paying yourself, but you still have money in the company. 

Should you open a pension plan? take it out and invest as an individual, or invest as a company?

How can you take money effectively out of your company?

How can you optimize your investments as a company owner?

What investment or saving plan or strategy provides the best returns?

How can you optimize the Belgian pension and investing products such as IPT/EIP, VAPZ/PLCI, POZ/CPTI, DBI/RDT funds, etc.

What are the tax implications of all these options?

And how do they impact your investment performance?

That is what we explore in this incredible episode with Tim Nijsmans. 

Tim is a fee-only financial advisor specializing in index investing. 

He is a former asset manager at private bank Dierickx Leys and former fund manager of the DBI fund of Dierickx Leys aimed at companies. 

You can find him at https://www.vermogensgids.be/

He is also a FIRE Belgium consultant and you can book a call with him on firebelgium.com/1on1

In this episode we discuss 9 different strategies to invest your money as a company owner.

Tim then presents a specific case study and shows us the huge differences in results depending on the chosen strategy.

And the differences are huge! The best strategy gives almost double the performance compared to some other ones.

This can make a huge difference in your personal finances. 

If you’re a business owner looking to grow your wealth, this episode is for you.

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►► Free Workshop on Index Investing for Beginners in Belgium: create passive income from the stock market, without paying high fees to banks or advisors, taking unnecessary risks or spending all day analyzing the markets. Free Workshop → https://firebelgium.com/investingworkshop

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Download the FIRE Belgium Beginner's Guide to Index Investing: https://bit.ly/FIREBGuide

Learn about Financial Independence in Belgium: https://firebelgium.com

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://firebelgium.com/#Subscribe

Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium