That’s a long way ahead, but I’ll get there eventually😅
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That’s exactly the reason why I’m not convinced that reaching FIRE with ETFs alone is the right way to go. VT hasn’t returned 2.5% in the last two years, if I remember correctly. Also, it’s not only the WHT which is deducted, but you need to consider AHV as well. To be able to live from dividends alone, we’re talking more like 4-5M. Unless your investment horizon is 20+ years, that’s not easy to reach even on a good salary (thinking 120k+, not talking about the Google guys earning here).
And yes, I know that you don’t have to only live from dividends, but can also sell some stocks. Still, it’s rather “don’t die poor” than “enjoying financial independence”
I never said that 60k per year is poor 
That’s your very own personal experience. Yes, it is doable, but I also think that 60k per year for a family is a bit borderline. Of course, that’s my very personal take on it.
Please remember that restrictions of the Trinity study: the main idea was to not run out of money, so even 1$ left after 30 years was a success. Not sure if you would be happy to have 1$ left at age 60 if you retired at age 30.
I just searched for Trinity study, and it seems that your fellow member @thepoorswiss has a very good SEO algorith. He’s the first hit, even though his article was just published one month ago. Congrats on the top ranking! Are you offering SEO courses? 
I only briefly read through the blog post, but it looks great!
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Haha 
The article is actually several years old but was improved recently. Given that most of my articles are getting close to zero traffic, I would not attend my own SEO course
But thanks for the kind words 
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There’s little point in dying rich. Unless you want to do it for your children, so they don’t ever have to work or something. But then, you still don‘t get to control their spending after you’re dead. They might just as well blow it on cars, drugs, hookers - or an investment scam.
With even just one million, you can live and spend 50‘000 a year for 20 years - with no interest or capital gains whatsoever.
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Just the question: what are you going to do after the 20 years have passed? E.g. retiring at 30 and running out of money at 50. I guess the main problem is that we don’t know our own longevity.
But you are right indeed: you can spend 50k per year for 20 years. It’s an interesting thought.
Dear all,
I would like to implement a DCA strategy with a recurring ETFs investment in IB.
I know most of the member in this community follow similar approach and I am interesting to know how you execute that strategy in IB.
So far I set up some orders at the end of each month however the market price always have some kind of impact in my decisions.
From what I understood it is not possible to set up recurring orders in IB, therefore do you just choose a day and time, you go into the platform and buy some stocks when market is open with not even looking at the price?
Many thanks in advance for your comments,
Does anyone have experience with transferring larger amounts of money to IB?
E.g. I want to transfer about 20k - 30k this month. Will my bank or IB ask questions?
Especially since I have an European Account and have to transfer the CHF to Germany via SWIFT.
I usually do 10k per transaction, and it worked good so far.
You should have no problem with those amounts. You may be questioned about proof or source of funds originally, but assuming that is no problem then you’ll be fine. As long as the amounts are being transferred from one account in your name to another in your name then it doesn’t and shouldn’t raise any flags.
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I never had anyone asking questions, even for amounts bigger than 30k.
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My bank called me to ask where it came from but that was it.
It was not blocked or anything, they just called me a week later.
Hello!
Does anyone has experience with the program “Refer a Friend” from Interactive Brokers? I didn’t receive the $200 from a referral. I asked my friend if he had the $10,000 and he had it in 2020. So end of 2021 I would receive my bonus. Right?
I asked the customer service and they only state the rules. When I said my friend opened and maintains the account with more than $10k, they refer to the rules again. Before trying to escalate my ticket with IB, I’d like to know if anyone else had the same problem.
My question to them was: if I didn’t receive, why was that, which rule was not met. Or maybe I received and just couldn’t see it in the reports. So I was asking for help. However now I did already a very good investigation on the money received (by any designation) and the $200 were not transfered to me.
The “Refer a friend” program is still good because of the IBKR stocks the new user receives. However I don’t understand why they would advertise this and not give the bonus.
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You should read the small notes as your friend must spend more than 600$ in transaction fees in his first few months.
Good news for him IB is a cheap broker so it will save him lots of money.
Unfortunately you will never cash in your referral bonus.
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I wasn’t aware of that. I had 2 referrals but I am guessing that I won’t be able to collect those 200 $. Kind of a sleazy move from IB to be honest.
At least the people got their free IB stocks I guess
10k per transaction is the worse solution since it can look like structuring to avoid reporting.
I never had any issues transfering to IB (high 5 to 6 digits).
Would you mind pointing to some document that has these terms?
I could only find this in the Terms and Conditions:
The Referring Client will only receive this payment if the Referred Client opens an account through the shared link, deposits at least USD 10,000 within thirty (30) days, and maintains at least that amount for one year following the opening of the account.
In fact, you cannot find it online but here is what I got from the Support back then:
Initial Description: Why did I not receive my referral bonus?Response from IBCS at 30-Dec-2021
Dear Mr. FunnyDjo,
Kindly note that flat Fee-Based Referrers earn payouts based on their country of residence. Payouts to referrers outside of the United States are subject to the following rules:
- The first payment of $100.00 will be sent when the referred account reaches $333.34 in commissions.
- The second payment of $100.00 will be sent when the referred account reaches $666.67 in commissions.
- Referred clients must maintain equity of at least $10,000 or USD equivalent in their account.
- Payouts are available for up to one year from the opening of the referred customer account.
- Referral fees will be paid on a monthly (mid-month) basis.
Please Note
- Payments are subject to the terms and restrictions of the program. IBKR is under no obligation to pay out the referral bonus should all terms not be met.
- No payouts will be made for any account migrated to a broker or an advisor.
Find more information on the Referral Programs page of the IBKR website: Referrer | Interactive Brokers LLC
Regards,
Varsha A
IBKR Client Services
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This is not a large amount, especially in Switzerland. One of my first transfers to IB was 85k CHF, no questions asked from either side.
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A bit off topic but …
Is this really realistic? Retiring early at 30 and then never for the next 20 years engage in anything enjoyable and constructive that could bring an income?
And it doesn’t even need to be something that enriches the world around us but could be a hobby like woodworking, etc. On the other hand even volunteering sometimes comes with perks like free meals or accommodation that would reduce one’s expenses.
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