Mustachians, introduce yourselves!

Hi trotro,

thanks for your feedback. We will definitely look into it. Quick question, did you use a mobile or desktop to go on the site ?

Thanks for the help.

I used firefox on desktop :slight_smile:

With a scarf from Frillup you can/will!

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Got the merchandise. My reaction: WOW ! I’ve never had the privilege of touching such a fine and thin knitting.

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Hey thanks, never knew that someone from the forum was actually ordering.

Glad you like it.

If you have some more feedback about packaging, how it was sent, communication along the buying process, etc. (especially negative), please feel free to PM me.

Hi there,

First of all thanks to Mr MP and all the good advice on this forum, great community, great find.
For what I read here, it seems that my history and my case is a bit different, so I’ll explain a bit more in detail, sorry if it’s too long. I hope it may help some people to give perspective on things, who knows!

So myself, 41yo, French citizen living in Switzerland since 2007, Project Manager in IT.
Very far from FI, and probably not able (as of today) to even have a decent retirement at 64 if I don’t plan for something better. Coming from a long, long way, and I hope being able to damage control some things before 50. Before talking about my current situation, here’s the three phases I had related to money and finance in my life :

Phase 1 : Childhood
I grew up in a poor ghetto suburbs area of Paris, and had almost no financial education. My mom worked all her life as a music teacher (and manage to have a sub-par retirement at 63, but own her small house) and shielded me and my brother for all the financial struggle and reality we had. And my dad way jumping from one small jobs to another, kind of an artist. Financially, you know the type : “Yeah, I have this great idea of business that a friend of a friend talked to me about, let’s invest everything and borrow even more, we’ll be rich before next month! It’s guaranteed!!” and obviously never work and always finishing broke.
So, great to start your adult life with this mindset about money!

Phase 2: young adult
From my first pay check at 17yo up to 26-27yo, my relationship with money was “Well, let’s live with what we have now, we never know what tomorrow brings”. I discovered at 18yo that you can write a check and you have the product you want, and worry about paying somehow later, and I kinda thought it was a magic money making machine and that trouble will never find my. Obviously I way blacklisted by banks at 21yo, even struggle to receive my pay checks sometimes because I didn’t had bank accounts, but “everything will be fine! We’ll see later!”

Phase 3: Adult
I moved to Switzerland in 2006, with the mindset of starting things clean. I still made some stupid mistakes and manage to have some debts and “poursuites”. However I finally started to turn things around (thanks to my girlfriend who is the exact opposite of me regarding finances) and slowly climb back the ladder.

So know I’m starting Phase 4 : 2 young kids, no debts, no credits, smalls 2nd and 3rd pillars (I got scammed by Axa life insurance 2 years ago and lost almost everything, another story…) and a small investment funds, but in the wrong places (I found myself listen too much to Swiss Life Select, another stupid idea…). I budget with YNAB seriously now, and try to become as educated as much as possible on finance and investment, but I’m still very novice in all of this. This blog/forum is a pearl.

Thanks for reading it, expect some really noob questions soon! And thanks everyone for all the information you put out there, really useful.

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Welcome and thanks for sharing your story. I have two kids and don’t even dream of FIRE. My main goal is to have a comfortable retirement approximately matching my current quality of life.

If I look back, YNAB was really the key thing which got my financial planning to the next level. I was never in serious debt but all of my decisions were reactive rather than proactive. After a while with YNAB, somehow there was enough disposable income for both investing AND fun.

All things considered, I should have received a better financial education when I was younger but it just didn’t happen. We can change that and teach our kids better. Don’t hesitate with the noob questions, we are all in this together and share similar goals.

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Hi everyone,

Software engineer in his 30’s here, working in Geneva.
I’m looking to educated myself on personal finance. The MP’s community seems to have a lot to give and I hope I’ll be able to contribute too.

Have a nice day !

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Hi everyone,

i’m new to the forum. I’m an etf passive investor. Looking forward to educate myself on finances. see you around on the forum.

ciao!

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Dear all,

Just found the Forum yesterday and joined it. I’m from South America, 38 years old, living in CH since 2007, married, and my wife is now expecting our 2nd child.

Similar to other people, I arrived here without much money and no financial education whatsoever (I grew up used to 80% inflation a MONTH and my parents only got rid of their debts after they were in their 50s)… Then, it took a while for me and my wife to settle in and sort our finances but finally since last year we manage to get a buffer and could start thinking of investing a little. Unfortunately, I found out yesterday (here in the forum) that we also fell for the 3a+life insurance “scam” from AXA, so about 3kCHF will be lost but at least we are going to leave it asap (have already arranged a consultation to stop this) and only lose 1 year of this non-sense.

Right now I am considering finpension for my new 3a (although I have the impression that Viac is the favorite here) and I am also thinking of doing some small deposits monthly to Selma Robot Advisor until I get myself better educated on the finance world and can use the DIY approach properly.

I am looking forward to contribute and especially learn a lot on this forum. Any hints or comments are more than welcome. See you around!

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Welcome!

I was starting only weeks ago and was ready to go with Selma as well. But I suggest to take a moment to read and educate yourself and go directly on your own. It is much faster and easier than expected to understand the basis and being able to open your first investment accounts. Start low and learn fast :wink:

Thanks, @Zurtan! You are right. I am learning a lot with this forum and other blogs / websites around. I do feel much more confident now. I already opened an account with Degiro and setup a monthly investment there. I opened there instead of IB cause I don’t foresee to reach 100k too soon (I am starting small as I will try to top-up my 3rd Pillar first).

Anyway I have already given Selma a chance as well and with their referral program it’s supposed to be “free” for the first 12 months or 5 kCHF (except for stamp duty fees). It’s also an opportunity to learn from their strategy (they use several different ETF funds like Stocks, Precious Metals, Bonds, Real State, etc.). Once I reach one of the 2 limits (12m or 5k) and it’s not “free” anymore, I will consider again what makes sense and if needed I can change it to Degiro, since it will not be a big amount (max 5k).

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Hi there everyone

I’ve been following MP and this forum for a year now and I’ve read a few books about FIRE like “Your Money or Your Life” and now I’ve decided to join the forum.

I’m a software developer in my mid 30’s and have a fairly simple “barbell” investment: VWRL, TSLA, ABTC.

My net worth is 350K CHF and consists of the following:

  • Cash: 2K
  • Second Pillar: 125K
  • Viac: 135K
  • Portfolio: 100K

I’m single, my saving rate is around ~35% and my yearly income 130K

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Nice sum! If it’s not too much to ask… how old are you?

They said mid-30s, already gives a good indication.

I’m 37 years old and started saving in the second pillar in 2009 (“As of the age of 25, the insured person also contributes to old age pension benefits”).

My yearly invest in the second pillar is around 13500.- CHF (edit: 11500 saving, 2000 risk) right now at my current job, 50% paid by my employer of course.

Thanks for sharing! It’s indeed a nice 2nd pillar you’ve got going on there. It’s one of the often disregarded economic conditions when choosing an employer.

Hi everyone!

As a lot of you here, after much digging and learning through the forum, it was time to join and put my cash into action.
Biochemist, living in Basel and in CH for 7 years.
Currently investing in VIAC Global 100 (considering finpension for 2021) and VT and TSLA on IB. QQQM is as well on my radar for 2021.
Hope I can contribute to this awesome forum!

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Hello,
I’m joining in as well after using the forum as a source of information for a while.
First of all thanks everyone for all the contributions, there really is great content overall in this forum.

As for me I’m single, in my mid-thirties and I’ve been living in Switzerland for 10 years now
I’m currently working in a medical device company in canton Neuchatel.
I’ve always had a frugal lifestyle and always saved a good chunk of my salary but didn’t really look into investments until 2018…better late than never I guess :blush:

Net worth at the end of 2020:

  • 2nd pillar: 107k
  • 3rd pillar: 51k (half of this in VIAC global 100, the rest in a saving account with CA-nextbank)
  • IB portfolio: 350 k
  • Cash: 110 k
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Hi Everyone,

Was FIRE fan for years came across this forum very recently…glad to connect with this cohort…40Y, married with kid in Zurich, with NW of 660KCHF… (250K Cash, 175KCHF IB portfolio, 2 pillar 100K, 3rd pillar 30K, rest in real estate)…

Journey is more important than destination…living the dream…

Cheers
M

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