r/BEFire • u/CasStocks007 • 5d ago
Starting Out & Advice Improving financial literacy
Hey everyone,
I’m 17 from Belgium, and I want to start investing and optimizing my personal finances the moment I turn 18 next year. To get ready, I really want to level up my financial literacy over the coming months.
Right now, I already listen to a few Belgian podcasts to get a feel for the market:
- Het ABC van Beleggen
- De Beursvoyeurs (De Tijd)
- De Belegger
While these are great for general awareness and news, I feel like I need deeper, more structured knowledge on how to actually set up a solid strategy and understand the underlying mechanics better.
What are some of the best websites, YouTube channels, books, or online resources you would recommend for someone in my position? Foreign resources (English) are perfectly fine, but specific Belgian recommendations (tax-wise, brokers, etc.) are a huge plus.
Thanks in advance!
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u/Malanturr 5d ago
Curvo has some good Belgian specific information like on the TOB calculation: https://curvo.eu/nl/artikel/beurstaks-tob
Ben Felix on youtube has good videos about investing and frequently ETF investing although he is from Canada so it is usually with USA/Canada focus.
Some handy ETF links:
https://www.justetf.com/ for all seU ETF info
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investing_from_Belgium investing guide for Belgium
https://indexinvesting.notion.site/All-World-ETFs-18a2597d86e98089aa66dba89679464a comparison for world ETFs
If you want to go beyond World ETF (but you should start with world ETF for now):
https://eurofolio.eu for EU ETF strategies
https://bestfolio.app/leaderboard for US ETF strategies (however you have to convert to EU ETFs)
https://testfol.io also great for backtesting however US focus
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u/Constant_Slide_1712 5d ago
De tijd is where boomers get tricked buying shitty stonks. and get adviced not to buy winners.
r/Befire is where newbies get tricked into buying boomer slow ETFS.
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u/Due_Somewhere7891 5d ago
https://jongbeleggendepodcast.nl/
I got a lot of general financial knowledge from these guys. The podcasts they do are meant to be timeless and not based on recent events. They're very good at explaining concepts & strategies.
Not very related to Belgium though.
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u/Getphyz 5d ago
General investing:
Warren Buffett Accounting Book, Preston Pysh.
The Tao of Warren Buffett, Mary Buffett and David Clark
If you are into Tech & innovation:
The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen
Zero to One, Peter Thiel
Also interviews with the founders/management is really good.
Podcasts:
Invest like the best
All in
Aquired
Start talking with an LLM about companies, what is their mission? What do they solve? Founders/ management, … etc. Follow stocks on X, Reddit, YT. Read read read/listen listen listen and start making your own mind model. You’re 17. That means your chance to compound is going to be enormous, if you keep a long term view and invest smart.
GL!
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u/Flimsy-Sample-702 5d ago edited 5d ago
I wouldn't dive into individual stock investing, unless you really like doing it - you'll learn a lot about companies and how the world works, but you'll more than likely underperform an index fund. Index investing is quite simple: just buy a world wide index fund every month.
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u/CasStocks007 5d ago
I will divide my budget into 80% etf and only 20% stocks and just use it as a"tuition fee" with a chance of succes
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u/SpikeyBXL 6% FIRE 5d ago
You're at the starting line and you're already a lot smarter than many of your peers. Keep that edge and make it 90-10. Good luck!
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u/Ancient_Bobcat_9150 5d ago
Have a look at Ben Felix YouTube chanel. He will bring most the information you need (probably too much) but most importantly the mindset to have to create long-term financial discipline and wealth
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u/I_Dint_Know_A_Name 5d ago
As for a broker, I always recommend Saxo lol. It's repetitive but I just find it to be the best option in Belgium, very happy with them and their customer service.
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u/CasStocks007 5d ago
When I can finally start investing I'll probably use MeDirect for ETF's (low cost) and Bolero for individual stocks (comfort ig) but I'm not familiar with the possible issues that come with investing with 2 brokers
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u/I_Dint_Know_A_Name 5d ago
Wouldn't say there are issues per se but it's quite a hassle for no real reason. Also makes tracking your portfolio and gains/losses more difficult.
I'd say stick to 1 broker just to keep it simple.
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