Joney Talks!

Can You Become FI in Belgium?

In today’s episode, we will speak to my friend Sébastien Aguilar, he is the community builder behind simplyFI.org, Impactivated, and FIREBelgium.

Sébastien is our first Belgian guest and he is coming with quite the story: He went from being broke even borrowing money from his younger brother to become financially independent at age 33 using a very simple and effective method: Investing in low-cost index funds.

Sébastien will share his journey with us, he will give us an introduction to index funds and we will see how it is possible for us in Europe (and Belgium) to reach Financial Independence.

Listen here:

…or listen on Apple Podcasts

This episode is for you if you want to learn more about building your way to Financial Independence in a very simple and effective manner regardless of where you live.

Key Takeaways:

• Sébastien’s story:
  • Sebastien’s journey all started with tracking his expenses.
  • Be wary of those rip-off savings plans/investment products that are pushed onto you: Look at the hidden fees, the penalties and understand what you are getting into before locking yourself in for a number of years.
  • Your salary raises will usually be a percentage of your base salary, so be sure to negotiate well when starting a new job, so that your starting point is as high as possible.
  • Don’t live the high lifestyle: Spending on random things to keep up with the Kardashians. It’s a loser’s game.
• Index funds :
  • As advocated by J.L. Collins, Sébastien’s strategy is to “invest in index funds and chill”: This beats all sorts of hedge funds, professional management of investing, and is accessible to everyone.
  • Index fund: A collection of assets that can be purchased through the stock markets but on the opposite an investment fund follows an index (e.g. The Dow Jones, The S&P500, the CAC40, the FTSE, etc)
• The 5 pillars to index investing
  • Invest for the LT
  • Diversify
  • Keep cost low 
  • Keep it simple
  • Mind your emotions

Who is Sébastien?

Sébastien reached financial independence at 33, by investing in a simple and effective way through index ETFs. Sebastien shares his journey and develops content for the FIRE Belgium community so that more people can join him on the journey.

The best places to find out more about Sebastien and his work are the FIRE Belgium Website: www.FIREBelgium.com, Sebastien’s YouTube channel: Sebastien Aguilar, The Financial Independence Belgium Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIREBelgium/ and you can also learn more about Sebastien’s perspective on using financial independence to make the world a better place at www.impactivated.com.

RESOURCES 

• Website:
  • Simply FI
  • FIREBelgium
  • Impactivated.com
• Twitter: @impactivated
• Instagram: @sebastien_impactivated
• Facebook group:
  • Financial Independence Belgium
  • SimplyFI
  • FI for Impact
• Personal Investment template: http://bit.ly/personalinvestmentplan
• Podcast episode: How I Moved Back To Europe After Living In A Tax-Free Country
• Book recommendations: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
• Best purchase under 100 dollars: Waking up by Sam Harris!

If you liked this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and do follow us on social media as well for more great content, check our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and join our e-mail list. I would love to connect with you!

Music credits used in the show:

Subtle Break by Ghostrifter Official https://soundcloud.com/ghostrifter-of…
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/subtle-break
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/59LGRjgVit4

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means I may make a small commission (at no cost to you) if you make a purchase. This will help to support Joney Talks!