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Each year, we set ourselves goals for the entire year. These goals are varied and cover different aspects of our lives. Many of them are financial since this is, after all, a financial blog. But we do have personal goals as well.
Since we are now well inside January, it is time to set up our 2021 goals. In this post, I will go over our goals for the year 2021. Some of them are very similar to our 2020 goals, but we try to do better every year with our goals.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at our 2021 goals.

Our 2021 Goals
We have been using the same spreadsheet for our goals for several years now, and it works well for us. So, here is the spreadsheet for our 2021 Goals:
Our 2021 GoalsThe Progress column indicates

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Until the end of 2020, VIAC was pretty much unchallenged as the best third pillar in Switzerland. And then came Finpension 3a, another great third pillar offer.
I have already made reviews of these two great services. But we also need to compare VIAC vs Finpension 3a in detail to see which is the best third pillar in Switzerland?
In this article, I am going to compare VIAC vs Finpension 3a in detail. We will see their investing strategies, fees, and everything you need to know to choose!

VIAC
VIAC started in 2018 as the first mobile third pillar. When it started, it was only mobile and started a small revolution in the third pillar world. There are now several mobile alternatives. And now, VIAC also offers a web

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Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Richard Toolen, the CEO of Investart. Investart is a new investing service in Switzerland.
I am very intrigued by this new service. They are offering free investment in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in Switzerland. And they are offering both a custom portfolio and a managed portfolio. Moreover, they are offering more than 80 ETFs, all passive investing ETFs.
Is it too good to be true? What better way to find out than interviewing the CEO and founder of Investart, Richard Toolen. I asked him many questions, and I am sharing his answers with you.

1. What can you tell us about yourself?
I have worked in Finance for over 25 years, starting as a trader in Frankfurt in 1994. After

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It is now time to review of 2020 Goals. At the beginning of each year, we set ourselves some goals. And during the entire year, we track them month after month. Then, at the end of the year, we review how well (or how poorly) we did!
2020 was definitely a weird year, but it is not a reason to give up on our goals or review. COVID-19 definitely had an impact on some of our goals. But not enough to make us change them.
So, let’s see our review for 2020!

Our 2020 Goals
As a reference, here are our goals for 2020, as of December 2020.
Our goals as of December 2020I am going to review how did we do with these goals. And I am also going to review how were the goals. Some goals are good, and some are not. Each year, we also try to

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December 2020 and 2020 is now behind us! And what a weird year it was. But I will reflect on this year later. Now, we can reflect on December 2020! I hope you all had a good time despite the weirdness that is going on.
In December 2020, we finally moved to our new house! This was definitely the main event of the month. And to be honest, it dwarfs the financial aspects of the month.
Our move was quite successful. We managed to get most of the moving, mounting, and unpacking in three days. We still had smaller things to do after that, but it was an efficient move.
On the money side, it was an expensive month, like every December. However, our income was good and our ordinary expenses this month were very low. So, we still ended

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The Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is popular in the investing world. Many people are designing investment portfolios based on this theory.
And some online services are also using the Modern Portfolio Theory to provide investment services. For instance, this is the case of the Yova Robo-Advisor that bases its portfolios on this theory.
So, it is about time to learn precisely what is the Modern Portfolio Theory and what it means to us, passive investors.

Modern Portfolio Theory
The Modern Portfolio Theory was created in 1952 by Harry Markowitz. The author of the theory received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990 for this theory.
This theory is used by many asset managers to design portfolios. The theory defines a framework

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Depreciating assets are assets that lose value over time. Some assets are losing value at a rapid pace, while others are losing it more gradually.
It is essential to take depreciation into account when you compute your net worth and consider financial decisions. Depreciating assets can hurt your net worth badly.
Depreciation is one reason why some people think they are much more wealthy than they really are. And it can cause damage when they realize it!
In this article, we are going to talk about depreciating assets and what to do about them.

Depreciation
Depreciation happens when an asset loses value over time. This is the case for many assets. It means that if you buy an asset at 10’000 CHF, the price will not remain the

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These days, a lot of shopping is done online. It is so practical to shop for something online. It can save you a lot of time. And it allows you to compare many different websites to get the best deals easily. Shopping online can also save you some money.
Of course, online shopping also has its dark side. Since it is convenient to shop online, some people are buying many more things than they should. It is so easy to press a button and get things delivered at home. I am sure it happened to many of you. At least, it happened to me!
If you are only buying things you need, online shopping can be a great thing. But you still need to know where to shop online. Even in our small Swiss country, there are

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These days, a lot of shopping is done online. It is so practical to shop for something online. It can save you a lot of time. And it allows you to compare many different websites to get the best deals easily. Shopping online can also save you some money.
Of course, online shopping also has its dark side. Since it is convenient to shop online, some people are buying many more things than they should. It is so easy to press a button and get things delivered at home. I am sure it happened to many of you. At least, it happened to me!
If you are only buying things you need, online shopping can be a great thing. But you still need to know where to shop online. Even in our small Swiss country, there are hundreds of websites where to

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I have recently ordered a few more non-fiction books, and I have just finished The Simple Path To Wealth. This book was on my reading list for a very long time.
The Simple Path To Wealth, by Jim L. Collins, is about investing simply to amass enough money to reach Financial Independence. The entire focus of the book is to keep investing as simple as possible. And it is something done quite well.
In this article, I share my review of The Simple Path To Wealth, what I liked, and what I did like.
The Simple Path to Wealth
The Simple Path to Wealth
The Simple Path to Wealth is a book by Jim L. Collins. Jim is the author of the JL Collins blog. It is a great blog about investing in the United States. He wrote

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I have recently ordered a few more non-fiction books, and I have just finished The Simple Path To Wealth. This book was on my reading list for a very long time.
The Simple Path To Wealth, by Jim L. Collins, is about investing simply to amass enough money to reach Financial Independence. The entire focus of the book is to keep investing as simple as possible. And it is something done quite well.
In this article, I share my review of The Simple Path To Wealth, what I liked, and what I did like.

The Simple Path to Wealth
The Simple Path to WealthThe Simple Path to Wealth is a book by Jim L. Collins. Jim is the author of the JL Collins blog. It is a great blog about investing in the United States. He wrote this book in 2016,

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

November 2020 is over, and it was another of these 2020 months. Nothing much happened during this month because we could not see many people and several things were canceled.
At least, we are both healthy. And this was the last month before we move to the new house. We are really looking forward to that. This will keep us occupied! And this will keep our mind off this boring virus.
We still had to buy quite a few things this month for the new house. But we now have everything we need except for the summer things. We spent much more than I anticipated.
So, let’s see what happened to us in November 2020 and the state of our finances.
November 2020
This month was not very eventful. A lot of things are

I have recently read a recommendation to invest only once a quarter instead of more frequently. I think investing every quarter is bad advice and I want to explain why in this article.
As I have a lot of data on my hands, I figured the best way to provide it would be to run simulations. And so I did!
In this article, I will show you why you should invest every month and not less frequently than that.
Investing Every Month
Every month, as soon as I am done paying my bills for the month, I transfer the money left on my broker account. And as soon as the money reaches my broker account, I invest it in the stock market. I only invest in a single ETF every month.
This strategy is straightforward, but it works quite well. And contrary to what people believe, it takes

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I have recently read a recommendation to invest only once a quarter instead of more frequently. I think investing every quarter is bad advice and I want to explain why in this article.
As I have a lot of data on my hands, I figured the best way to provide it would be to run simulations. And so I did!
In this article, I will show you why you should invest every month and not less frequently than that.

Investing Every Month
Every month, as soon as I am done paying my bills for the month, I transfer the money left on my broker account. And as soon as the money reaches my broker account, I invest it in the stock market. I only invest in a single ETF every month.
This strategy is straightforward, but it works quite well. And

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

November 2020 is over, and it was another of these 2020 months. Nothing much happened during this month because we could not see many people and several things were canceled.
At least, we are both healthy. And this was the last month before we move to the new house. We are really looking forward to that. This will keep us occupied! And this will keep our mind off this boring virus.
We still had to buy quite a few things this month for the new house. But we now have everything we need except for the summer things. We spent much more than I anticipated.
So, let’s see what happened to us in November 2020 and the state of our finances.

November 2020
This month was not very eventful. A lot of things are still closed due to the

I just finished reading Free by 40 in Switzerland, a book about financial independence, in Switzerland, by fellow blogger Mr. Mustachian Post, alias Marc Pittet. Mr. MP was kind enough to send me a version that I could review before the release date. So I can have this review ready now that the book is available!
Free by 40 in Switzerland will go over how to retire by the age of 40 in Switzerland. It covers how to reduce your expenses, increase your income, and invest your savings. And all this is directly tied to Switzerland.
It should not matter much, but I have to say that I have read the French version. But the English version should be similar, and both are available for sale now (the German version will arrive later).
Free by 40 in Switzerland
Free by 40

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

I just finished reading Free by 40 in Switzerland, a book about financial independence, in Switzerland, by fellow blogger Mr. Mustachian Post, alias Marc Pittet. Mr. MP was kind enough to send me a version that I could review before the release date. So I can have this review ready now that the book is available!
Free by 40 in Switzerland will go over how to retire by the age of 40 in Switzerland. It covers how to reduce your expenses, increase your income, and invest your savings. And all this is directly tied to Switzerland.
It should not matter much, but I have to say that I have read the French version. But the English version should be similar, and both are available for sale now (the German version will arrive later).

(Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links)

During your financial life, you will go through several stages of wealth. Maybe you have already crossed several of them, or maybe you are at the first stage of wealth.
Regardless of where you are, it is important to know what is ahead and prepare for your future stages of wealth. There are many things you can do to prepare your future financial stages.
In this article, I will talk about the 4 main stages of wealth and what you can do to live better through all of them.
Stages of Wealth
You can define your financial life over several stages of wealth. These stages of wealth are sometimes called phases of wealth.
If you are going to live all the way through retirement, whether it is early retirement or

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During your financial life, you will go through several stages of wealth. Maybe you have already crossed several of them, or maybe you are at the first stage of wealth.
Regardless of where you are, it is important to know what is ahead and prepare for your future stages of wealth. There are many things you can do to prepare your future financial stages.
In this article, I will talk about the 4 main stages of wealth and what you can do to live better through all of them.

Stages of Wealth
You can define your financial life over several stages of wealth. These stages of wealth are sometimes called phases of wealth.
If you are going to live all the way through retirement, whether it is early retirement or not, you will go

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A credit card is a powerful personal finance tool. But it is only a good tool if used correctly. And unfortunately, many people are not using credit cards correctly.
The first important thing is to choose a card with no annual fee. You should focus on that first. Contrary to what credit card companies want you to believe, it is often better to get a credit card with no fee and smaller cashback than an expensive card with a lot of cashback. The important thing is to do your research and compare it with your actual credit card spending.
I am going to assume that you carry no credit card debt and always your balance in full. Otherwise, it is an entirely different issue!
Let’s explore the different credit

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A credit card is a powerful personal finance tool. But it is only a good tool if used correctly. And unfortunately, many people are not using credit cards correctly.
The first important thing is to choose a card with no annual fee. You should focus on that first. Contrary to what credit card companies want you to believe, it is often better to get a credit card with no fee and smaller cashback than an expensive card with a lot of cashback. The important thing is to do your research and compare it with your actual credit card spending.
I am going to assume that you carry no credit card debt and always your balance in full. Otherwise, it is an entirely different issue!
Let’s explore the different credit card options that are

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Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beat Bühlmann, the CEO of finpension. I hope you will like this interview as much as the other interviews I have made in the past on this blog.
finpension is the company behind the best vested benefits account in Switzerland: valuepension. And they recently launched their third pillar offer: finpension 3a. And finpension 3a looks amazing.
All these products are fully digital and are focusing on low costs and high investment in stocks. This is exactly what I recommend on this blog. So I quite like their offers!
Several of my readers asked that I interview the CEO of finpension to learn more from him. So, let’s hear what Beat Bühlmann, CEO of finpension, has to say!

1. What can you

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CSX is a new digital bank account by Credit Suisse. They have just started this new offer in 2020. And this account is much cheaper than the standard Credit Suisse accounts. The CSX bank account can even be free if used correctly.
Interestingly, even large Swiss banks are jumping on the digital bank account wagon. This is a good trend if that allows people to pay lower fees for their bank accounts.
In this article, I will review the CSX bank account in-depth and compare CSX with other digital bank accounts.
CSX
So, what is CSX? CSX is the new digital bank account of Credit Suisse. They started this new bank account in October 2020.
You can access a CSX bank account with the CSX mobile application on any

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CSX is a new digital bank account by Credit Suisse. They have just started this new offer in 2020. And this account is much cheaper than the standard Credit Suisse accounts. The CSX bank account can even be free if used correctly.
Interestingly, even large Swiss banks are jumping on the digital bank account wagon. This is a good trend if that allows people to pay lower fees for their bank accounts.
In this article, I will review the CSX bank account in-depth and compare CSX with other digital bank accounts.

CSX
CSX account (Source: Credit Suisse)So, what is CSX? CSX is the new digital bank account of Credit Suisse. They started this new bank account in October 2020.
You can access a CSX bank account with the CSX mobile

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When you plan on living on your investments, you need to consider the safety of these investments. Some of them will be in your retirement accounts. But the bulk of your investments will be in your broker account.
So, what happens if your broker goes bankrupt? Are we going to lose everything?
In this article, we will see in detail what happens to our securities if a broker goes bankrupt.

Broker Bankruptcy
An online broker (or a bank offering brokerage services) can go bankrupt like any other company. In that case, it is important to know what would happen to our assets. It is especially important for people than want to retire based on these assets. If these people suddenly lost everything, they may be in big trouble.
Online

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Diversification is often called the only free lunch in investing. It is a great way to reduce the volatility of a portfolio and sometimes increase its returns. You want to avoid having all your eggs in one basket. So, instead, you are going to use many baskets.
The idea of diversification is mostly to invest in many companies and many countries. But there are other forms of diversification that we are going to see in this article. And we are also going to discuss the limits of diversification.
Diversification
In essence, diversification is a risk management strategy. The main goal is to reduce the risks in your portfolio. In practice, we measure reduced risk by reduced volatility in a portfolio.
The

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Diversification is often called the only free lunch in investing. It is a great way to reduce the volatility of a portfolio and sometimes increase its returns. You want to avoid having all your eggs in one basket. So, instead, you are going to use many baskets.
The idea of diversification is mostly to invest in many companies and many countries. But there are other forms of diversification that we are going to see in this article. And we are also going to discuss the limits of diversification.

Diversification
In essence, diversification is a risk management strategy. The main goal is to reduce the risks in your portfolio. In practice, we measure reduced risk by reduced volatility in a portfolio.
The idea is the same as not

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The second wave is now well established in Europe. Several countries are back in lockdown. And several states of Switzerland are now in lockdown as well. Some states are only in semi-lockdown, but new measures are taken daily. I would not be surprised if we went into a nation-wide lockdown very soon.
In this context, many people have less to do than usual. So, why not dedicate some of this extra time to improve your finances?
In this article, I want to talk about 7 things you can do in lockdown to improve your personal finances.

1. Change Health Insurance
Until the end of November, you can change your base health insurance. By now, you should have received your new premiums for 2021. If you got a big price increase, now is

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October 2020 was a weird month. The month started well with a return to almost normal in Switzerland. And we had found a new tenant for our apartment. But then, with the cold weather came a new big wave of COVID cases in Switzerland.
With this second wave, one of my family members found out he was infected a few days after we saw him. So, we had to do a 10-day quarantine again, and we actually were both infected as well. And we missed a few important social events that were planned. And the next tenant decided not to go further, so we had to start looking again.
So, it was not a great month overall.
Let’s find in detail what happened to us in October 2020.

October 2020
October 2020 is really a 2020 month. Basically, it

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We have talked a lot about Swiss Banks on this blog. But we have not yet talked in detail as to what happens to your money if one Swiss Bank defaults (bankrupts).
In that case, there is a special deposit insurance for the customers of the failed bank. Even though Swiss banks are reputed very safe, they are not infallible. It is essential for customers what would happen to their bank account balance if their bank goes bankrupt.
In this article, we will cover this deposit insurance in all its details and see what people can do about that.

Swiss Deposit Insurance – Esisuisse
In Switzerland, the deposit insurance is managed by Esisuisse. This deposit insurance is also sometimes called depositor protection or deposit protection.