Author: Mr. The Poor Swiss

Mr. The Poor Swiss is the author behind thepoorswiss.com. In 2017, he realized that he was falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation. He decided to cut on his expenses and increase his income. This blog is relating his story and findings. In 2019, he is saving more than 50% of his income. He made it a goal to reach Financial Independence. You can send Mr. The Poor Swiss a message here.

February 2018 Update – Vacation and wedding

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Monthly

Update: I changed the way I am accounting for my life insurance, this gives me a savings rate of 4.2% now. It is still a very bad month.

February is now done, it is time for another monthly update! This was not a good month at all for the financial side. But we had a lot of fun in China. And I was happy to see my fiancee again!

I have not posted on this blog since the last update, I was on vacation in China for more than half the month. I hope to post more in March.

Continue reading “February 2018 Update – Vacation and wedding”

Rich Dad Poor Dad – Learn how to get rich

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Earn, Investing

The most recent finance book I have read is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. This is my short review of the book. This book is very different from the others, in several ways. Generally, the personal finance community does not rate this book very high. In this post, I will give you my point of view about this book and tell you what it is all about.

As you will see, my point of view in this book is a bit varied. Some things are really good. But some things are really bad about this book. Let’s directly see what I am talking about.

Continue reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad – Learn how to get rich”

The Bogleheads Guide to Investing – Book Review

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Investing

Here is another book review of an investing book. The BogleHeads Guide to Investing is the second book I read in my way to personal finance enlightenment. This book is written by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf.

This book is a complete guide about personal investing, how to save money, and how to invest it. I think it is an excellent book, well-written and full of excellent advice. The book is full of quotes from other financial figures and uses facts to support every argument.

Continue reading “The Bogleheads Guide to Investing – Book Review”

Goals for 2018 – Reaching for FI

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Investing, Save

For the first year in my life, I am gonna try to set clear goals for this year! I have set up a nice spreadsheet for my goals for this year (credits to retirebyforty for the spreadsheets idea):

My 2018 Goals

I have tried to not set goals that are too high but still strive for better than this year. Since it is the first year I am setting goals like this, I do not want to be over-optimistic. This is my first attempt at setting yearly goals, so maybe I will add new goals during the year, but I will not remove any goal nor downsize any goal.

Continue reading “Goals for 2018 – Reaching for FI”

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing – Book Review

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Investing

Since I started to pay closer attention to my finance, I have read a few books about investing and finance. I am going to review them on this blog. I am going to explain what the book is about and also what I liked about the book. And of course, what I did not like about it.

The first book I have read is “The little book of Common Sense Investing”, by John C. Bogle. It is coming from the founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. John Bogle is a great man and the creator of the first index fund. A lot of people in the Bogleheads community are recommending this book, so I decided to give it a try.

Continue reading “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing – Book Review”

December 2017 Update + 2018 perspectives

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Monthly

Happy new year to you all!

Now that we started in 2018, it is time for the last monthly update of 2017. After a rather poor November 2017, December 2017 is significantly better. I have been able to keep my spendings lower than usual. It was not a very eventful month. Except of course for the usual Christmas celebrations. I always spend Christmas with my family and it was great :)

Continue reading “December 2017 Update + 2018 perspectives”

November 2017 Update

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Monthly

November 2017 is over, it is time for another monthly update. After a bad October 2017, I have seen some improvements.

November 2017 was not bad in terms of savings, but it was a bit lower than I was expecting. The savings rate for the month is 14.25%. It is not perfect, but still better than last month. My goal is to go to 25%. But I probably will need a salary raise to go there (I am still gonna try without the raise).

Continue reading “November 2017 Update”

How to Open a DEGIRO account and start trading

By Mr. The Poor SwissIn Investing

Having decided to start investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), I needed a broker account. I decided to open a DEGIRO account. In this post, I am going to go over the reasons for this choice and over how to open a DEGIRO account and start trading.

DEGIRO is a cheap broker for European people. It is well priced and offers a great choice of investment products.

Continue reading “How to Open a DEGIRO account and start trading”