- May 16, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
Try Free Now: Legalese tool without registration
## Opening an Interactive Brokers Account for my FIRE Journey
I am excited to embark on my financial independence, retire early (FIRE) journey by opening an Interactive Brokers account. Interactive Brokers stood out to me due to its extensive offerings in terms of products and markets, its availability in my region (unlike Degiro), and the positive user reviews it has garnered.
## Investing Strategy and Timeline for My FIRE Goal
I plan to invest approximately 4000 € per month in a combination of all-world ETFs and government bonds. While I am still in the process of determining the specific ETFs and the allocation between them, my ultimate goal is to achieve financial independence within the next 10 to 15 years, depending on the progress of my investments.
## Location and Tax Residency
As a resident of Bulgaria and a tax resident of the country, I am mindful of the implications that my investment decisions may have on my tax obligations.
## Seeking Advice and Guidance
Before diving into this journey, I am eager to gather insights from experienced investors. Are there any crucial pieces of information that you wish you had known earlier in your investment journey? Do you have any valuable lessons learned or tips to share with a newbie like me? Additionally, what is the best way to set up my Interactive Brokers account to kickstart my FIRE journey efficiently?
—
With the AI Legalese Decoder, you can easily navigate through the legal jargon and terms commonly found in investment agreements, ensuring that you have a clear understanding of your rights and responsibilities as an investor. By simplifying complex legal language into plain and straightforward terms, the AI Legalese Decoder can empower you to make informed decisions and protect your interests when setting up your Interactive Brokers account for your FIRE journey.
Try Free Now: Legalese tool without registration
Title: How AI Legalese Decoder Can Simplify Complex Legal Terminology
Introduction:
Legal jargon can be overwhelming and confusing for individuals who are not well-versed in the language of the law. Dealing with contracts, agreements, and other legal documents can be a daunting task, especially when trying to decipher complex terms and clauses. However, the use of AI Legalese Decoder can help simplify and clarify these legal documents, making it easier for individuals to understand their rights and obligations.
AI Legalese Decoder works by analyzing legal texts and breaking down complicated language into more understandable terms. By using natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, AI Legalese Decoder can identify key legal terms and concepts, and provide simple explanations that are easy to comprehend. This can be especially helpful for individuals who are not familiar with legal terminology, as it can help them navigate complex legal documents with ease.
Furthermore, AI Legalese Decoder can also provide context and background information on legal matters, helping individuals make informed decisions. For example, if someone is unsure about the implications of a particular clause in a contract, AI Legalese Decoder can provide additional information to clarify the issue. This can save individuals time and money by avoiding potential legal pitfalls.
Overall, AI Legalese Decoder is a valuable tool for simplifying complex legal terminology and making legal documents more accessible to everyone. Whether you are dealing with a contract, agreement, or other legal document, AI Legalese Decoder can help you understand the language of the law and make informed decisions.
How AI Legalese Decoder Can Help:
AI Legalese Decoder uses advanced technology to analyze legal documents and simplify complex terminology, making it easier for individuals to understand their rights and obligations.
By utilizing natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, AI Legalese Decoder can identify key legal terms and concepts, and provide simple explanations that are easy to comprehend.
Additionally, AI Legalese Decoder can provide context and background information on legal matters, helping individuals make informed decisions and avoid potential legal pitfalls.
Overall, AI Legalese Decoder is a valuable tool for simplifying complex legal terminology and making legal documents more accessible to everyone. Whether you are a business owner, a consumer, or an individual dealing with legal documents, AI Legalese Decoder can help you navigate the language of the law and make decisions with confidence.
The setup process is a bit frustrating but once it’s done you’ll never have to deal with it again!
They also have a nice referral program where you can get $1000 IBKR stock which I missed out on. 🫤
After you’ve signed up you can configure that you are an individual non institutional investor so you get access to market data for free.
Also you need to request permissions via the settings to be able to trade on exchanges.
They use different names for exchanges than you are used to , eg. IBIS2 for Xetra.
You can switch between different pricing fee structures “Tiered” and “Fixed” in the settings. Tiered pricing is cheaper for smaller orders like less than €6000 of VWCE on IBIS2. Fixed should be used for bigger orders. The exact pricing and when to switch depends on the size, exchange and security.
They have a very nice integration with Wise which you can use to transfer in money more easily.
Hey there, Bulgarian here with a IBKR account
The application process is quite straightforward just make sure to provide the documents that they request and you should not have issues
You will probably find some friction with trading permissions especially if you are a newbie, IBKR will not allow you to trade bonds and ETFs unless your trading profile meets their internal requirements, so you might have to play around a bit with your trading profile to make sure you get the permissions to trade what you want to trade
Also, if you do not have a US citizenship, as a EU resident you cannot trade any US based ETF and you will have to buy EU based ones which is more limiting in terms of types of ETFs available
If you are looking to buy bonds a good piece of information that you should know is that here in Bulgaria bond interest from gov and corp bonds from countries in the EU is tax free (including bonds from Bulgaria and Bulgarian companies)
Feel free to PM me as i probably went through your same problems when i opened my account!
As a fellow european – are there any risks in having life savings in US company (IBKR) that is not a actual bank.
I mean is it safe to keep literally like 70-90% of all my money in IBKR for next 30 years or so and hope that they will not find any reason not to give it back or for example is it safe to assume that they will give it to my wife if I leave this world earlier?
Make sure that they give you the documents you need for filing your taxes. In Germany they give it but on voluntary basis. Last year it was late more than 2 months after the tax due date was.
You can use Degiro in Bulgaria. The countries they list on their site are where they have branches, but you can open an account as a BG tax payer, at least in some branches. I got mine via the Irish site. But I don’t think you should use Degiro as a Bulgarian tax-payer. In order to comply with the requirements for BG tax exemption, you need to sell on [regulated markets ](https://www.deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-en/regulation/regulatory-topics/mifid-mifir/mifid-mifir-virtual/mifid-i-to-mifid-ii/market-structure)(in the MiFID II sense); see ЗДДФЛ, article 13(1)pt3. Last time I talked to Degiro CS (1 yr ago or so), they confirmed that you cannot select on which exchange a trade actually takes place. Tips:
* Learn which instruments trade on which venues (MICs). ESMA [instrument check](https://registers.esma.europa.eu/publication/searchRegister?core=esma_registers_firds) (via ISIN in instrument identifier code), [venue classification check](https://registers.esma.europa.eu/publication/searchRegister?core=esma_registers_upreg) (via MIC in MIC/LEI/ESMA ID). E.g. SXR8 (iShares S&P 500 physical ETF) trades on the regulated segments of Xetra (XETA, XETU), Frankfurt (FRAA, FRAU), Amsterdam (XAMS), Milano (ETFP), but not Gettex/Munich (MUNB, MUND), even though that exchange does have regulated segments (MUNA, MUNC). Same applies to most UCITS ETFs on these exchanges (those with a listing in Paris XPAR are also on a regulated segment).
* Get a good overview of available tickers and currencies for a given ETF by entering the ISIN in a TWS watchlist.
* Learn to issue directed orders to regulated exchanges in one or more of the following ways:
* via order ticket or advanced dropdown menu in TWS
* via iBot (say e.g. ‘set destination IBIS2’) in the mobile app
* via watchlists entries with a set exchange (works both on mobile & TWS but need to disable ‘Prefer SMART’ in global options for TWS)
* never use the web portal for trading (doesn’t support directed orders, doesn’t recognize directed watchlist entries)
* Do not confuse the exchange next to the security ticker with the execution venue of an order. The exchange name next to the ticker is the primary listing exchange (sometimes even a non-primary exchange IBKR picked as the default for some reason). To get the execution venue of your order, get a Trade Confirmation report from Statements (web portal) or a custom report including a ‘Trades’ section, but you also need to uncheck the ‘hide trade details’ [or something similar] when configuring the report (bottom of page).
* Use tiered plan, esp. if you’re selling, since directed orders cost double commission on the fixed plan. Should be better when buying too, unless you regularly buy over ~€5600 in one order on Xetra (threshold is lower for other exchanges that cost more exchange fees on the tiered plan) & never sell. Then fixed may be a good option (you can switch back w/o problems, but it may take hours/days to come into effect; check status via ‘order preview’). For high-value orders (>€60K) tiered becomes cheaper again due to the commission cap.
* Take care to exchange лв vs € at good rates. Most banks will rob you blind. Since recently TBI bank started exchanging w/o profit at 1.95583. EuroFinance (BG broker) also has a decent rate (1.957/1.955), provided you use it for investments, not straight in/out. (My main investments are at IBKR, but I use EF for part of my emergency fund, parked in ultrashort corp bond & overnight rate swap ETFs. Their Xetra order commission is 0.05%/min €4, which is actually slightly cheaper than IBKR’s tiered plan for order amounts between ~€7.5K and ~€62K.)
* Print/store PDFs of ESMA register entries proving the status of the exchange you traded on. Keep for 6 years as the burden of proof when making use of the tax exemption is on you & they can check 5 years back.
* If you need to park cash, IBKR offers a number of money market funds, at a flat trading fee or some even w/o any trading fee (see IBKR mutual fund search tool but recommend another tool to get a better overview of available UCITS mutual funds). If accumulating, these should also be fully tax exempt per pt. 11b (11б) of the additional provisions (допълнителни разпоредби) of ЗДДФЛ, but I’d try to confirm with someone due to the unclear/restrictive wording of the law.
How the hell do you have 4000€ per month to save as a Bulgarian?
Go with ETFs, not stocks
for high earners individuals try also r/HenryFinanceEurope
I am a Bulgarian, resident of Bulgaria and paying taxes in Bulgaria. I use both Degiro and IBKR. I opened my Degiro account via their Irish website.