Benelux FIRE Meeting Report Out : Talk and learn about money !

During the past three days, I spend at an IT Technology conference in Barcelona. It is always an exciting and learning experience when more than 7000 people come together to share strategies and key insights about technology and their projects within their companies.

Did you know that we lose 1,5 year of our life doubting which TV program to watch ? Did you know that we lose 5 to 6 years waiting for a traffic light? Have you ever heard of quantum computing, autonomous insects or magnetic and quantum leviation that will cause a disruption in many different industries ?

In Barcelona I had some time to reflect on the meeting I had on the 4th of November. That day I drove to Eindhoven, Netherlands to meet new people to talk about money. People who are interested to talk about saving money, investing and how to become FIRE. Do you know what FIRE means ? I bet you don’t… FIRE stands for Financially Independent Retire Early.

The program was as follows:

• 10:00-11:00 Doors open and general introductions;
• 11:00-12:30 Financial speed dating 
• 12:30-14:00 Lunch and connecting/learning from others
• 14:00-17:00 Presentations. Topics include a new European “Rockstar Finance” site, Crypto Currencies, investing in holdings and FIWE;
• 17:00-18:30 Drinks and chats;
• 18:30-19:00 Cleanup of venue & Goodbye (or go out to restaurants)

A total of 38 people attended the event to talk money and FIRE. For me it was the first time meeting with people who have the same financial objectives in mind….being debt free or financially independent or learn what others do with their money.

The group consisted of bloggers and non-bloggers. For the first time, I was able to meet the people behind the blogs that I read. I also got to know some blogs I never heard about. Here’s the list of people that I did meet.

• Cheesy Finance
• GeldNerd
• Fireme
• ThePursuitOfHot
• Meneerenmevrouw
• Whatlifecouldbe
• Niettot71
• Geld is tijd
• Ambertreeleaves
• Divnomics

It was great to see how certain couples are sharing common financial objectives to achieve FIRE. Mr and Mrs Whatlifecouldbe have already achieved FIRE at the age of 34 ! Great smart couple !

Key Learnings from Financial Speed Dating and Presentations

The day started with 10 minute speed dating. During those financial speed dates I learned about real estate investing in the UK, travel destinations and different opinions about financial strategy and investing money.

In the afternoon, Cryptocurrencies were explained and why you should (not) invest in them. Personally I do not invest in bitcoin or any alternative cryptocurrencies. What I do not understand, I do not invest in. Simple. After the presentation the question was asked who would invest in cryptocurrencies. Only 1 person raised his hand…..

The second presentation was given by Mr and Mrs Whatlifecouldbe. They are working on a European version of the “Rockstar Finance” site: FIREhub.eu. They also presented and provided information about an European FIRE event that they organize: FIWE. The next one is planned for the summer of 2018. If our schedule allows it, Mr and Mrs Dividend Cake will be present next year….

The third presentation was given by a Belgian economics teacher who prefers to invest a part of his portfolio in holdings. He explained why to invest in holdings and which holdings pay a nice dividend. He explained also the price valuation growth and diversification you can get with investing in holdings. Examples of holdings are GBL, Bois Sauvage, HAL, Sofina,…

An investment in a holding is definitely a good decision for every investor who follows up his investment and wants a nice dividend. If the holding is NOT properly managed, don’t hesitate to sell it.

Going Forward

In the year 2018 we will definitely try to attend all FIRE meetings. It is a pleasure to talk about the MONEY topic, a topic which I definitely can’t (always) discuss with family or friends.  Financial literacy in Belgium is very low and some people simply have other priorities in life. And that is fine for me…I don’t make any judgment about objectives in life of other people. Mr and Mrs Dividend Cake share the same financial objectives.  Those objectives are the same financial objectives of Mr and Mrs Divnomics and Mr and Mrs Whatlifecouldbe….and Mr and Mrs Millenial Revolution. Do you know Mr and Mrs Millenial Revolution? Check out their blog as they are on FIRE too !

We encourage you to discuss your financial goals with your partner. It is very important. If one partner wants to invest in a 500k house and put the couple in a 30y huge debt and the other partner has frugal living in mind to retire early, you have extreme conflicting financial objectives. Sharing the same financial goals in a relationsip is critical ! Trust me… I talk with experience !

Thanks for reading the blogpost and as always we end with a quote.