Finance Archives - MonkWealth

I Didn’t Get Lucky (October 2020 Monthly Update)

It’s a monthly update post again, so let’s kick it off as usual: BTC Performance, October 2020 S&P 500 Performance, October 2020 Interesting! In the first part of the month, we were observing a behavior which became “normal” and “expected”: a strong correlation between the stock and the crypto markets. This is something that became …

Market Efficiency (Efficient Market Hypothesis)

Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) is the hypothesis that securities trade at their fair value i.e. their prices reflect all currently known information. So, how do we know whether a market is efficient or not? Basically, it’s a matter of how fast does trading activity reflect new information in the securities’ prices. In an inefficient market, …

Mortgage Types in The Netherlands (Linear vs Annuity, Fixed vs Variable Interest)

If you’re an expat starting to research how to buy a home in The Netherlands, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of information, abbreviations, and terms you don’t understand. I want explain the differences for people willing to make their own decisions, so they can save €2-3k that would’ve been spent on a cookie-cutter …

First Pillar Pension vs Long-Term Investing (AOW vs DCA)

This post will compare the benefits of first pillar pension to long-term investing in the stock market. The three pillar pension system works similarly in most countries: First pillar pension – state pension / social security Second pillar pension – pension that you accumulate and fund with your employers Third pillar pension – private pension …

A Glimpse Into My Portfolio (2020)

As most readers know, I stopped being too transparent about my portfolio, asset allocation, and overall investment strategy over time. My reasoning behind it is, first of all, because I couldn’t see any benefits of total transparency. There are absolutely no positive things that can be a consequence of the world knowing how much you’re …

Treat Your Life Like a Business

Some people got lucky and made millions. Some people were disciplined and got rich slowly. However, adopting certain principles can make us eliminate the factor of luck in business and in life. Maybe not completely but enough to feel sufficient control over our project. In this post I want to point out a few non-exclusive …

Yield Conversion – HPY, EAY, BDY, MMY, BEY (Convert Easily)

This post will teach you how to convert between different yield representations: Holding Period Yield (HPY) Effective Annual Yield (EAY) Bank Discount Yield (BDY) Money Market Yield (MMY) Bond Equivalent Yield (BEY) So, whether you ended up here because you want to learn more about the different yield representations, need help with a specific yield …

Capital Gains and Wealth Tax in The Netherlands (Box 3 Taxes)

In this post we will explain how capital gains tax and wealth tax work in The Netherlands. So let’s address the one that’s easier to cover first. Capital gains tax in the Netherlands The capital gains tax in the Netherlands is 0%. Let’s move on. Wait, wait… How come!? What do you mean? Didn’t you …

Obstacles to Efficiency – Taxes, Price Controls, Trade Restrictions

This is the third post of a 3 part series on Supply and Demand: Supply and Demand – An Introduction Consumer and Producer Surplus & Deadweight Loss Obstacles to Efficiency – Taxes, Price Controls, Trade Restrictions (current post) Welcome to the third and last post of the Supply and Demand Series. The first two posts were amazing …

Your Role in the Next Big Thing

“If I only have started investing in 2009…” Has a thought like this one ever crossed your mind? I’m sure it has – as is the case with any person on the lookout for a “next big thing”. But of course, over time you increased your knowledge, developed skin in the game, and earned the …