Guides tagged "getting-started"
Can You Work Remotely From the Netherlands for a Foreign Employer?
A foreign employment contract doesn't settle your Dutch payroll, social-insurance, or residence position. The four facts to check before you treat a remote arrangement as permanent.
8 min read
Investing Before Your Permanent Residency: A Checklist for Skilled Migrants
A broker account like DEGIRO or Meesman only needs a BSN and a Dutch bank account — not permanent residency. Here's the order of operations for investing during your temporary-permit years instead of waiting.
4 min read
FI for EU Citizens in the Netherlands: the Simplest Path, Not the Automatic One
EU and EEA citizens skip the visa risk that shapes most expat financial planning here, but that legal ease gets mistaken for financial ease more often than it should — here's what's actually easier, what isn't, and the one real structural advantage worth understanding.
5 min read
Why the Standard FIRE Calculator Overstates Your Number in the Netherlands
The 25x/4% rule assumes a tax-free stash. In the Netherlands, Box 3 wealth tax takes a bite every year — here's the worked math for what your real FI number looks like.
6 min read
Banking in the Netherlands as a Non-EU Expat
The BSN-and-bank-account chicken-and-egg problem non-EU expats actually hit, which banks let you open an account before you have one, and what proof of address really requires.
3 min read
Filing Your Box 3 Wealth Tax Return: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
How to actually file your Box 3 wealth tax declaration in the Belastingdienst portal — what's pre-filled automatically, what you have to add yourself, and the deadlines that matter.
4 min read
Opening a DEGIRO or Meesman Account as an Expat: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
The concrete, click-by-click process for opening a DEGIRO or Meesman account as an expat in the Netherlands — the BSN and bank-account prerequisites, identity verification, and the order of operations that trips up new arrivals.
5 min read
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Financial or Tax Advisor in the Netherlands
The specific questions that separate an advisor who actually understands expat finances from one who's guessing — credentials, cross-border knowledge, and fee structure.
5 min read
The 30%-Ruling and Your Savings: What It Actually Changes
How the Dutch 30%-ruling reduces your taxable salary, why it doesn't last forever, and how its Box 3 side-effects have changed for new applicants.
5 min read
Choosing a Broker in the Netherlands: What Expats Should Actually Compare
An objective look at the categories of investing platforms available to expats in the Netherlands — Dutch discount brokers, bank-linked brokerage, robo-advisors, and international platforms — and what to compare before picking one.
5 min read
Building an Emergency Fund as a New Expat in the Netherlands
Why the standard three-to-six-month rule undersells the risk for expats, how to size your fund against visa and job risk, and where to actually hold it given Box 3 wealth tax.
8 min read
Index Investing Basics: A Starting Point for Expats in the Netherlands
What an index fund actually is, why low-cost broad diversification tends to beat active stock-picking over time, accumulating vs distributing ETFs, and how to start investing simply from the Netherlands.
7 min read
The AOW Gap: Why Your Dutch Pension Is Probably Smaller Than You Think
How the Dutch three-pillar pension system works, why arriving as an expat leaves most people with an incomplete AOW state pension, and what to do about the gap.
5 min read
Box 3 Wealth Tax in the Netherlands: What Expats Actually Need to Know
How the Dutch Box 3 wealth tax works, what counts as taxable wealth, the tax-free allowance, and what it means for an expat building savings and investments.
6 min read
Your First 90 Days: A Financial Checklist for New Expats in the Netherlands
The practical order of operations for getting your financial life set up in the Netherlands — BSN, bank account, DigiD, health insurance, pension basics, and your first savings/investing account.
5 min read