Guides tagged "investing"
Box 3 Actual Return: When It's Worth Comparing as an Expat
How the Box 3 actual-return option works, what evidence it takes to use it, and why it's a comparison to run — not a refund to assume — for expats with foreign accounts, brokers, or crypto.
5 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
Crypto in Box 3: What Expats Get Wrong About Reporting It
A Dutch bank balance shows up in your pre-filled aangifte automatically; crypto on a foreign exchange doesn't — but the Box 3 obligation is identical either way, and that gap is where expats get caught.
4 min read
Equity Compensation: RSUs and Stock Options for Expats
RSU vesting is taxed as Dutch wage income the moment it vests, not as a capital gain when you sell — a mental model swap that trips up almost every expat arriving from US tech.
4 min read
Investing in the Netherlands as a US Citizen: the PFIC Trap, FBAR, and What Box 3 Doesn't Tell You
US citizens and green-card holders in the Netherlands are squeezed from both sides: Dutch UCITS index funds are PFICs to the IRS, and most US-domiciled ETFs can't be bought from a Dutch address. Here's the risk, the reporting, and what to do before your next deposit.
7 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
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
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