What is a Vanguard, Betterment, WealthFront equivalent for EU-residents?
Local banks usually offer a very small selection of funds and the fees are usually 2%, which has a huge impact.
Local banks usually offer a very small selection of funds and the fees are usually 2%, which has a huge impact.
In general, take a look at etf funds with low commissions.
Search on bogleheads the wiki pages for Europe (there are also few for specific countries)
If you put in some fixed amount regularly over, say, 35 years, and the asset manager charges 2% p.a., they easily take a third of your savings overall, or more.
It is imperative (particularly in this low yield environment) that you keep your fees down.
A way to think about it is maybe this: remove 1% pa, and to first order you're down about a third after 35+ years.
Now, in the scenario where you're saving regularly, there's much less to take away at the beginning, so the effect is somewhat ameliorated.
But it's really this relentless pounding, shaving off a "small" fraction every year, that's so devious.
As a consumer, it's hard to see. But the industry knows exactly what they're doing, which is why (for some products) they're paying these fat commissions, which is why you have all these friendly financial advisors calling.