Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hi!
I'm a 32 year old male living in Romania. I work as a freelancer on the internet. I'm also starting to build my own online businesses.
This journal will not be just about becoming financially independent and retiring. I'll also talk about other goals that I might attempt to accomplish over the years. For example, I want to start a family in the next few years. This will surely be a challenge to my FI.

Because my income as a freelancer varies due to variable workload and taking time off periodically, I'll not post here my monthly progress. Instead, I'll post updates when I take bigger steps.

In the following image, you can see how my current financials look. The first column is expressed in RON which is my country's currency.



My monthly expenses are on average 3000 RON($700 or 630 euros); a third of it is rent.
They are quite high for a single person living in a condo in Romania.
Additionally, I spend about 1000 RON(230 dollars or 210 euros) in monthly taxes. I can pay them in bulk until 15th of March next year.

For someone my age in Romania, I'm likely in the top 5% in terms of net worth.

As next steps in my life, I'd like to achieve the following objectives:
1) Increase my liquid assets from 82k ron to 120k ron(28k dollars or 25k euros)
2) Increase my business assets from 16k ron ron to 60k ron.(14k dollars or 12.5k euros)

finally somebody who is not on dime of big corp in America/sucking titties of imperialist agenda and meantime moaning how hard it is.

it doesn't mean that I don't wish you joining such club if it's your dream/plan.

welcome and good luck.

Stahlmann wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 11:34 am

finally somebody who is not on dime of big corp in America/sucking titties of imperialist agenda and meantime moaning how hard it is.

it doesn't mean that I don't wish you joining such club if it's your dream/plan.

welcome and good luck.

Thank you!
I don't like corporate environments of any kind. I'd do it only temporarily and if I would not have any other choice.

Welcome!

Hello there. Well done, to take your path has required initiative: that is not common.

Where did you learn your excellent English?

I tried to invest in Romanian Nuclear Power earlier this year (the dividends are good) but could not find a broker that dealt on the Bucharest exchange.

Best wishes in your FI journey.

Noedig wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:01 pm

Where did you learn your excellent English?

I learned it mostly on my own. 14 years ago I took the TOEFL exam. According to their description: "Test of English as a Foreign Language® is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities." It was required to be admitted to an university abroad.

Since then I consumed a lot of English content. I wrote years ago articles and e-books in English and I communicated in English with my online clients.

Noedig wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:01 pm

I tried to invest in Romanian Nuclear Power earlier this year (the dividends are good) but could not find a broker that dealt on the Bucharest exchange.

The following are the top brokers:
https://www.bvb.ro/Intermediaries/ListO ... rmediaries

Here you can browse through all the brokers authorized on BVB based on type: https://www.bvb.ro/Intermediaries/ListO ... neralIndex

BVB = Bucharest Stock Exchange, the BVB initials come from the Romanian's name.

I personally use Tradeville https://www.tradeville.eu/. It can allow me to invest abroad as well. I can ask them Monday if they allow foreigners to invest in our stock market. If you wish me to ask them, please tell me your country or send it via a private message.

Noedig wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:01 pm

Best wishes in your FI journey.

Thank you!
Btw, I saw in one of your posts that you claim to be an INTJ. I'm an INTP. If I remember correctly, INTPs, INTJs & ISTJs are the most likely types to be interested in early retirement.

Noedig wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:01 pm

I tried to invest in Romanian Nuclear Power earlier this year (the dividends are good) but could not find a broker that dealt on the Bucharest exchange.

I found where you live in your journal. I'll ask Tradeville Monday. Thanks.

Noedig wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:01 pm

I tried to invest in Romanian Nuclear Power earlier this year (the dividends are good) but could not find a broker that dealt on the Bucharest exchange.

I called Tradeville. They allow foreigners to invest in the Romanian stock exchange. Website: https://www.tradeville.eu/
Send them an email to ask for the English forms that you will have to fill before you open your account. Email address: helpdesk@tradeville.eu
I used them in the past few years and I'm happy with them. They have quite a lot of advanced features as part of their online app.
Otherwise, you can check out the other intermediaries from the link I sent you on this thread. Thanks.

@Adrian- Congrats on your ERE journey.

I am currently visiting Bucharest and staying just on the north side of Old Town and slightly south of Univ of Bucharest. Just wanted to say that I have been quite impressed with what I have seen so far, didn't know what to expect coming in but the food (I'm liking Sarmale, Mici and Ciorbas ) and attitude of the people have been great. Had food at Beca's Kitchen and Vatra and they were great.

I'm impressed enough that the rest of October and some of November will be spent in Romania in Sinaia, Brasov, Cluj Napoca, Sibiu, Alba Iulia, Oradea and Timisoara ...also hoping to get to Sapanta to see the cemeteries.

Do you have any suggestions for places in Bucharest or otherwise that would give a visitor from the US a good sense of the lives of Romanian people as well as any interesting non-obvious places to visit? We are slow travelers and our interests lie in understanding history, culture and the soul of a Nation..if you will.

Thanks in advance.

M

Freedom_2018 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 7:25 am

I am currently visiting Bucharest and staying just on the north side of Old Town and slightly south of Univ of Bucharest. Just wanted to say that I have been quite impressed with what I have seen so far, didn't know what to expect coming in but the food (I'm liking Sarmale, Mici and Ciorbas ) and attitude of the people have been great. Had food at Beca's Kitchen and Vatra and they were great.

Hi! I'm not really familiar with Bucharest as I live in Transylvania - Cluj Napoca. I recommend you to visit the Old Monasteries from Moldova(especially from Suceava and Neamt counties). There are about 20 that are quite popular and also thousands of wooden churches dating back hundreds of years. You will find plenty in the Nord West of the country. Maybe in the other parts as well. Putna monastery: https://adevarul.ro/assets/adevarul.ro/ ... 46x404.jpg

Visit the salt mines from Turda, Praid and visit others if you are traveling close to them. Slanic Prahova is close enough to Bucharest. Don't stay inside the salt mine for more than 1 hour if you have a heart disease.

I heard good things about the Sighet Prison museum that's quite close on the map to the Happy Cemetery. It's about the communist horrors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sighet_Prison

Visit Alba Iulia for its citadel. It contains ruins and fortifications dating back to Roman times. Newer medieval constructions were built on top of the older buildings. You will need at least 2 days to visit it properly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwUDGtKMoBw

Look for Dacian citadels like the old Dacian capital called Sarmizegetusa. There are a few more Dacian fortifications. They are 2000 years old.

Freedom_2018 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 7:25 am

I'm impressed enough that the rest of October and some of November will be spent in Romania in Sinaia, Brasov, Cluj Napoca, Sibiu, Alba Iulia, Oradea and Timisoara ...also hoping to get to Sapanta to see the cemeteries.

While traveling from Brasov to Sibiu you can also go through the center of the country and visit Praid, Sovata, Targu Mures and Sighisoara.
From Sibiu or Alba Iulia to Timisoara you can visit Deva and the castle near Hunedoara. https://i0.wp.com/cartitaplimbareata.ro ... ara_14.jpg

Adrian - thank you for your suggestions...much appreciated. Some of these I had intended to do while others I hadn't heard of. I find that there is not a whole bunch of info on Romania out there ( say unlike Croatia)...but that also makes this trip interesting.

If we make it to Cluj Napoca, we'll be happy to buy you a drink.

After 11 days in Bucharest, now ready for Brasov...will be making some day trips from there...Pele's Castle etc...also seeing if I can meet some expat folks.

Anyways, really glad I came to visit your country.

Cheers,
M

After 11 days in Bucharest, 11 in Brasov, 9 in Subiu, 4 in Alba Iulia we will be in Cluj Napoca for 10 days.

By the time we leave Romania, we would have spent 2 very pleasant months here.

M

Freedom_2018 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:51 am

After 11 days in Bucharest, 11 in Brasov, 9 in Subiu, 4 in Alba Iulia we will be in Cluj Napoca for 10 days.

By the time we leave Romania, we would have spent 2 very pleasant months here.

M

Ok, private message me with the details if you wanna meet during your stay in Cluj Napoca. Thanks.

Adrian wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:45 pm

I called Tradeville. They allow foreigners to invest in the Romanian stock exchange. Website: https://www.tradeville.eu/
Send them an email to ask for the English forms that you will have to fill before you open your account. Email address: helpdesk@tradeville.eu
I used them in the past few years and I'm happy with them. They have quite a lot of advanced features as part of their online app.
Otherwise, you can check out the other intermediaries from the link I sent you on this thread. Thanks.

It's taken me a long time to reply to your kind post. Owing to being FIREd in part. Thank you for finding this stuff out. I am still minded to give it a go: - though my last Eurozone High-Dividend Yield plays were before Brexit ... and still ran into Withholding Tax difficulties.

This article put me back on the track to this site and reading your message. https://monevator.com/fighting-the-fina ... ce-demons/

Best wishes, and thanks again for your help.