Jean Galea

Health, Wealth, Relationships, Wisdom

The Best European Personal Finance and Investment Blogs

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I love reading and learning about personal finance as well as sharing my failures and successes on this blog.

I’ve been reading personal finance and investment blogs for many years now. Most of the big blogs are from the USA, but since 2017 there has been a very welcome big surge in European blogs on this topic as well.

This coincided with the rise of P2P lending and crowdfunding platforms in Europe, an increase in overall fluency in the English language, as well as a lot of innovation in the Fintech sector on the continent.

Many of these new blogs are about FIRE, following the example of their American counterparts. I’m not interested as much in FIRE as I am in investment opportunities and the differences between the way the European and American financial systems work.

While the American blogs are great for general personal finance and investment concepts, they also have a lot of content that doesn’t really apply to European investors. One example is the overemphasis on saving and money management. I feel that Europeans have a much better grip on their personal finances than Americans since there isn’t such a strong consumerist and debt-driven culture in Europe.

There are also lots of tax and retirement savings strategies that exist in the US but don’t in Europe, for example, the frequently mentioned 401K.

We also need to keep in mind that most of Europe is on the Euro, which is one of the world’s major currencies but doesn’t have the reserve currency status that the USD has, and so we need to adjust our holdings accordingly.

On the other hand, most of the best opportunities in the past decade or two have been found in the American tech stocks, so as European investors we need to be very attuned to what is happening in the US.

In order to help me with my daily research, I built a site that aggregates news from all these blogs and other sources such as podcasts. You can find the best European finance blog news over at Euro Finance Blogs, a site I built with the excellent WP RSS Aggregator plugin for WordPress.

European Investment Forums

When embarking on an investment journey, it is important to discuss your ideas with other investors, and make sure that you’re up to date with all that’s happening with your investments.

I have always found that one of the best ways to do so, apart from meeting people in real life, is to be part of online forums. Peer-to-Peer lending generates a lot of questions and discussions, and so forums lend themselves especially well to this type of investment.

Here are my favorite peer to peer lending forums in Europe:

There are also several Telegram and Facebook groups.

If you’re looking for a bird’s eye view on everything that’s happening within the P2P lending space, do make sure to check out Euro Finance Blogs, which is an aggregator of all the top finance blogs in Europe as well as news from the major lending platforms. News is available in several languages.

Do you follow any other forums or personal finance blogs in Europe that are worth adding to the list?

Have a look at Euro Finance Blogs if you’re interested in learning how you can make your money go further, and as always, if you have any feedback, just leave a comment below. Enjoy!

Frescobol – My Favorite Beach Sport

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This summer I discovered a new sport that I love to play on Barcelona’s beaches. It’s called Frescobol. 

Frescobol is unique because instead of an opponent, you have a partner, and the goal is to support your partner rather than to try to win or score points. At the most basic level, it is a fun and intense workout that will elevate your fitness level and sharpen your reflexes.  The exercises and movements during Frescobol engage the whole body in a way similar that a personal trainer might help you to achieve in a gym – many different muscle groups that work together are used during the game. Frescobol is normally played on the beach but can be played anywhere you have some open space.

Frescobol is sometimes confused with Beach Tennis – a mix of tennis, beach volleyball and badminton. It uses a net, and unlike Frescobol, the objective is to score points competitively against opponents.

As partners, Frescobol players stand facing each other, approximately 5 meters apart. First, players can start out hitting the ball back and forth slowly to get a rally going while establishing a rhythm. The ball is kept in the air as long as possible, the objective being the greatest amount of powerful, accurate strokes per player, not to score points but to support your partners defensive and offensive strikes.  The distance apart depends on individual experience level, beginning with a closer distance with a controlled volley and increasing distance and speed as technique improves.

After some practice, players may begin hitting the ball with much more pace. The key, just like other racquet sports is to concentrate on the ball, keeping the eye on it all the way until it meets your racquet. After some practice, players get to fast pace rallies of 20 or more strokes.
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Foam Rolling for Myofascial Release

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One of the important additions to my workout and fitness routines this year was the incorporation of a foam roller. I like to foam roll first thing in the morning after drinking my espresso and doing a 10-15 minute meditation.

Here’s a quick taster of what foam rolling can do:

  • Release trigger points and tight muscles, tendons and ligaments
  • Increase blood flow through your skin, fascia and muscles, thereby improving tissue quality and cellular function
  • Engage core muscles and build strength
  • Increase range of motion in your spine
  • Improve posture by strengthening your core

When foam rolling you are aiming for a myofascial release. The myofascial system is made up of all the muscles and fascia in your body. A fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs.

For those of you who are visual learners, you can imagine your skin is like the rind of an orange. So, if your skin is the outer layer of the orange peel, the thicker, white, fibrous layer that lies almost immediately beneath the peel would be your fascia. Just as that thicker layer completely surrounds the inside of the orange, the same holds true to your fascia. We all have a layer of fascia directly beneath the skin that completely envelopes the body, giving another protective barrier between the skin and the deeper soft tissue.

For various reasons, including inactivity, repetitive motion and injuries, the fascia and underlying muscle tissue can bind together causing painful ‘knots’ or ‘trigger points’. Muscle binding will restrict movement, reduce flexibility and cause muscles to fire improperly during exercise.

Rolling out stretches muscles and tendons and releases the fascia. This increases blood flow and circulation to the soft tissues, allowing muscles to fire at peak efficiency during exercise.

When rolling or working on tight/sore muscles you will experience discomfort or pain. Think of it like the pain you get while stretching. It should be uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and when you are done it should feel better.

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Where to Play Beach Tennis in Barcelona

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Beach tennis is a sport that is becoming popular in Spain, and of course, Barcelona is a perfect place to practice this sport. Many tennis and padel players enjoy a good game of beach tennis in their downtime, while others dedicate themselves fully to beach tennis.

YouTube video

In Barcelona, there are two good clubs/schools to get started with this sport:

I train and play at the Beach Tennis Academy, where friendly coach Dave will guide you through the first steps of the sport. I highly recommend starting out there if you’ve never played before.

If you search on Meetup.com you will also find some events that include beach tennis, although there isn’t a group that is dedicated solely to organising beach tennis meetups.

The Barcelona Beach Tennis club holds open days once a month where you can try beach tennis for free and also receive some coaching. Here’s a video showing you a glimpse of what to expect:

YouTube video

Have you ever played beach tennis? How do you like it?

Riding a Bicycle in Barcelona

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Barcelona is quite a bike-friendly city. The number of bike lanes is always on the increase, and in general, drivers are quite conscious and respectful of cyclists, although you find exceptions.

It is also a city that is plagued by comparatively high levels of air pollution, and even higher noise pollution due to the exceedingly large of obnoxiously loud low-quality scooters and thanks to the population’s obsession with diesel-powered vehicles.

It, therefore, makes sense to fight back against this harmful environment by promoting bike usage. For commuting within Barcelona, I typically use my Brompton 6-speed bicycle. Brompton is hands-down the best brand for foldable bikes and you’ll see many Bromptons in Barcelona.

There are a number of stores selling them including an official Brompton Junction store. Folding bikes are ideal as they are easy to store in an apartment and very easy to transport, be it in a car/train for a day trip outside the city, or just carrying it into a store, bank, office etc.

If you don’t want to buy your own bike, you can rent a bike for specific journeys. Many people use the rental services for their daily commute to work or wherever they need to go within the city. Many times it’s the fastest means of transport.

Click here to join my favorite bike rental service YEGO

Since there are worrying levels of pollution, I would recommend wearing an air filtration mask. I use one especially in winter since my nose gets watery in the cold wind and thus the face mask helps eliminate that issue too. In summer I don’t really use it much since it gets stuffy, although if I were commuting during the rush hour on a daily basis I would definitely use it all year round.

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Jean Galea

Investor | Dad | Global Citizen | Athlete