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:
- P2P Independent Forum
- Foro fintech (Spanish)
- P2P Kredite (German)
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!
Hi Jean –
Wanted to drop an email with resources I just worked on that may be useful for your European readers:
(i) Equity Investing Guide for International/European Investors:
https://bankeronwheels.com/best-international-etfs/
(ii) Bond ETF Guide to hedge your Portfolio (European Investors)
https://bankeronwheels.com/european-bond-etfs-international-bond-etfs/
Hope this helps –
Raph
Thieves!
I have happily had broker accounts with various companies for years. One got bought up by Firstrade.
After 6 months they starting sending me paper statements – and charging a lot for the privilege! They ‘claimed’ (and cannot provide any proof) that the emails werent getting through… after some fighting they they took everything ?!?!?!?!?!
Claiming i had not told them why i moved house 30 (yes that is correct, THIRTY) years ago. Which they refuse to refund !
so yeah – THIEVES and CROOKS. Luckily for. Me was able to have all of my funds recovered through Geminihacks -.- com they are the absolute best.
Thanks for this. comment Jennifer, I was able to recover my funds through Geminihacks. can’t thank. you guys enough.
Well written and wonderful article full of information. Thanks for sharing such a great article with us:-)
Jørgen’s posts used to be more informative, but nowadays I don’t really see much more than monthly updates. It’s a shame, but I’ve really stopped reading that.
Two sites I think you should consider are:
https://p2p-millionaire.com/ Sterling has a staggering portfolio. It’s very p2p-heavy but there’s great insights for finance in general.
https://www.thewealthyfinn.com/ Also quite p2p-heavy, but also other interesting content, especially on sustainable investing and other topics earlier in the year.
Hi Auri, that’s true, Jorgen probably used to write more about his investments. However, I don’t see it as a bad thing. As I mentioned recently, I don’t really care much about very detailed monthly income reports. What I really want to know is what are the top 3 platforms that I should focus on, and then I make my own calculations on what’s the right sum for me to invest in each and what auto-invest strategy to use. I feel that the monthly income reports are a distraction and a shiny object for new investors to waste time on, rather than learning the basics and trying things out for themselves.
I also prefer reading blogs of people who don’t hide behind the veil of anonymity. Jorgen is a great guy who is very transparent and is genuinely interested in sharing his knowledge, in fact I had a very interesting chat with him on my podcast earlier this year.
I’ll also add the two blogs you mentioned as they are blogs I hold in high regard as well.
A note on Sterling and his blog: although I just mentioned that I don’t like anonymous blogs that much, I had a face to face conversation with Sterling earlier this year and recorded a podcast episode with him. So to me, he is no longer an anonymous person, and I can vouch for him really knowing his stuff.
Keep in mind that although he does invest a lot in P2P by most people’s standards, he also has a pretty high net worth which affords him a comfortable cushion even if the worst comes to worst and his P2P investments become severely impaired. That’s also why you need to be careful with monthly reports, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking an investor is taking a risky position by investing a big sum, when in reality it’s not that much of a risky position given the total net worth, his other income streams, etc. As I always say, it’s better to look less at what others are doing and focus more on learning and building your own strategy.
Hi Jean,
I’d love if you could add my P2P website to the list – http://www.p2previews.co.uk
I have reviewed the main UK based P2P websites and am currently working on an all encompassing guide to all platforms in the UK (part 1 complete, parts 2 and 3 are work in progress).
Thanks,
Matt
Thanks for the list. Great to see what else is out there in Europe (I have a blog on investing for women (www.ayshavdp.com) and I am based in Switzerland).
Good, I have also finance blog name is: https://www.blogonfinance.com
Please check this one and add on your list if it’s possible.
Thanks
I think FinancialChipmunk.com should be on the list as well 🙂 It’s all about investing, saving, real estate and reaching financial freedom.
It gives an perspective from a couple with 2 kids in The Netherlands!
Thanks for your consideration.
Best of luck,
Financial Chipmunk
A great list for sure but i think p2pincome.eu should be included on the list. (because its mine 😂)
Hello, I think Money Bear Club (moneybearclub.com) should also be added to this list. It focuses on investing and savings advice for Europeans.
Thank you for mentioning the p2phero 😉 I will now read through your promising site, thanks again
You’re welcome!