Who is behind this finance blog
Not a fund manager, not a financial advisor. Someone who has been saving in ETFs for a few years, has dealt with German capital gains tax, and has made a lot of mistakes from which this blog was born.
How the posts are createdWhy I started in the first place
My entry into investing was not particularly well thought out. An account, a savings book, letting a few years pass, and wondering at the end where the time went. When I started to seriously look into stock ETFs, I noticed how many guides were either too superficial or too technical.
I was missing examples from people who are on the same path, with a normal income and normal doubts. So I started writing down my own notes. Notes became posts, and posts became inntreilopes.biz. This page is the short answer to the question whose assessment you are reading here.
Who writes here
A reader with their own portfolio
I write from the perspective of an employee with a normal income who sets their own savings rate, checks their own statements, and does not smooth over mistakes retroactively.
Added later, not deleted.
How I approach financial topics
I am interested in what lasts over a long time, and less in what looks good in the next quarter. That is why broadly diversified stock ETFs are the focus of my posts, such as the MSCI World as a global reference index.
Breadth instead of individual tips
Diversification explained in practice: what a world index covers, how many positions are really necessary, and where the diversification ends when a market dominates.
MSCI WorldSavings rates instead of price targets
I am interested in what is left over monthly and how a rate behaves over years, not the question of which title will rise next month.
monthlyMaking tax rules usable
Writing down the saver's allowance, the advance lump sum, and the partial exemption in a way that they are useful for your own accounting and not just terms floating in the room.
Saver's allowanceLess exciting than a price target, closer to the reality of most readers.
My own allocation, roughly speaking
I keep it simple. A global stock ETF forms the core, plus a position with a US focus, which I cover via an S&P 500 ETF because I consciously overweight the American market. That is a decision I regularly question, and that is exactly why I write about it.
Anyone who only holds one world ETF is not doing anything wrong. Anyone who sets additional priorities should know the reason for it. On the page about the ETF savings plan, I go through the differences between accumulating and distributing funds, because they affect the accounting and the effort.
A broad core carries the savings rate, a consciously overweighted US position sits next to it. I check both shares at irregular intervals and write it down if I would change something.
What I have learned, partly the hard way
Looking back, I would do two things differently. First, I started with small savings rates for too long, even though more would have been possible, out of concern for the wrong entry time. Second, I did not file the exemption order in time, which led to unnecessary tax deduction that I could have saved myself.
Such points appear again and again in the blog, not as a warning, but as a reminder that the administrative side of investing is just as important as the selection of the ETF. Anyone who files the exemption order with the bank ensures that the saver's allowance is already taken into account during a sale or distributions.
I write in detail about the tax details of these points on the page about taxes and saver's allowance, because that is where most of the questions that readers send me collect.
What I would do differently
Start earlier
Small savings rates out of concern for the wrong moment cost time, did not save money.
File exemption order
Without the order at the bank, it deducts tax that would not have been incurred with the correct setting.
Market observations arise from everyday life, not from the trading floor.
What I note there is rarely a forecast. Mostly it is the question of whether news actually touches my savings rate, my allocation, or my tax — or whether it was just loud.
Market observationsWhere my topics come from
I read and listen more than I write. 'Zehn Minuten Wirtschaft' from NDR Info accompanies me on weekdays and provides the macroeconomic framework for many market observations. The podcast 'Geld genug', which according to the announcement started on September 15, 2026, and appears every two weeks on Tuesdays, deals with financial questions from real life and thus fits well with the claim of this blog.
For product data and basics, I use JustETF as a research source. These sources do not replace my own examination, but they keep the topics current. A list of the podcasts and reference works that I use regularly can be found on the resources page.
Listen, verify, then write.
How articles are created
An article usually begins with a question I have asked myself, or one that a reader has sent me. I research the facts, verify them against the original source, and then write in the order in which I understood them.
First step
Collect questions
Either from my own repository or from a reader's question that cannot be answered in a single sentence.
Second step
Verify against the original source
For tax rules, this means: the information from the tax authorities, not the summary of a guidebook.
Third step
Write in your own order
I write as I have understood it. If a point remains unclear, that is stated in the article instead of a smooth answer that cannot be maintained.
Fourth step
Add updates with date
If a rule or my assessment changes, I update the article with a date instead of silently overwriting the old number.
Better a paragraph with an open question than a smooth answer.
What I am not
This clarity is important to me because it determines what you can expect from the articles and what you cannot.
No investment advice
I describe how I proceed and do not recommend a specific product to anyone. The decision and the verification are up to you.
No tax advice
I explain rules like the saver's lump sum (Sparerpauschbetrag) as I use them for my own accounting. For your individual case, the information from the tax authorities or your advisor applies.
No news service
When I write about the retirement provision account (Altersvorsorgedepot), which according to current information is scheduled to start on January 1, 2027, I am reflecting the status as it appears to me, not a forecast.
I do not sell financial products and do not receive any commission for mentioned ETFs. Mentions are examples from my own portfolio, not a buy recommendation.
Who I write for
For people who live in Germany, have a normal income, and wonder how they can build something long-term without dealing with stock prices every day. For readers who already have a portfolio and want to understand individual details better. And for everyone who wants to inform themselves about a topic before making a decision.
If you find yourself in one of these groups, you are in the right place. If you have a question that cannot be clarified in an article, write to me — most topics on this site come from exactly such messages.
Frequently asked questions about the author
Do you write anonymously here?
No. You can find the address, phone number, and email address on the contact page. I write under my own name and answer reader questions personally.
How often are new articles published?
There is no fixed schedule. I publish when a topic has been verified and contributes something to a decision — market observations usually when something has changed in the framework conditions.
Why are the same topics so often the focus?
Because in the long term, only a few levers move: broad diversification, a savings rate that lasts, and the tax upon sale. Everything else is secondary for most portfolios.
Can I send you topic suggestions?
Yes, gladly. If a question comes up more often or can be answered with my own experience, it becomes an article. You can reach me via the contact page during normal office hours.
Read more
If you want to know how I cover the three topics that support this blog, these are the next stops.
Write it to me, it will be checked and answered.