Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange
Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [germany]

to be used for any question within the geographical region of Germany

330 questions
70
votes
4 answers

MasterCard won't disclose who leaked my credit card details

I was recently informed, by the payment processing agency of my bank, that an online shop was compromised and that as a precaution my MasterCard credit card was frozen and replaced. There was no actual fraudulent charge. I have inquired with my bank…
Tari
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59
votes
5 answers

Borrowing money in one country to pay off debt in another

I'm currently living in Germany and can borrow a substantial amount of money at almost no interest, effective 3.4%. In my home country I have several mortgages, basically at the moment funding themselves almost completely via rental income. The…
Cillier
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53
votes
4 answers

Random and anonymous `western union´money transfers into my account, is it a scam?

Two months ago I received a money transfer of around 200 € into my account from a company called Custom House Financial UK, which turns out to be an affiliate of Western Union (ie. they do money transfers). I wasn't expecting this money, nor does…
willow
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46
votes
5 answers

When to stop saving and start investing?

Since I started my first job after graduating a few years back, I always saved a certain percentage of my salary each month on an extra savings account my bank offers. At that time, and until recently, that seemed to make sense. Now I have, in my…
Suimon
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44
votes
12 answers

Should I buy a house now before prices rise even more?

We rent an apartment in Frankfurt, Germany and we are contractually bound to it for another 1.5 years. We are 33 and 35 years old and there will be children soon. We make around 110k € annually (after taxes) and we have no debt. We are thinking…
8192K
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42
votes
6 answers

What do I need to watch out for when receiving a large sum of money as a gift in Germany?

I live in Germany. If my father would want to give me a large sum of money - let's say 10,000€ - what would be the safest, least bureaucratic way to do this? I'm an apprentice and I still receive child allowance (I don't know how familiar people…
Flying Thunder
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27
votes
6 answers

Umlaut Character in Account Holder Name (German Bank)

I sent a payment through international bank transfer to Germany. But, the account holder name has special characters like ö, ä, ü, and etc. In my case, it's ü. Is there any other words that are equivalent with ü (read: u with umlaut), that in some…
samuel christian
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27
votes
9 answers

In Germany, how can I maximize the impact of my charitable donations?

I have recently reached a point in my life where I want to start making regular donations to worthwhile charities, but I have no idea which charity is most "deserving" of my money. I understand that this is very subjective and what seems very…
Matt M.
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19
votes
6 answers

Do insurance rates depend on credit scores?

When reading up on credit scores, I came across this article. It contains this paragraph: A bad score can become a black mark that leads to missing out on the home you want (credit checks are a common aspect of apartment applications), higher car…
UTF-8
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18
votes
1 answer

Should I pay myself a dividend or a salary?

I'm considering starting my own limited liability company in Germany (GmbH). However, I myself live currently most of the time in Spain (more than 183 days per tax year, the other time is business travel), where I'm also registered as a resident and…
znq
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17
votes
8 answers

I have an extra 1000€ per month, what should I do with it?

I've seen a few questions like this here, but they all seem to be adressed to Americans and their way of life. Let me explain: I am 27, single, live in Germany and recently got my first job, which pays about 2000€ per month after taxes. I am…
anon
17
votes
5 answers

Is my investment safe if the broker/bank I'm using goes into insolvency?

I'm using Scalable Capital as my broker. Once I buy ETFs through them, if Scalable Capital (or the bank they are partnered with) goes into insolvency, is my investment safe? I'm wondering if I should be using different brokers to split my…
MarkJeglic
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16
votes
10 answers

Why is the mandated minimal liability car insurance coverage so high?

All over the world, you need car insurance that covers the damages you do to others. In Austria and Germany, this insurance has to cover at least 7 790 000 € of damages. Isn't it a bit high? This Canadian blog explains that coverage of 1 000 000 CAD…
Martin Drozdik
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12
votes
2 answers

What is the advantage of a Sparbuch, and how does this work?

In Germany, there apparently exists such a thing as a Sparbuch (literally: Savings book, apparently comparable to a passbook in the USA), mentioned in this answer. According to a recent news article, 50% of Germans use a Sparbuch, a record high…
gerrit
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12
votes
1 answer

Why is the price of hydrogen (H2) in Germany fixed at 9.50 EUR per kg?

In Germany there are only a few H2 gas stations. Why do they all have the same price? Why is the free market disabled here? Which law is responsible and why was it created?
Maik
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