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I do it through a bank + spreadsheets. Even though I live in France currently, I mostly keep my money in JPY and USD since this is the money I get from customer
by nicolas_t 10y ago
I do it through a bank + spreadsheets. Even though I live in France currently, I mostly keep my money in JPY and USD since this is the money I get from customers. I used to have more Euros but got scared before the Brexit vote and decided not to have too much liquidity in Euros for now. I do own an apartment in a EU country so I'm still invested in the EU going well.
In term of investments, I tend to prefer long term investments rather than short terms one. I've bought some apple shares which I don't touch and I have invested in some index funds.
I do have an accountant to keep my company's book.
I do not expect to be able to get pension from my country by the time I retire so I save and make sure that I'll have enough to live by that time. To that end, I live well below my means and try to save 60% of my income each months.
This does mean that I have a relatively small apartment, that I do not splurge on restaurants and that I tend to not want to buy stuff (this is connected to the fact that I like not having much clutter in my life). I strongly believe that it's easier to continue having the same lifestyle as you did when you started working than returning to a cheaper lifestyle after having had a taste of luxury. So I avoid luxury for now.
In term of spreadsheets, I maintain two spreadsheets.
1. Recurring income and expenses. This allows me to track recurring expenses and decide or not to cut them. I make sure to review it every 2 months
2. Investment spreadsheets, this is a spreadsheet I use to track the different investments I do and the monthly return I get on them. I only review them once a month because I do not want to make impulsive decisions regarding my investments. I've found that it's too easy to panic and make bad decisions and it's also healthier not to worry constantly about one's investment. I probably leave money on the table because of this but it's the choice for me (and then again I have less risk of losing everything).
In term of credit card spending, I set a limit as to what I spend every month and will only really analyze my spendings if I near that limit.
EDIT: Quick hint for people who need to deal with multiple currencies, it's worth looking at a specialized service like Currencies Direct (but there are many others), they tend to give much better rates than banks. I've saved over $1000 this year by doing this.
- Cerium 10y agoOn the topic of currency exchanges: recently I had to send a five figure sum to China. Banks in the U.S. offered me 6.245 on the same say as banks in China offered me 6.55. Safe to say I was very vocal about the fact that I was sending US dollars and had no interest in foreign exchange services.
- nicolas_t 10y agoYes, it's been my experience to always transfer the foreign currency to China and do the exchange there. But that's something to always check with any countries... It's very easy to assume and lose a substantial amount of money.