Unsere FINANZ-FEHLER ❌ (Mieten, Investieren, Sparen) - Podcast 🎤 Learn German Fast 🇩🇪

Hello everyone and welcome to a new episode of the podcast. Today I'm not alone again, but with my husband, Elias. Hello. Thank you for being here again today. You're welcome. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. You know I like to talk about finance. Yes. That's why we're talking about finance again today. Very good. It's an important topic. Your favorite topic, right? Absolutely. Okay. Guys, our topic today is our biggest money mistake. So we've been together for 11 years? 10 years? 11. We've been together for 11 years and we've made one or the other mistake. That's why we're talking about it today. Please support us with a thumbs up. Subscribe to my channel. Feel free to write in the comments what we should talk about next, what topics you're interested in, and share with us what financial or money mistakes you've made in the last few years or in your life. What are you laughing at? No, just like that. It's exciting, isn't it? Yes. We're happy to hear what kind of experiences you've made. I've prepared the whole script of our conversation with useful speech and vocabulary in a free PDF file for you. You can find the link to the PDF file in the video description. Click on the link, download the PDF file. It's best if you do it now and learn during the video. Okay, let's get started. The reason I want to talk about this topic is because it's especially important for immigrants. To know what you shouldn't do in Germany. What mistakes are typical or can happen often. And what you can avoid. Maybe we can start with our first mistake. I see it as a mistake we made at the beginning of our relationship. Do you know what I mean? It was ten years ago and we rented our first apartment. Exactly, so the rent of our first apartment. In my opinion, we made a bigger mistake there. Do you see that as a mistake too? It would have been nice to know how it works differently. Yes. What we did was Tobias found an apartment. But this apartment was rented by a broker. Correct? Yes. And at that time the tenants had to pay the broker's fees. So not the landlord, but the tenants. That means the apartment wasn't particularly nice. But we still had to take over the broker's fees. And so we have two and a half thousand euros. No, it wasn't that much. Two thousand, so it was already over two thousand euros. But let it be 1,500 or 2,000 euros. And that was only the fees to the broker that we found the apartment ourselves. The broker didn't do anything. And to this day I think, wow, we were so young and so stupid. How do you see yourself in this situation? You were the one who was looking for the apartment, who paid for everything. What is your impression now, ten years later? What should you have done better? The big advantage is that there is no longer this problem today. Because today the tenants no longer pay the broker. Yes. The law has been changed. But of course there is one thing, we could have dealt with it before. We could have looked, okay, where is that maybe different? Where could we have rented directly from private? That it wouldn't have come across a broker. Would we have gotten the same apartment? No idea. But at least we could have put a little more time in there. But I also wanted to have an apartment quickly at that time. And then it just went like that. Today I would do it differently. Are there any other points to pay attention to when renting an apartment in Germany? Okay, that's one mistake we made with the broker. Maybe there are a few more tips you can give. If you are new here and want to rent an apartment, what are the typical obstacles? One topic is, for example, what we always said when we were looking for our current apartment. We looked at apartments on a street, for example. Or at a tram station, a roadside station. And you always have to know, okay, that's very loud. That means you have to look where the apartment is. And whether you can deal with what the apartment brings with it. We looked at one apartment. But on one side a four-lane road and on the other side a kindergarten. And we didn't take the apartment. It would have been very loud. Both on one and the other side. Exactly. And that's why you have to think a little more about it. And let's say you're visiting until the weekend. And maybe there's not that much going on on the street. But what is it like during the week when a lot of people drive by? So you have to pay attention to that too. Or, for example, that you read the rental contracts. Whether the rent is fixed. Whether there is a double rent. Exactly. In Germany there is still such an interesting system. There are double rents and index rents. Or fixed rents. Can you say something about that? I just wanted to. Please. The fixed rent is fixed. And at some point you can theoretically get a rent increase. In the legally permissible framework. Then there is the double rent. That means, for example, that the rent increases by 50 euros every year. Or every year by a certain percentage. And then there is the index rent. That means, for example, it is tied to inflation. If the inflation is 2% per year, then the rent price also rises by 2%. But on the other hand, if, for example, the inflation were negative, the rent would also drop again. So it probably happens less often. But yes, there are actually these three forms of rent. That means, of course, you have to make sure that you don't get a bad surprise after a year that the rent is rising and you don't expect it. But another thing about rents. You can often discuss this when you have a rent increase that you don't agree with, which is perhaps too high. Or you can also see if you can talk to the landlord about it. It also depends on who your landlord is. So if you have a large landlord association, then you can also discuss this. Okay. Yes, that was the first mistake I wanted to address in our 11 years together. Do you have anything you would like to share? Yes, we once invested in a crypto project where I listened to other people who told me, yes, yes, invest in it. We did that too. I thought you found the project. No. Yes, it was not a good investment. The money is gone. Or someone else has it now. It hurt a lot. It hurt a lot, yes. But that was the first hype cycle, I would say. Was that the first? Yes, ours. Oh yes. In the crypto market. And that was not a good investment. And since then I don't invest anymore if I don't know the team. And if I didn't deal with it first. I did deal with it at the time and the idea was already good, but if I had dealt with it even more and taken a few more weeks, then I could have seen that it would not have been a good investment, even if the idea was basically good, what you did. And I think another mistake was that we invested so much money right away. Yes, that was the least. Ah, you couldn't do less. Yes. Only more. What is your general tip for investments? What is the safe choice? If you have no idea yet, but want to diversify a bit, not just invest in funds, but diversify a bit, what is the safe way to do that? Leave it. Wow. If you have no idea about it and are just starting. How would you proceed if you wanted to learn about it? YouTube. Okay. So you see, people, you can learn everything on YouTube. You can also learn on Instagram or TikTok. You don't have to do it just for some ice bucket challenges. Ice bucket challenges? I don't know. Please. Oh my God. Old man's test. Who of you knows ice bucket challenge? Please write in the comments now. That was 20 years ago. Well, 10. Come on. We've been together before. No. I did ice bucket challenge at home when I was still living with my parents. Yes. Crazy. But there was social media back then. There was Instagram. Exactly. Just search there. Enter there. Start a portfolio. Build a portfolio. Don't believe anyone who tells you, give us your money and we'll guarantee you a certain profit. There are no guarantees on the financial market. But that's exactly how I would start. And then you can work your way there piece by piece. With simple investments. Would you open an account just for backup? A security emergency account where you have money for an absolute emergency? Or would you just look at how you manage your money in general? It's always good to have a backup account. In my opinion. How much money would you transfer to the backup account per month? That also depends on how much money you earn and how much you can put aside. I wouldn't put too much on the backup account either. Because in the end these accounts often pay no interest. So the money only loses value. Exactly. An account for the monthly expenses. An account for investing or some kind of deposit. And an account as a backup account when the washing machine breaks down. Yes, or dentist. There are often medical bills that you don't necessarily have to pay. Sure, the insurance pays for most things. It's always good to have a little buffer. Can you think of anything else that we could have done better in the last 11 years? Going on vacation less. Wow. Financial error. We went on vacation too much. That's okay. I don't think we made that many financial mistakes. Okay, I'll say one mistake. No mistake. It's something I probably would have done a long time ago. But we didn't. Because Tobias is usually very responsible with our money. I've wanted to have a car for years. Did you know that? Yes. You know me very well. So I've wanted to have a car for years. But we live very centrally in the city. And logically we don't need a car. We both work from home. But it's so beautiful. It's a beautiful luxury. What are your arguments against a car? We don't need one. We live in the middle of the city. We can rent one if we need one. How much does a car cost? Can you tell us? Fuel. Taxes. Fuel, by the way. Petrol. Or diesel. Fuel. Taxes. Insurance. If you buy a car. But if you lease it or finance it. You have to pay the monthly fees for it. What kind of insurance do you need for a car? Car insurance. And what taxes do you pay? Car insurance. Power vehicle tax. Interesting. Well. I don't see us buying a car yet. Right, we still need it. So guys, you know. If we have a car at some point. Then we'll probably move. Until then, there's only a bike. That's enough. It's nice too. I wanted to talk about one more topic. Where you are often either overwhelmed. Or make mistakes. Insurance. Exactly. Fortunately, we have a very good advisor. So I would say. We didn't make any mistakes. Or not so many. But as a migrant. You are often overwhelmed very quickly. Do you have any tips? How to deal with insurance in Germany? And above all. How to find out what you need? What are the basic insurances you need? That's always the question. But you should definitely have a liability insurance. What is that? If you break something somewhere. Let's say you're at a friend's house. And drop a mink vase. I don't know if that's enough for the insurance room. But that's what the insurance takes over. Glass and wheel insurance. That means if the glass breaks in the rental apartment. Or if your apartment is flooded. If there are water damage. Then it's the wheel insurance. If the sofa breaks. Or the chairs break. So not your own, but from the landlord. Your house wheel is insured. Everything that is in your apartment. But not if you broke it yourself. No, if there is a flood. Or if there is water damage. Then it is done. If you have a car, you should have a liability insurance. I don't think you mentioned the most important insurance in Germany. You have to have health insurance anyway. Well, exactly. Which insurances are which? Health insurance, care insurance. Is care insurance also a duty? It should be a duty, yes. And I mean, if you work. It's health insurance anyway. Care insurance, unemployment insurance. Germany. There are more? Yes. Guys, do you want a separate video just about insurances? Then we have to do some research first. And put a big disclaimer under it. No advice. But we could at least talk about it. Also which insurances we have. We also have so many. At least we can share what we have. And if we use it. We actually only use health insurance. And liability insurance. And we don't really use health insurance either. A little bit. But yes. There are still a few things. For example, if you are a roofer. You can still do a vocational disability insurance. If you fall off the roof. Even if you can't do the job anymore, you still get money. And you're not completely poor afterwards. So there are a lot of insurances. But something like a house council. Liability insurance. Health insurance is a mandatory insurance in Germany anyway. These are very, very, very important insurances. And I mean, in the end, every insurance that you complete. The best insurance is the one you don't need. For which you only spend money. But in the end there are a few insurances that are good and important. Then you don't need an emergency account if you have an insurance. It's still not wrong. Because if the washing machine breaks down. There is definitely an insurance for that. For broken washing machines. But I wouldn't support that. Depending on how expensive it is. Very good. I think that's all for now. Unless you have any ideas what we could have done better. Or what would you have spent money on? So for me it was a car. For you, you would have spent money on something. But you thought, wow, that's impossible, I won't do that. A car. Yes, so you would also like to have a car? Of course. That's no news for you either. Otherwise ... I challenged my husband with my question. But it's so nice, isn't it? When you are so happy without desire. Yes, I am happy without desire. That's so cool. So you really don't have anything for which you would have spent money unnecessarily? No. A watch. Ah yes. That's something. Okay. I hope you had fun with us today. Please remember to give us a thumbs up. Subscribe to my channel. And download the free PDF file. Learn new vocabulary, new expressions and do an exercise. So, I hope to see you very soon again in the podcast. Stay tuned. I'm here. You are here. Let us know in the comments which topics we should address next. Otherwise, thank you for being there. Gladly, as always. And see you soon. See you soon. Stay tuned and stay busy. Ciao.