Sick pay in Europe: who pays you, and from which day
Up to two years of employer-paid sick leave in the Netherlands, none in Portugal. Nine countries, and the percentage everybody quotes rarely decides.
Financial Protection
Insurance, emergency funds, and the dull safety net whose entire job is to stop one bad year from undoing ten good ones.
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Our best attempts.
Unemployment benefit in Europe: when nine states stop paying
Nine European states, six numbers each. Whether your record lets you in, by when you must claim, what the state replaces, and the date payments stop.
The 4% rule for European retirees: does it still hold up in 2026?
3% to 3.5%, not 4%: that's the realistic safe withdrawal rate for a European retiree living off a portfolio. Here's what moves it, and why.
The best savings account in Europe is the one that lets you keep the most
The headline rate on a savings account is rarely what you keep. Post-tax yields in Germany, France, Ireland, Slovenia and beyond tell a very different story.
More posts
What insurance do you actually need: subtract before you buy
Most insurance is priced above your expected loss, by design. Subtract your state, employer and savings, and only the real gap is worth a policy.
How to spot an investment scam: check the firm, not the pitch
Two registers and a warning list. That is the check that works on an investment firm, because the pitch, the dashboard and the profit on it are all theirs.
Employer pension contributions mean five different things across Europe
Cross a border and employer pension contributions become five different things. Ireland and Britain force a minimum in; Spain requires nothing at all.
Inflation-proofing retirement: which European pensions keep up
Your pension rose this year; prices rose faster. Which European pensions keep pace with inflation, and how to defend the slices that quietly erode.
Why retirement planning matters: the real cost of waiting
About 41% of Europeans pay into no private or workplace pension, and each year you wait costs more than the payments you skip. Here's that cost, in euros.
Liquidity in personal finance: which of your own money can you reach?
Liquidity is which of your own money you can actually reach. Map it onto European wrappers, then size the cash buffer none of the locked stuff can rescue.
Money and mental health: how to calm the worry and the bank balance
Money worry and a worried mind feed each other in two loops. Here's how to ease both at once, with free EU mental-health and debt help near the end.
Tax·
Redundancy packages explained: which part is already yours
A redundancy package is a stack, not a single number. Part is yours by law, the rest is negotiable, and the tax-free slice changes country by country.