Investing: Ten things I've learned about ETFs as a beginner

When I first started investing my pocket money, my financial strategy revolved around spending as little as possible. While my brother stuffed most of his earnings into mixed packs, I kept my own separate. Later, all the money I earned, with a few interest-earning exceptions, ended up in my current account. It probably won't come as a surprise to learn that I grew up as a classic left-green humanities student, who was more interested in US political affairs than his finances.

That changed when I had to restructure my private pension last year. After all, that's why I was so diligent in 2008, with a degree in hand. Back then, I had taken out a pension insurance based on stock funds, from a friend, which obviously wasn't a good idea. Everything was supposedly very safe. I didn't think twice and signed the dotted line.

I dutifully mailed the annual overview brochure, never taking the time to read it in detail. Even a savings book would have been better. But the fact that I looked more closely last year had something to do with my move to Handelsblatt. It's impossible to avoid thinking about one's finances eventually. I was 42, and it turned out that after more than 15 years and over 20,000 euros in contributions, I had only made 1,000 euros in profit. Meanwhile, the stock markets had been doing rather well during this period.