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

When I first started investing my pocket money, my financial strategy primarily revolved around spending as little as possible. While my brother invested most of his money in mixed snacks, I kept my portion for myself. Later, all of my earnings, with only a few fixed-interest exceptions, ended up in a regular savings account. It probably wouldn't come as a surprise that I grew up as a classic left-green humanities student, more interested in U.S. political affairs than my own financial matters.

That changed when I had to overhaul my private retirement savings last year. After all, that was the purpose of my 2008 graduation, with a packet of shares, which of course is never a good idea. Everything seemed very secure. I didn't think twice and signed the dotted line. I glanced at the annual overview letter and dutifully filed it away without studying it in detail.

Even a savings book would have been more helpful. I started paying closer attention to my finances last year, perhaps due to switching to Handelsblatt. It's impossible not to think about one's own finances at some point. At 42, I found out that after more than 15 years and over 20,000 euros in contributions, I had only made a profit of 1,000 euros. Despite the fact that the stock markets had been doing relatively well during this time.