For this new interview, we have the pleasure of discovering the profile of a woman from Fribourg, blogger in personal finance, productivity and minimalism. Through her blog investirsontemps.com, she shares her personal experiences in these three areas! Let’s discover more about Margaux!
“Don’t wait for events to happen the way you want them to. Decide to want what happens… and you will be happy.”
– Epictète
Mr. GP : “Can you briefly introduce yourself? Your age, location, occupation, family status, etc.”
Margaux : My name is Margaux, I am 27 years old and I have been living in Fribourg for a few months now. After studying criminal sciences and having a lot of trouble finding a job, I "reconverted" and trained in computer programming. I am now a developer in a web agency and I earn between 75'000 CHF and 80'000 CHF raw per year. I also have a blog where I share my journey towards financial independence (https://investirsontemps.com) and since a few months I dared to take the plunge and I started a Youtube channel on the same subject: https://www.youtube.com/c/InvestirsonTemps
Mr. GP : “What are your goals related to your interest in personal finance?“
Margaux : My annual goal is to save at least 30% of my income. I invest half of it in the stock market and save the rest for big projects like travel. But in the long run, I want to focus on my quality of life, by decreasing my working hours and living as many experiences as possible (and for that, I still need to earn some money).
Mr. GP : “Do you hope to be FIRE one day? Or if you already are, how many years did it take you to be?“
Margaux : When I came across the Mustachian Post's blog, I thought to myself " so good, this is what I want ". But as time goes by, I have less and less desire to become FIRE, at least not on a fixed date. I'm more interested in "financial independence" and less in "early retirement". For now I love working and I'm lucky enough to be in a great company, so I'm not jaded with my job yet 😄 The most important thing for me is the freedom. The freedom to be able to make up my own hours, to be able to take vacations when I feel like it and not be subject to ridiculous rules.
Mr. GP : “What is your investment strategy? Stocks ? Bonds ? ETF ? real estate ? Crypto ? Other ?”
Margaux : I waited until I had about 6 months of savings to start investing in the stock market a little over a year ago. I started by buying an ETF because I wanted to familiarize myself with the platform and with stock market investing in general. And since this year, I have started to invest in individual stocks, rather dividend oriented. In Switzerland, real estate seems out of reach for me and I must say that I was quite seduced by the passive side of stock market investing.
Mr. GP : “Do you consider yourself frugal? Can you reveal the evolution of your savings rate over the years?”
Margaux : Yes, I have always been very careful with my finances. At first, mostly because I had no choice as a student. I had very little money to live on during my studies. At the time, I was only getting a subsidy of about 15'000 CHF per year so I had to learn to manage my money to keep some until the end of the year. And with 15'000 CHF per year, that's not much per month to live on. So the strategy of bringing your Tupperware to eat lunch, I know well 😉 And if not, I started calculating my savings rate since last year. In 2020, I was at 20%, and this year I'm aiming for 30% savings rate (since 2021, I'm averaging 30%).
Mr. GP : “What was your best financial decision?”
Margaux : It's not really a decision, but rather something I went through in spite of myself. I think the best "decision" that happened to me was not finding a job quickly after my studies. At that time, I was not eligible for unemployment and I squandered all my (meager) savings in a few months. That was a turning point for me. I knew I never wanted to be in that situation again and that's how I came across the Mustachian Post blog. In a few years, I know I'll be glad I invested early enough in the stock market and in my 3rd pillar.
Mr. GP : “What was your worst financial decision and why? What was the consequence?”
Margaux : So far, I have to say that I have been lucky, I haven't made any mistakes (yet) on that side. I've been lucky enough to discover some really good resources on the subject and have been able to get some really good advice from them early on in my working life. But I haven't always invested in cryptos, maybe that will be a mistake 😄
Mr. GP : “What advice would you give to someone who wants to start increasing her or his savings rate? What areas (investments, savings, income, etc.) would you prioritize?”
Margaux : The essential and most important step in my opinion is to build up an emergency fund of 6 months to 1 year of expenses depending on your family situation. Then you are ready to invest. ETFs are excellent first investments, it is passive and not very complicated. In any case, it is much more profitable than investing in an investment fund with your bank. Concerning expenses and income, I would say that it is useful to optimize your expenses. I had read somewhere that before trying to increase your income, you have to make sure that the bottom of your basket is stable and solid. You have to control your personal expenses, otherwise the money will leak out, no matter how much you earn.
Mr. GP : “Can you reveal your Net Worth and explain how it is composed?”.
Margaux : I have to say that I am proud that I have been able to get back on track for the past 2 years. After graduation in 2018, I found myself with 9 CHF in my bank account. Now, I am around 45'000 CHF of net wealth, about 25'000 in cash, 10'000 invested in the stock market and the rest in my 3rd pillar. However, I don't count my 2nd pillar, I haven't yet taken the time to see how much it was composed of.
Mr. GP : “If you had to recommend a book or other resource, which would you choose?”
Margaux : Tough question. There are so many nuggets in every field 😄 Regarding finances in Switzerland, I can only recommend the Mustachian Post book: https://www.mustachianpost.com/fr/libre-a-40-ans-en-suisse-acheter-le-livre/ To cut down on expenses, minimalism has helped me too. A great documentary: Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, available on Netflix. Otherwise I really like Cal Newport's books "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and "Deep Work. Knowing how to develop deep skills in a field is, in my opinion, the key to financial and professional success (whether you are employed or not).
Mr. GP : “Anything else you want to add or share?“
Margaux: Don't forget that the path is just as important as the destination. Being frugal and watching your expenses is good. But I think you have to know how to please yourself and still enjoy life because let's not forget, we only have one 😉
Mr. GP : “A quote you like or a sentence that inspires you?”
Margaux : I remember a quote that was displayed in my teenage room for many years. I thought it was "stylish" at the time without really understanding it. Now I have to say that it kind of dictates how I live my life on a daily basis: "Don't wait for events to happen the way you want them to. Decide to want what happens... and you will be happy." Epictetus.
Conclusion
Margaux is motivated, ambitious and it shows through her posts and videos! I think she had the chance to go through difficult times in financial terms when she was a student, and it’s partly thanks to that that she was able to bounce back in a spectacular way! A career change is never easy, but Margaux has taken advantage of it by launching her blog and her Youtube channel!
Thanks again for taking the time to answer this interview so thoroughly!
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