ENDE Find your number1 min

// whoami

Hi, I’m Markus. I like numbers.

I build companies and software, and I like money questions you can settle with a spreadsheet. This is where I write down what I’ve figured out. No suit, no sales pitch, no permission from anyone.

Markus Behmann on a rooftop terrace in Dubai, the Palm in the background

The short version

German passport, zero talent for sitting still. I started VEONIO in 2017, Nerdy.Money came later. I work somewhere between Malta, Estonia and Dubai, build with AI every day and I’m a Hayek fan. You’ll notice. Retirement? Not the plan. Not only because I don’t want to. It’s also pretty much a financial mistake to trust your dear government to pay you enough to live on a third of a century from now, or later. Some states aren’t even that old.

Why this site exists

Because the pension maths in most of Europe doesn’t work for anyone under fifty, and hardly anybody with a microphone says so. Pay-as-you-go needs lots of workers per pensioner. We have fewer every year. That’s not a conspiracy, that’s demographics. And demographics doesn’t care who won the election.

The fix isn’t complicated: spend less than you earn, put the difference into cheap, broad funds, earn more, keep going for a long time. You just rarely hear it without a sales pitch stapled to it. The other popular fix is “the state should do more”. That one’s been tried, by people who were bad at maths and immune to evidence. It ended with bread queues and a wall to stop the customers from leaving. So here’s mine instead. With calculators.

Freedom, not retirement

I like working and I like making money. There, I said it. In some circles that’s a confession. What I like even more is the freedom that comes with it: I pick what I work on, with whom, and from where. That’s what this site is about. And if you’d rather have the beach chair at 45: same maths, different furniture.

Markus on a road bike by a lake
Tuesday, 11 am. No, I didn’t ask anyone.
Markus on a snowboard in the snow
Risk management, practical part.
Markus on a promenade by the sea
By the sea. Laptop not pictured.
Markus and a friend in front of a helicopter
With a friend who is no longer here. Time is the one thing you can’t earn back.

What you get

  • Articles on investing in Europe, financial freedom, earning more and AI. With sources, so you can check me.
  • 8 free calculators that run in your browser.
  • Plan B, a free course in 8 levels.

What you don’t get

  • Stock tips, crypto calls or “this one fund”. If I knew next year’s winner, I wouldn’t be blogging.
  • Affiliate links dressed up as recommendations. Half the finance internet lives on those. Not this half.
  • Personal investment, tax or legal advice. I’m not licensed for that and I don’t know your situation.
  • Cookies, tracking pixels or pop-ups begging for your e-mail.

Sister projects

You run a company, earn well or you’re eyeing the exit to another country? Nerdy.Money is your next stop. Your company needs software, automation or a website that loads before the coffee is ready? That’s VEONIO.

Start here Say hello