Build your own retirement portfolio (instead of a pension fund)
Self-employed or moving between countries? A DIY retirement portfolio keeps costs low and stays with you wherever you go. A transparent worked example on €100,000.
TL;DR: If you're self-employed, run your own company, or move between countries for work, no employer is building your retirement for you — and country-specific pension schemes don't always travel with you. A do-it-yourself portfolio held in your own broker account keeps costs low and stays yours wherever you go. In an illustrative worked example on €100,000 over 20 years, the cost difference between a managed product and doing it yourself comes to more than €35,000. Whether DIY suits you is a personal decision — not advice.
If you work for yourself or live abroad, retirement saving rarely runs on autopilot. There's no employer pension quietly accruing in the background, and the tax-wrapped scheme in one country often doesn't follow you to the next. So a practical question surfaces: rather than locking money into a managed or country-bound product, what if you simply invested for retirement yourself — in a portfolio you control and can take with you? Let's work through what that saves.
What does a managed retirement product cost per year?
With managed investing or wealth management you pay, on average in the Netherlands, 1.30% to 1.62% per year all-in: management fee, fund costs and transaction costs combined. Hold the same wealth yourself in a low-cost portfolio of index funds or ETFs and the annual costs typically land between 0.15% and 0.35%. That gap of just over one percentage point looks small per year, but over a retirement horizon of twenty years or more it becomes large.
The worked example: €100,000 over 20 years
Every assumption is stated, so you can check it yourself:
- Starting wealth: €100,000
- Horizon: 20 years
- Assumed gross return: 5% per year (illustrative — not a forecast or a promise)
- Managed: 1.5% costs per year → net ~3.5%
- Self-managed: 0.25% costs per year → net ~4.75%
Run it more conservatively — a lower return or a smaller cost gap — and the outcome shrinks, but even in a cautious variant the difference stays above €35,000. Use a higher return and it grows further. The core holds: over a long horizon, costs are one of the largest, and most controllable, factors in your end result.
Why does that difference bite so hard over a retirement horizon?
Precisely because the horizon is long. A cost percentage works on your entire wealth every year, and every euro that leaks away as costs then misses out on compounding. The longer the money works for you, the heavier that effect. Over a retirement horizon, which often spans two to three decades, it counts double.
Portability: the extra reason this matters if you move
There's a second factor that a worked example doesn't capture but that matters a lot if you're an expat or move countries for work: portability. Many country-specific retirement schemes are tied to one tax system. A UK SIPP, for example, or any other country-bound wrapper, is built around the rules of the place it lives in — useful while you stay, awkward once you leave. A plain investment portfolio in your own broker account carries no such borders: it's a pot of assets you hold directly, that stays yours whether you're in Amsterdam, Lisbon or Berlin. For a mobile, self-employed European, that flexibility is often worth as much as the cost saving. (None of this removes the tax questions that come with moving — see the disclaimer below.)
Is building your own retirement portfolio right for you?
That depends on how much work, knowledge and risk you want to carry. A managed product or adviser takes your decisions, diversification and admin off your hands — that has value, and a tax-advantaged scheme can carry real tax benefits a plain portfolio doesn't. A self-directed approach gives you lower costs, full control and a pot that moves with you, but the responsibility rests entirely with you. This article gives no pension or investment advice; it only shows what costs and portability mean over time, so you can weigh the choice with the figures in front of you. For your personal situation — especially the tax treatment in your country of residence — an independent financial or tax adviser is the right party.
If you do lean towards building your own retirement portfolio, it helps to have tools that keep costs low and the portfolio with you. That's what we're building David for: you assemble your own fund from your broker account, with no manager in between.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build my own retirement portfolio?
You invest for retirement yourself, in your own broker account, typically through a diversified mix of low-cost index funds or ETFs that you hold directly. It keeps costs low and the portfolio stays yours — including if you move countries. The trade-off is that the decisions, diversification and admin are on you.
How much does the cost difference add up to over 20 years?
In an illustrative worked example on €100,000 at a 5% assumed gross return, the difference between a managed product (±1.5%) and doing it yourself (±0.25%) runs to more than €35,000. The exact outcome depends on return and costs.
I'm self-employed or an expat — can I just invest for retirement myself?
Yes, through your own broker account. A plain portfolio isn't tied to one country's tax system the way a country-specific scheme is, so it travels with you. It also won't carry the tax advantages of those wrappers, so get familiar with the rules in your country of residence and consult an independent financial or tax adviser for your situation.
Does David Owl give pension advice?
No. David Owl (C capital bv, Dutch CoC 82436665) is software, not a wealth manager and not an adviser, and gives no pension or investment advice.
Want to manage your own wealth?
David is an iOS app that lets you assemble your own fund from your broker account — no subscription, no manager, your data stays on your device. See how it works →
David Owl (C capital bv, Dutch CoC 82436665) is software, not a wealth manager, and offers no investment or pension advice. The worked examples are illustrative and are not a forecast or guarantee of returns. For your personal situation, consult an independent financial adviser.