Sibylle Greindl
26 Aug 2026
“Investing every month comes before everything else”
In June 2026, Easyvest launched a major survey on Belgians and money. Over a thousand people answered our questions. Among them, we asked what price tag Belgians put on happiness, in income and in capital. Throughout the summer, you will meet the Belgians behind these figures. In September, we will reveal the full picture of the price of happiness for Belgium.
Arnaud is 47 and lives in Anderlecht. For his four-person household, he sets the price of happiness in income at 5.000€, and the price of happiness in capital at 1.000.000€. That is enough, he reckons, to cover his retirement with room to spare and leave something behind for the next generation.
How do you plan to reach that capital target?
I have been investing in stocks for a long time to build up capital. My wife has started too, and so have people we know.
At first, I researched active investing online: buying and selling shares I expected to rise or fall. That taught me that shares can swing sharply in the short term. I now prefer ETFs, funds that track a broad basket of shares, and a long-term approach. This way, I am also building up the amount I need for a mortgage.
What gets in the way?
The cost of living keeps rising: rent, groceries, electricity. Even so, I make sure to invest 10% of my income every month. I then work with what is left to cover expenses, without turning to credit cards.
In practice, that means counting every cent and going without certain pleasures. I would happily travel more. My family is originally from Mauritius, and I would love to take them there. But plane tickets alone already come with a hefty price tag. We live in the city, so any holiday away from it brings extra costs straight away.
The wider picture keeps getting harder too. Prices already climbed when the euro arrived. Then came the subprime crisis of 2008, with bankruptcies everywhere. Now wars keep multiplying around us. None of that is cheerful, but we still have to keep moving forward. I keep building my capital, for myself and to leave something behind for those who come after me.
How did you build your financial knowledge?
I started learning early, back in secondary school, before completing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Beyond that, I picked things up along the way.
Today, AI helps with my investments. When I have a question, or want to compare two products, it searches different sites for me. That saves a considerable amount of time.