Daniel Prokop – drawn by the vision of financial independence

It’s been 3 years since I graduated from high school and I have been working for a living. Naturally, I’ve become interested in new ways of managing my finances. I have also developed a more profound interest in investing and begun to absorb news from the world of financial markets. Currently, I am a student of economics and management.

I was fascinated by how the rich are getting richer, what stories lay behind their financial independence. I was also drawn by this vision of financial independence.

I was fully aware that I had set my goals pretty high and I won’t become a financially independent individual overnight. My goal is not to become a millionaire. I probably won’t make it as far. However, I would like to improve the quality of my life, live a little bit better than the “usual”.

I reached the breaking point when I realized that I could be using money way more effectively than on everyday consumption, which made me happy only momentarily. That’s why I decided to take better care of my finances and start building wealth.

My investing experience back then was none whatsoever. This was reflected in my first steps, as I plunged into investing without any previous knowledge. I was desperately hoping that all it took was to go to a bank, talk to my financial advisor and the prefect investment solution will fall in my lap.

My first experience with investing via the Amundi mutual funds didn’t bring me any additional value and I didn’t feel comfortable with the investment solution. The negative aspects were high fees or tax on capital gains.

Finally, I decided to transfer my investment to Finax. Nevertheless, I am grateful for this experience because you can learn from your own mistakes. It was a turning point for me. I started to rely on myself and I have broadened my horizons in investing.

I had already heard about Finax a couple of months before I opened my first investment account intending to build wealth. I liked their concept. This startup impressed me with their ambitious plans and a good business model.

The pilot event of Finax in June 2019 was an opportunity for me to meet the founders themselves and the guys from the investment board. These people were ambitious and goal-oriented. I liked their vision to “bring a fair investment product to the Slovak market and change the perception of investing in Slovakia”. Ever since they have stayed true to their principles.

When investing, it is important for me to feel secure and convinced that my funds are in the right hands. I know that Finax will take good care of them.

After all, money doesn’t grow on trees and it’s important to manage them adequately. Quality of the service that Finax offers is, from my point of view, immensely better compared to the competing services offered in Slovakia.

There were several key factors why I decided to invest with Finax - investing via the passive ETFs, low fees, automatic rebalancing, returns exempt from tax after a year. I also believe that their great advantage lies in education via webinars and blogs, along with communication and responsiveness (always being helpful).

The goals that suit my needs the most are – wealth building, property purchase, and retirement savings.

The objective of wealth building is to build up a passive income and not to depend only on a single source of income (150 Euros).

Property purchase will serve for securing a mortgage. My funds shall cover at least 20% of the property price. This way, I will avoid expensive commercial credit, high-interest rates and my budget will be a bit better off (by 50 Euros).

I consider saving for my retirement to be important, as I can’t rely solely on the state. The fate of my old-age pension is in my hands.

I am glad that also my friends have realized how important it is to invest. I already have 6 active referrals.

I am also happy that even my 15-year old brother began saving with Finax, 50 Euros a month from his allowance. It’s great that my brother really sees the purpose of investing and chose to go down the same path I had chosen – to enjoy financial independence and have a better quality of life. Thanks to his first couple of part-time jobs, he was able to increase the deposits and he is already looking forward to the next market downturn so he can make an additional deposit.

It is difficult to make a decision, especially when beginning to invest with a lack of financial literacy. I am personally convinced that Finax is the perfect way for long-term appreciation of funds – and if not the way, at least the right starting point.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude towards Juraj Hrbaty and Radoslav Kasik for their cooperation which led to a company that has helped to raise awareness of investing and educate people in the topic of finance. I am happy to support Finax by investing with you.

I strongly believe that the direction you have decided to go in, to “bring a fair investment product to the Slovak market and change the perception of investing in Slovakia”, won’t become cheap propaganda, but rather you will adhere to the strong principles as it has been since the beginning.

PS: There is nothing better than a satisfied client.