So note that this is for funds domiciled in <country>. I once had the pleasure of dealing with a German banker pushing me ETFs. It felt to me like when everyone is already in and the pump is losing steam, the German fund manager, self identifying as conservative, also creates a new basket with all these "new" ideas that seem to work.

For example, in 2020 I was told that "green" funds were hot. I told them I'm not buying that overvalued junk; especially because green funds were hot 8 years before that, when Germans didn't know about it yet.

That said, the upside is that because the returns are low, mortgages are cheap in Germany right now. As of writing: 3.69% in Germany vs 5.99% in the US for 15yr fixed, saving you about 49% in interest owed over those 15 years, or put differently: 67k per 100k borrowed.

Germans are famous for not putting their money to work; it just sits there. It's pretty cool to see us Portuguese winning against Germany on something. ahahah! Mind you, most people here in Portugal barely have two pennies to rub together at the end of the month, let alone invest!

Wait a minute...Japanese are really good at investing? I thought so many Japanese just stick their money in bank accounts?

This is the first time I read something negative about the safety-conscious and detail-oriented nature of the Germans. Human nature is fascinating

Fuuuunnnyyt