Last updated: 27 August 2026
What this is, and what it is not
Everything here is written by one person, Nikita Balanov, about what he did with his own pay. It is education, not advice. This page says where the limits are, in plain words, so you can decide how much weight to give any of it.
I am not a financial adviser
I have never worked in finance. I am not licensed, regulated or authorised to give financial advice in any country. Nothing on this site is a personal recommendation.
I spent fifteen years in sales. What I know, I know from doing it to my own salary and getting some of it wrong. That is a useful thing to read. It is not the same as advice from somebody who is qualified and accountable for it.
This is not tax or legal advice
Tax rules are national, they change every year, and two people on the same salary in the same country can owe different amounts. Nothing here accounts for your situation.
The site talks about how people are paid, including salary, dividends and service agreements. Which of those is available to you, and whether it is lawful in your case, depends on your country, your contract and the facts of the work. Ask a local accountant before you change anything. That is what I did.
Nothing here is a route around tax. Every arrangement described is one that people use openly and declare.
What the numbers are, and are not
My own figures are real. The salary, the payslip, the portfolio and the returns are mine, and they come from documents. Where a number is my own I say so.
Projections are illustrative. Where the site grows a number forward it uses 8% a year, and 4% a year as a withdrawal rate. Those are planning assumptions, not forecasts. Real returns are lumpy and some years are negative.
Country figures are close, not exact. The calculator models 2026 rules for 22 countries. It is built for planning and comparison. It is not a payroll engine and it will not match your payslip to the cent.
Past results predict nothing. My own portfolio has returned more than an index fund across ten years. Most of that comes from financing property, which carries risk an index fund does not. Do not read it as a rate you should expect.
What you should do with any of it
Read it, check it against your own numbers, then talk to somebody qualified before you act. Especially before you change how you are paid, move money, or sign anything.
You are responsible for your own decisions. I cannot be liable for what you do with information you read here.
If something here is wrong
Tell me and I will fix it. Email nikita@9-5fastlane.com. Corrections get made on the page, with the date changed at the top, not quietly edited away.
How the numbers on this site are produced is written up separately, in the methodology.