Tips Empire
A few minutes to understand why. Pages marked “coming soon” are still being written.
Work and pay
- Brazil: 13th salary and vacation, how much and whenThe two installments of the 13th salary, the vacation days, the one-third and the cash bonus, with a salary of R$3,000 as the example.
- Brazil: from gross salary to net, how to read the payslipWhat is deducted, why the INSS is not 14% of everything and why, in 2026, those earning up to R$5,000 pay no income tax at source.
- Brazil: unemployment insurance, who qualifies and how to applyThe requirements, the installment amount in 2026, the application deadline, how to apply and what makes the benefit stop.
- France: from gross to net, how to read your payslipWhy €3,000 gross does not make €3,000 in the account, and what to look at on the payslip of your first month.
- France: income tax explained in five minutesWhy a higher income does not mean paying 30% on everything, what the family quotient does and how to read your tax notice.
- France: paid leave, how many days and how many eurosHow the days earned are counted, what counts as work, what a day of leave is worth and when you can take it.
- France: who qualifies for ARE unemployment benefit and how to registerThe conditions, amount and length of unemployment benefit in 2026, the deferrals before the first payment and the steps at France Travail.
- Germany: from gross to net, how to read your payslipWhat happens between the salary in the contract and the money in your account, line by line, with 2026 numbers.
- Germany: maternity protection, periods, pay and dismissal protectionSix weeks before and eight weeks after the birth, the health insurance fund’s maternity allowance with the employer’s supplement and the protection from dismissal.
- Germany: Elterngeld at a glance, duration, ElterngeldPlus and claimWho is entitled, how much and how long Elterngeld is paid, what ElterngeldPlus and the partnership bonus change and when you should claim.
- Germany: tax classes, 3/5, 4/4 or the factor method?What the tax class determines, what it does not, and how couples choose the combination: with 2026 figures.
- Germany: Arbeitslosengeld I, entitlement, amount and durationWho is entitled, how amount and duration arise, when you must register and what a disqualification period costs.
- Italy: from gross to net, where the money goesFive steps separate the RAL from the payslip. Here they are, explained simply, with a real 2026 example.
- Spain: from gross salary to netWhat the contract says and what reaches your account: what is deducted, who calculates it and what you can check.
- Spain: unemployment benefit, who qualifies, how much and how to applyThe requirements, the duration by days contributed, the amount with the 2026 caps and the steps to apply to the SEPE.
- Income Tax and National InsuranceThe allowance and the bands, the National Insurance that comes on top, the £100,000 trap, and what pensions and student loans change.
- State Pension explainedThe amount, the years you need, the age, whether to fill a gap or delay, and how to claim, in one page.
- Statutory pay explainedThe 2026/27 rates side by side, who qualifies, the notice you must give, and what you can claim if you do not.
- Claiming age explainedWhat each starting age does to your monthly check, when waiting pays off, and what working and taxes change.
- W-4 and withholdingWhat each step of the form does, how your employer works out the tax taken from every paycheck, and when to change it.
Home and mortgage
- Brazil: capital gains tax when selling a propertyWhat the Federal Revenue Service charges on the profit from the sale, when it charges nothing and how to pay, with the articles of the law.
- Brazil: renting, rent adjustment, guarantee and tenant rightsHow the rent is adjusted, what guarantee the landlord can ask for, who pays each expense and what the Tenancy Law says about term, sale and return.
- Buying a homeBeyond the price and the payment: the costs that come with a home, and the mistakes that cost the most.
- Fixed or variable rate?A fixed-rate or an adjustable-rate mortgage (a variable or tracker rate in the UK): how each works, what can go wrong, and how to decide.
- France: the DPE and class F or G, buying, selling, rentingWhat the energy performance diagnosis measures, how long it lasts and what an F, G or E class changes for renting, selling and buying.
- France: notary fees, where the money goesWhy the expression misleads: the share of taxes, the share of the notary, the scale, and what to check before signing.
- France: property capital gains tax, allowances and exemptionsWhat is taxed, what time takes off, when you pay nothing and who calculates and pays, with the official sources.
- France: renting a home, rent, deposit and noticeWhat the law says about the lease, agency fees, the inspection report, the deposit, the rent revision, insurance and notice.
- Germany: the energy certificate, when it is mandatory and which one fitsWhen you need an energy certificate to sell or let, which type it must be, what belongs in the ad and what applies from 2027.
- Germany: rent brake and rent increases, what is allowedHow high the rent may be at the start of the lease, how much the landlord may raise it later and what deadlines and rights you have as a tenant.
- Germany: renting a flat, deposit, agent and registrationWhat the landlord may ask as a deposit, who pays the agent, how you register your address and what notice you give later.
- Germany: selling a property, tax and deadlineWhen the gain from the sale is taxable, when it is not, how it is calculated and what matters at the notary, the bank and the agent.
- Germany: checking the utility costs statement, deadlines and heatingWhich costs can be charged, by when the statement must arrive, how heating costs are allocated and how long you can raise objections.
- Spain: renting, rent update, deposit and tenant rightsWhat the Spanish leasing law says about rent rises, the deposit, expenses, duration, early termination and the sale of the rented home.
- Spain: taxes when selling a homeIRPF on the gain, the municipal plusvalía, the exemptions for age and for reinvestment, and what the seller pays for.
- Stamp Duty explainedThe rates in slices, the first-time buyer relief and its cliff edge, the extra 5% on a second home, and when the bill is due.
Savings
- Snowball or avalancheThe two methods the CFPB describes, a worked example with real numbers, and how to choose the one you will stick to.
- Emergency fund: how much, and where to keep itHow big your cushion should be, where it’s safe and easy to reach, and how to build it one paycheck at a time.
- Germany: child support, the table, child benefit and the self-support reserveWhat child support is based on, how child benefit is credited, what the payer must keep and what you can do if nothing comes.
- Germany: inheritance tax, allowances, tax classes and deadlinesHow much you inherit or receive as a gift tax-free, which rates apply after that, what stays tax-free and which deadlines you must keep.
- Germany: late-payment interest, reminders and limitation explainedWhen a debtor is in default, how high the statutory interest is, how you remind and use the dunning procedure and until when you can claim your money.
- Italy: selling a used car without surprisesFrom the price to the change of ownership: how to sell to a private buyer without a trail of fines, car tax and insurance.
- Monthly investing, simply explainedWhat putting the same amount into investments every month really does, what it costs, and where it fits.
- 401(k) or IRAHow much you can put in each account in 2026, the difference between traditional and Roth, the income limits, and the common order of priorities.
- US capital gains tax explained: rates, thresholds and lossesShort-term or long-term, the 2026 thresholds, the extra 3.8% tax and what to do with a loss.
Business
- Brazil: MEI cost and when it stops being worth itWhat you pay each month, how much you can invoice and when to think about another status.
- France: what a micro-entrepreneur really costsWhat leaves the turnover in contributions and tax, what the Acre changes in 2026 and the thresholds not to forget.
- Germany: small business exemption or regular VAT?What the small-business rule means, which limits apply, what changes in practice and when regular taxation is better.
- Italy flat-rate regime: what you really pay in year oneWhy the first year feels light and in June of the second the bill for two years arrives, with a real example and the dates to note.
- Spain: what being self-employed really costsThe contribution is only a part: what you really pay, what only passes through your hands and what you must set aside each quarter.
- Self Assessment explainedWho has to file, the dates that matter, how payments on account work with a worked example, and how to avoid the first-January shock.
Fitness
Energy-efficient home
- Energy efficiency: where to startWhere your home’s energy goes, the cheap fixes that come first, and how to weigh the big upgrades.
- Germany: the 2026 heating law, what applies since July 29The Building Modernization Act has replaced the Building Energy Act: what you may install, what applies to gas and oil and what the heat pump costs.
- Spain: the energy certificate, where to startWhat your letter says, when you need the certificate and what you can do to improve it, starting with what costs least.
Pets
- Brazil: dog or cat, what the law saysCruelty, damage caused by the animal, condominiums, neutering and travel documents, with the articles of the law.
- Your first month with a puppyWhat matters in the first 30 days: the vet, vaccines, socializing, house training and a safe home.
- France: dog or cat, what the law saysWhere to get one, the 7-day certificate, identification, everyday rules and fines, explained with the figures.
- Germany: dog or cat, what the law requiresAnimal welfare, duties for dogs, registration and tax, liability and insurance, rented homes and what threatens for violations.