David de Vries
Honest advice and fast results, that’s why I choose Van Marle Mortgages
Curaçao
The first few years of my career, I worked as a surgeon on the island of my birth, Curaçao. I really liked working there, also because the Curaçao government had paid for me to train as a surgeon in Antwerp. The condition of my stipend was that after my training, I would work at a local hospital on the island for a minimum of five years, helping the local population. Apart from the hospital, I also worked at my private clinic in the capital. After nine intense years on Curaçao my wife and I decided to move our family to the Netherlands.
Endowment insurance
As a young doctor I was working non-stop, with no time to take an in-depth look at my finances. A local advisor suggested we invest in endowment policies, but unfortunately, they yielded nothing and turned out to be profiteering policies. During the hectic months of our move to the Netherlands, I joined a national union for health care professionals. They provided advice about all manner of financial topics, from buying into a practice to our mortgage and home contents insurance. Looking back, we shouldn’t have followed their advice, because our mortgage was yet again linked to a profiteering policy, and we paid way too much for insurances we were told we needed to cover all risks.
Back to employment
In 2014 a lot changed for specialists working in independent cooperatives inside hospitals, because the entire business model was re-evaluated. The government started making it very difficult for medical specialist to remain independent. The hospital where I worked soon decided that the only option for all medical specialists was to become employees. That’s when my tax accountant Gert-Erik de Boer at Noord Negentig suggested I’d go to Van Marle Mortgages for financial advice.
Insurance portfolio
What I really like about the way Van Marle Mortgages works, is their project-based approach. Jack created a comprehensive project plan, where he showed me my various options for investing the goodwill-compensation I received for my share in the medical practice. This money had been tentatively set aside for my pension, but my family and I were facing some big expenses, for instance a costly renovation of our home. Jack showed me which part of my payout could be set aside for that. Next, he designated a second part for our pensions by helping us open a fiscally beneficial savings account. He found a favorable way to refinance our mortgage, and helped us to refinance our profiteering policies. Together we went over our entire insurance portfolio and assessed all elements, to see whether they were useful and necessary. We kept the useful elements, but we switched to much more favorable providers. He broke down every sub-project individually, with a clear overview of the cost, so we always knew where we stood.
The main questions
Working with Van Marle Mortgages means honest advice and a fast and accurate processing of your query. In addition, Jack always returns to the main questions: How do we want to live in the future, how do we want to live now and which risks are acceptable to us? He tells us what he feels is the best option, but he leaves the final decision to us. And we’re able to make that decision because we have the full picture. Now all our finances, from insurances to mortgage, have become part of us saving for our retirement. And that is a great feeling, even though I’m not sitting around waiting for that day to come, because I still enjoy my work way too much.
Insurance
Van Marle Mortgages feels that the principle of Ne Quid Nimis – everything in moderation, never too much – is especially applicable to insurances. We see a lot of people who are highly over-insured, healthcare professionals in particular. Often, they are told that many of these insurances are compulsory and they are advised to take out a whole host of policies without their individual situation being taken into account. Van Marle Mortgages has a different approach. Together we will assess your risks and their potential consequences. Next, you can make an informed decision about what is and isn’t acceptable to you. That way we’ll come to a calculated and realistic coverage against unacceptable risks.
Who are our clients?
Part of Dutch culture is a desire to get insurance against every imaginable thing. Unfortunately, this also means running a high risk of being over-insured. Van Marle Mortgages’ aim is to keep the amount of your income you spend on insurance premiums as low as possible. Especially for health care professionals, we can often create an insurance portfolio that is smarter and cheaper. Of course, we are more than happy to also give private individuals, entrepreneurs and expats a scan of their current insurances. And if you have been sold ‘profiteering policies’ in the past, we can help you to refinance them.
Peace of mind
All of us work hard every day to make sure things run as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, we can’t always stop things from going wrong, and at those times it’s good to have insurance. Here at Van Marle Mortgages we feel that it’s important that the possible consequences of risks you find unacceptable are adequately covered. That way you’ll always have peace of mind, particularly at times when you need it most.
How may we help you?
Van Marle Mortgages’ comprehensive financial services offers you peace of mind and excellent results.
How may we help you? Please visit us for a no-obligation appointment. Using the CALL ME BACK form is a quick way for us to contact you, but of course we are more than happy to hear from you via phone or e-mail as well. We hope to see you soon!