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106 articles
Free, ZFS-grade TrueNAS SCALE versus Unraid's mixed-drive parity array (from $49) — with the two 2026 changes that reshape the choice: OpenZFS RAIDZ expansion and Unraid's native ZFS pools. A first-hand decision table to match a NAS OS to your actual drives and budget.
WireGuard wins on speed, simplicity, and battery; OpenVPN wins on firewall-bypass over TCP 443 — and OpenVPN's kernel-space DCO has largely closed the old throughput gap. A first-hand decision table and a real WireGuard config to help you pick the right protocol for a self-hosted VPN.
Plex's 2025-2026 price hikes put remote streaming and hardware transcoding behind a paywall — and tripled the Lifetime Pass to $749.99. Running both on a Proxmox homelab, here's a first-hand decision table on cost, transcoding, privacy, and which media server actually fits your setup.
Germany's 2027 pension reform replaces Riester with the Altersvorsorgedepot, letting savers hold ETFs with an optional (not mandatory) capital guarantee. A worked subsidy table shows a parent of two paying €1,800/year receives €1,140 back in state top-ups.
You started a plain ETF Sparplan - then Riester got scrapped for a state-subsidised ETF pension from 2027. Are you missing free government money? A worked 30-year break-even across a plain ETF Sparplan, Riester, and the new Altersvorsorgedepot shows exactly who each route suits.
A worked, original cost table shows what Hausratversicherung actually costs for 60/90/120 m² German flats, built from the 650 €/m² Versicherungssumme rule and real published Tarifzone rates — showing why an identical policy can cost 2–4x more depending only on postcode.
Betriebliche Altersvorsorge lets you convert salary into a workplace pension tax-free up to €8,112 in 2026, with a mandatory 15% employer top-up. The catch: full income tax and full statutory health and long-term-care contributions apply when the Betriebsrente pays out later.
A landlord's Wohngebäudeversicherung never covers a tenant's belongings, and Privathaftpflicht solves a different problem — this piece gives renters in Germany a decision framework, with a 7-scenario matrix and real GDV burglary-claim data, for when Hausratversicherung is worth it.
Hausratversicherung in plain English: what it covers, whether you need it, the 650 €/m² cost rule, and how to compare, choose, or switch. The hub for the full contents-insurance guide series.
A peril-by-peril, add-on-by-add-on breakdown of what Hausratversicherung actually covers in Germany — including the sub-limits on cash, jewellery, and bikes, and the exclusions that surprise people.
The Rürup Basisrente lets Germany's self-employed deduct up to €30,826 from taxable income in 2026 — 100% of it — but the payout is a lifelong annuity only, never a lump sum, and it isn't inheritable or transferable.
You want smart lights and a heating schedule in your German flat — but is one drilled hole the thing that costs you your Kaution? German tenancy law is stricter than the US no-drill guides admit, yet almost everything you want is reversible and needs no permission. Here's the line.