Here is my February 2021 Passive Income Update.

Stellenbosch, South Africa in January 2021

The new year started in South Africa. After a great deal of discussion and back and forth whether we should travel during COVID-19, my partner and I decided to travel carefully. We avoided crowds and we spent almost all of our time outdoors. It was a truly incredible month and I will certainly return to South Africa very soon.

While I was in South Africa, I earned 883.08 EUR (1,072.38 USD) in passive income in January 2021:
– P2P lending: 542.14 EUR
– Real Estate Lending: 222.24 EUR
– ETF Dividends: 66.19 EUR
– Stock Photos/Videos: 52.51 EUR

Total Passive Income from P2P Lending, P2P Real Estate Lending, ETF Dividends and Stock Sales.aTotal Passive Income from P2P Lending, P2P Real Estate Lending, ETF Dividends and Stock Sales.
Total Passive Income from P2P Lending, P2P Real Estate Lending, ETF Dividends and Stock Sales.

View of Cape Town from Lion’s Head. January 2021.

Passive Income Breakdown:


February 2021 P2P-Lending Interest Rates
February 2021 P2P-Lending Interest Rates

P2P & Real Estate Lending Overview – February 2021 Passive Income Update

As part of my February 2021 passive income update, here is a quick overview of passive income streams from three (3) P2P Lending and one (1) Real-Estate P2P Lending platforms that I am currently investing in.


Mintos: The 32,100 EUR that I invested on Mintos gradually over the five past years, have since grown to 43,567 EUR. While some loan originators are struggling (= about 2,796 EUR of my portfolio is currently “in recovery”), I am more than happy with the performance of Mintos.

I am auto-invested in loans from 23 loan originators (all with ratings 7 and 8) in 22 countries. Certain loans are up to 60 days delayed (especially now during COVID-19), but all loans have a buyback guarantee which is working well.

I adjusted my auto-invest portfolios after Mintos changed their ratings to the new scale (investing in loans with ratings 7 and 8) in November last year, adjusting the minimum interest rate to 11%. As a result, my interest income on Mintos in January was 398,84 EUR (=self-calculated interest rate of 11.07% p.a.).

My Mintos Dashboard February 2021
My Mintos Dashboard February 2021

Twino: Another great month for Twino! My total investment on Twino is 13.500 EUR and my monthly interest on the platform has increased to 143.30 EUR (= 11.72% p.a.). The average loan duration of my loans on Twino is currently 5.09 months. All loans are with a Buyback and Payment guarantee.

I am very happy with Twino and my next round of investments (in March) will be on Twino.

What else? TWINO has launched a referral program. New investors who sign up with this link (https://financialfreedomjourney.eu/Twino) and invest at least 100 EUR, will get a 15 EUR bonus (as well as I receive a 15 EUR bonus).

My Twino Dashboard February 2021
My Twino Dashboard February 2021

Estateguru_logo

EstateGuru: Besides Mintos and Twino, EstateGuru is another key investment pillar and passive income stream of mine. My total investments on EstateGuru are 16,000 EUR which are invested in 46 real estate projects in Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Sweden, and Spain. 8 loans are currently slightly behind schedule (4-60 days late)

My average interest rate on EstateGuru is 10.66% p.a. For me EstateGuru is a great platform to diversify my risk by investing in real estate loans that are secured with a first-rank mortgage (physical security). Since my first investment on EstateGuru in 2019, 27 projects have successfully been repaid.

As I mentioned in previous posts, almost all my loans on EstateGuru are either bullet or full bullet loans, which means that either principals or both interest+principals are being paid in full at the end of the loan period. Unfortunately, that means that some months I receive large interest and principal payments, some months I receive nothing. This past month (Jan 2021), I received 222.24 EUR in interest payments.

What else? My EstateGuru review explains details as well as shows how to receive a 0.5% bonus as a new investor in the first three months. EstateGuru currently has some new loans available (11.5% p.a. & 12.00% p.a.).

My EstateGuru Dashboard in February 2021
My EstateGuru Dashboard in February 2021

V&A Harbourfront in Cape Town, January 2021.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) Update – February 2021 🥳

Even in times of COVID-19, I hold onto my opinion that investing in the MSCI World ETF back is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to save & invest long-term (e.g. for retirement) while earning passive income from dividends.

Since I started investing in the MSCI World ETF in 2016, the value of the ETF has increased by 58.70% (and this despite coronavirus-related shock in stock markets last year). The shares that I bought originally for 145.09 EUR apiece are currently valued at 223.19 EUR. Read more in my ETF portfolio post.

As of today, I am holding 97,734.85 EUR in MSCI World and MSCI Emerging Market ETFs. The value of my ETF portfolio increased by 0.64% in January 2021 (which is pretty good for one month!).

My ETF Portfolio since I started investing in 2016 (c) justetf.com
My ETF Portfolio since I started investing in 2016 (c) justetf.com

My 1,000 EUR monthly ETF savings plan

I started an automated monthly 1,000 EUR ETF MSCI World savings plan in January 2020. It’s fully automated, runs in the background, and keeps buying MSCI World ETFs worth 1,000 EUR on the first of every month. It’s a fantastic way of cost-averaging and keeps me committed to my financial savings goals. Thanks to my savings plan, since I started it, I have saved 13,000 EUR. 🥳

More about my ETF savings plan and why it was such a great idea to go back to an automated saving plan in this blog post.


South Africa, one of the most beautiful places I have been to.

That’s it for my February 2021 Passive Income Update! If you are interested, please follow my journey on my Facebook page Financial Freedom Journey for more frequent updates. And as always: If you have any questions or comments, please pop them in the comment section below. Or get in touch via Facebook or Email.

Stay healthy and enjoy the rest of February!
Peter 👋