Before money starts working

This book wasn't written in an office overlooking the financial district. It took shape between shifts, on a plastic chair in a warehouse canteen in Antwerp, with my phone propped against a cup of coffee from the machine. If you're looking for a promise that you'll turn a thousand euros into a million in three months — put it down. If you want to understand how money really behaves when no one's watching, stay.

Before money can start working, you first have to hold on to it. Before you start investing, you need to know how much you can lose without losing sleep. And before you open the champagne, it's worth checking that the bottle isn't standing on the edge of a shelf.

How to read this book

• Part I covers the foundations: budgeting, a safety buffer, developing your trade and your first steps in investing.
• Part II is the workshop: lessons from speculators, value investors and manipulators — and your own process.
• At the end of every chapter you'll find a “Today's workshop” section. Do at least one item before moving on.
• “Dirk's Pallet Test” appears wherever you're making a decision that involves risk. Treat it as a checklist before lifting a load.

This book is educational. It is not an investment recommendation. Every financial decision is yours — and that is precisely why it's worth making it consciously.